Female Criminality Infanticide, Moral Panics and The Female Body [Hardcover]

This is the first book to consider the moral regulation of the female body through an analysis of the crime of infanticide. An in-depth perspective from the nineteenth century to the present, Cossins provides a revealing insight into the history of a little-known but widespread social crime.1. Introduction: 'Dumb Brutes' and Murderous Mothers 2. The Moral Panic Concept: Its History, Social Utility and Ability to Interpret Past Events 3. Regulation of the Female Body: Was Infanticide a Moral Panic of the 1800s? 4. The Moral Regulation of Infanticidal Mothers 5. The Implications of the Body for Female Criminality

Annie Cossins has written a remarkable book. In tracing the moral regulation of the female body through the lens of infanticide from the nineteenth century to the present day, this work fills an important gaps in understandings of female criminality and moral panic theory. In situating her analysis within an historical, social, and legal context, Cossins makes a robust case for the way in which sexed bodies underpin how the female criminal might be framed and understood. Any scholar interested in gender and crime would do well to read this book and consider the challenge that this sexed body approach poses for them and their work. - Sandra Walkate, University of Liverpool, UK

Annie Cossins is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia.