Interpersonal Violence in English Society 1300–1980

Stone, Lawrence

doi:10.1093/past/101.1.22

Cited by 132 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…On the contrary. It reflects the emergence of a new normative order, one that took a dim view of assaults in general (Stone, 1983;Beattie, 1986, p. 139;King, 1996), and an even dimmer view of assaults by or against women.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is axiomatic among social historians that interpersonal violence was far more prevalent in early modern England than it is in England today, and although assaults were becoming somewhat less common-and less tolerated -during the second half of the eighteenth century (Beattie, 1986;King, 1996;Stone 1983Stone , 1985, they were still very much a fact of everyday life.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Women Behaving Badly: Gender and Aggression in a Military Town, 1653?1781

2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Magistrates' records from the English town of Portsmouth show the town's women to have been exceptionally violent. Women accounted, on average, for just over 31% of all assaults on record for the years 1653 to 1781. We used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to compare the fighting styles of men and women and to examine the extent to which these were gendered. Particular attention was paid to levels of violence between pairs of brawlers. The most common form of violence was male-on-male (2,666 cases), followed by female-on-female (1,690), male-on-female (1,675), and female-on-male (299). Of these pairings, female-on-male assaults were the most violent, as measured by the types of weapons used by the aggressors, and female-on-female pairings were the least violent.KEY WORDS: interpersonal aggression; early modern England; physical dominance; gendered aggression.To form yourself an idea of these tender languishing nymphs-these lovely fighting ornaments of the fair sex, imagine a something of more than Amazonian stature, having a crimson countenance, emblazoned with all the effrontery of Cyprian confidence, and broad Bacchanalian folly: give to her bold countenance the war-like features of two wounded cheeks, 1

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Women Behaving Badly: Gender and Aggression in a Military Town, 1653?1781

2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…There exists historical support in America and Western Europe for Elias's general thesis (see Spierenberg, 1984;Gurr, 1981Gurr, ,1989Stone, 1983). The changing methods of American police interrogation may provide additional evidence consistent with a civilizing process that has transformed the cultural sensibilities of both private and state actors.…”

Section: Traditional Forms Of State Control Have Become Increasinglymentioning

confidence: 99%

Police Interrogation and Social Control

Leo

1994

Social & Legal Studies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Stone observed that: 'It looks as if the homicide rates in thirteenth-century England were about twice as high as those in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and that those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were some five to ten times higher than those today.' 3 Stone's article generated a lively debate around questions of methodology and interpretation, in particular the extent to which rates could be derived with confidence when population estimates were uncertain, the degree to which shifts in annual counts of homicide reflected changes in quotidian brutishness and hostility, and the relationship between better medical treatment and the death rate from assaults. 4 However, it is probably fair to say that a consensus now exists concerning the trajectory of lethal violence, while competing claims may remain regarding its magnitude and meaning.…”

Section: Contexts Consequences and Civilizing Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Killing in Ireland at the Turn of the Centuries

O’Donnell

2010

Irish Economic and Social History

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This diminution in violent death has been found in other countries and over longer time periods. Stone observed that: 'It looks as if the homicide rates in thirteenth-century England were about twice as high as those in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and that those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were some five to ten times higher than those today.' 3 Stone's article generated a lively debate around questions of methodology and interpretation, in particular the extent to which rates could be derived with confidence when population estimates were uncertain, the degree to which shifts in annual counts of homicide reflected changes in quotidian brutishness and hostility, and the relationship between better medical treatment and the death rate from assaults. 4 However, it is probably fair to say that a consensus now exists concerning the trajectory of lethal violence, while competing claims may remain regarding its magnitude and meaning. In his wide-ranging crossnational review of historical trends in violent crime, Eisner concluded that 'the evidence is so consistent, the secular decline so regular, and the differences in levels so large, that it seems difficult to refute the conclusion of a real and notable decline '. 5 But how to make sense of this pattern? Some scholars have drawn on the work of Norbert Elias to elaborate a theoretical frame of reference that aids understanding of the changing nature of aggression. 6 In broad terms, Elias argued that the passage of time was marked by increasing internal controls on the expression of violence. The 2 growth of the state led to higher levels of personal security and stability. These allowed the development of a market economy and the establishment of complex webs of interdependence. Open displays of aggression were replaced by codes of etiquette and manners; violence was pushed behind the scenes. These social and psychological changes, described as a 'civilizing process' by Elias, took place over several centuries. A tension existed between an emerging civilized mentality that idealized self-restraint and abhorred naked aggression, and more deeply-rooted customary notions that saw direct confrontation as legitimate, necessary and even playful. The customary mentality was defined by a preference for physical retribution, an emphasis on community autonomy, and the maintenance of norms through fist and fear.The tendency towards refinement was characterized by a progressive narrowing of the circumstances where violence could be justified (with the remainder dismissed as the product of unfathomable rage and atavistic savagery), together with a determined linking of violence to social causes and effects. This process started with the élite and then filtered down the social hierarchy. The further that the middle classes distanced themselves from violence the more they were repulsed by the working-class enthusiasm to resolve conflict through blood letting. Infanticides are excluded from the results shown below on the basis that very little informa...

show abstract

Interpersonal Violence in English Society 1300–1980

Cited by 132 publications

References 0 publications

Women Behaving Badly: Gender and Aggression in a Military Town, 1653?1781

Women Behaving Badly: Gender and Aggression in a Military Town, 1653?1781

Police Interrogation and Social Control

Killing in Ireland at the Turn of the Centuries

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About