Séminaire de civilisation (EAD)

Titre : Crime and insanity in nineteenth-century Britain

The notion of criminal insanity, which implies an impairment or even a complete loss of mental capacity at the time of the offence, is far from being a purely medical or psychological concept; it has practical legal implications, in that the jury may reach a verdict excluding criminal responsibility at the conclusion of the trial:  ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’, which became ‘guilty but insane’ following the Trial of Lunatics Act of 1883. The accused was then ‘detained until His/Her Majesty’s pleasure be known’, in other words confined for an indefinite period in a place to be determined, mostly lunatic asylums. The ethical and human implications of such a verdict were significant in a context where capital punishment was still in force, even though the number of crimes punishable by death was reduced to five in 1861, down from 220 previously, and public executions were banned in 1868. Whilst criminal insanity was partially recognised in English law as early as the late 17th century, the 19th century marked a turning point in this area following the Hadfield trial (1800) and even more so after the establishment of the M’Naghten rules by the House of Lords in 1843, a major piece of legislation which is still in force today in Common Law countries, including the US. The question of how to deal with the “criminally insane” became a central concern and gave rise to numerous debates, both in the courts and in Parliament, which led to a series of legislative measures, notably the Criminal Lunatics Acts of 1800, 1860 and 1884. Against the backdrop of far-reaching reforms to the care and treatment of the mentally ill from the 1830s onwards (the Lunacy Reform movement)  accompanied by a fundamental re-examination of the methods and purpose of the prison system (striving for a balance between punishment and rehabilitation) this particular focus on criminally insane individuals led to the development of a parallel system, symbolised by the founding of Broadmoor Asylum in 1863 and characterised by an unexpected leniency in a Victorian society often perceived as fundamentally repressive.

Through the study of primary sources, students will gain a deep understanding of the social, cultural, and institutional issues connected to crime and insanity in nineteenth-century Britain. Each class will revolve around a particular theme, with a lecture and discussions of the assigned readings for the week.

Maîtrise des bases de l’histoire sociale de la Grande-Bretagne au XIXe siècle, et plus particulièrement de l’histoire du droit, des administrations et des institutions : prisons, workhouses, asiles.

Session 1 : 1 devoir écrit de 3h (commentaire de texte ou dissertation)

Session 2 : 1 devoir écrit de 3h (commentaire de texte ou dissertation)

Dans le cadre de cet EC, l’usage de l’IA pour aider à la réalisation des travaux de contrôle continu soumis à évaluation est interdit. Vous n’avez pas le droit de faire appel à une IA générative à des fins de documentation, recherche d’idées, construction, rédaction ou édition.

Développer une conscience critique des savoirs dans un domaine et/ou à l’interface de plusieurs domaines,

Mobiliser des connaissances historiques, des références culturelles et artistiques afin d’opérer des transferts entre les aires géographiques, politiques et culturelles.

Développer des méthodes de recherche, de recueil et d’analyse de données dans des domaines spécifiques liés à la culture, l’art, la littérature, les civilisations et la linguistique dans une langue étrangère ou régionale.

Identifier, sélectionner et analyser avec esprit critique diverses ressources spécialisées pour documenter un sujet et synthétiser ces données en vue de leur exploitation.

Exploiter scientifiquement des sources en respectant les normes de rédaction et de référencement en vigueur dans les champs de recherche.

PRIMARY SOURCES

BROWNE, William Alexander Francis, What can be done with Criminal Lunatics?, Records of Crichton Royal Hospital, 1852

BUCKNILL, Charles, An inquiry into the proper classification and treatment of criminal lunatics: a letter addressed to Samuel Trehawke Kekewich, London: John Churchill, 1851

ELLIS, Havelock. The Criminal, London: Walter Scott, 1890

FRY, Elizabeth, A Quaker Life: Selected Letters and Writings, Washington, Rowman Altamira, 2005 

HOOD, William Charles, Suggestions for the future provision of criminal lunatics, London: John Churchill, 1854

MAYHEW, Henry, The Criminal prisons of London (1862), Cambridge University Press, 2011

RUSSEL REYNOLDS, John, Criminal lunatics: are they responsible?: being an examination of 'the plea of insanity,' in a letter to the Right Hon. the Lord High Chancellor, London: John Churchill, 1856

TALLACK, William, Humanity and humanitarianism: with special reference to the prison systems of Great Britain and the United States, the question of criminal lunacy, and capital punishment, London : F.B. Kitto, 1871

WOOD, Willliam, Remarks on the plea of insanity, and on the management of criminal lunatics, London : Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1851

SECONDARY SOURCES

CHARLOT, Monica, MARX, Roland ( dir.), Londres 1851 -1901. L’ère victorienne ou le triomphe des inégalités, Paris : Editions Autrement, 1990

CHESNEY, Kellow, The Victorian Underworld, London: Penguin Books, 1970.

N.B. Plus facile à trouver en version française :  CHESNEY, Kellow, Les bas-fonds de Londres. Crime et prostitution sous le règne de Victoria, traduit de l’anglais par René Brest, Paris : éditions Tallandier, 2023

COX, Catherine, MARLAND, Hilary. Disorder contained: mental breakdown and the modern prison in England and Ireland, 1840-1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022

DAVIE, Neil, Tracing the Criminal. The Rise of Scientific Criminology in Britain 1860-1918, Oxford: The Bardwell Press, 2006

DAVIE, Neil, The Penitentiary Ten: the Transformation of the English Prison, 1770-1850, Oxford, The Bardwell Press, 2016

EMSLEY, Clive, Crime and society in England, 1750–1900. 4th ed. Harlow, UK: Longman, 2010

FOUCAULT, Michel, Surveiller et punir : naissance de la prison (1975), Paris : Gallimard, 1993

HALLIDAY, Stephen, Newgate. London’s Prototype of Hell, Cheltenham: The History Press Ltd, 2007

HIGGS, Michelle, Prison Life in Victorian England, Cheltenham: The History Press Ltd, 2007

KEILY, Jackie (ed.), ‎Executions: 700 Years of Public Punishment in London, London: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd, 2022

KING, Peter, Punishing the Criminal Corpse, 1700-1840 Aggravated Forms of the Death Penalty in England, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017

PEDLEY, Alison C., Mothers, Criminal Insanity and the Asylum in Victorian England. Cure, Redemption and Rehabilitation, London: Bloomsbury, 2023

STEVENS, Mark, Broadmoor Revealed: Victorian Crime and the Lunatic Asylum, Barnsley, Pen and Sword Social, 2013

STOREY, Neil R., Prisons and Prisoners in Victorian Britain, Cheltenham: The History Press Ltd, 2010

TAYLOR, David, Crime, policing and punishment in England, 1750–1914, New York: St. Martin’s, 1998

VAUGHAN, David J., Mad or Bad. Crime and Insanity in Victorian Britain, Barnsley, Pen and Sword History, 2017

WALKOWITZ, Judith R., City of Dreadful Delight. Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London, London: Virago Press, 1994 (first edition 1992, The University of Chicago Press)