Devilry, Deviance, and Public Sphere draws on criminology and social theory to explore and expand social historical themes in the analysis of perceptions of deviance and crime in the eighteenth century. Developing the theoretical device of Folk Devils and Moral Panics, instigated by Stanley Cohen and developed by Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda, the book explores the social discovery of, and public response to, crime and deviance in that period. Detailed contemporary case studies of youth violence, sexual deviance, and substance abuse are used to argue that Hanoverian London and its novel media can be identified as the initiating historical site for what might now be termed public order moral panics. In doing so, Hamerton provides a vivid historical lineage of moral panic which traverses much of the long eighteenth century. The book considers social change, allowing for points of theoretical convergence and divergence to be observed, whilst exploring historical models of public opinion, media, deviance and crime alongside the unique character and power located within the burgeoning Metropolis. Devilry, Deviance, and Public Sphere seeks to make an important contribution to the understanding of both moral panic theory and the historiography of crime and deviance, and posits that the current discourse on folk devils and moral panics can be extended and enriched via the exploration of the moral crises of earlier centuries.
Author(s): Christopher Hamerton
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 294
City: Cham
Foreword
References
Acknowledgements
Contents
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
Commencing the Procession
Finding Folk Devils and Moral Panics in Eighteenth-Century London
The Structure and Scope of This Book
References
2 Crime History, Historical Criminology, and Moral Panic Theory
The Emergence of the New Left and Social History from Below
Coming of Age: Albion’s Fatal Tree
Historicising Folk Devils and Moral Panics
London as Host of the Burgeoning Public Sphere
The Appliance of Social Science
Cohen, Goode and Ben-Yehuda, and the Socio-Historical Locus of Moral Panic Theory
References
3 The Shaping of Opinion: Literacy, Media, and Folk Devils in Eighteenth-Century London
Eighteenth-Century London as Public Sphere
Literacy, Oral Culture, Idea Transmission
The Significance of Imagery to Consensus of Morality
From Popular Press to Watchman Press
Unearthing the Origins of Folk Devils: Beyond the Newgate Calendar
Concluding Thoughts
References
4 The Crucible of the Young Metropolis
Living Cheek by Jowl: Stratification, Diversity, and Built Environment in the City
Hub of Commerce, Temptation, and Strain
Mobile vulgaris: The Noise of Thousands of Tongues and Feet
The Morality of the Mob: Consensus and Symbolism in the Beggar’s Opera
The Contradiction of Social Control Within the Infancy of Criminal Justice
Concluding Thoughts
References
5 Who Has Not Trembled at the Mohocks Name? Panic on the Streets, 1712
Rake Culture and Gang Violence
Discovery: A Small Nation of Savages
Prediction: Press Consolidation and Calls for Order
Consensus and Disproportionality by Royal Proclamation
Political Capitalism and the Guardians of Order
Perspective: Defoe, Gay, and Tragi-Comical Farce
Dénouement and Symbolisation
Concluding Thoughts on This Episode
References
6 Kill-Grief and Comfort: Madam Geneva and the London Gin Panic, 1720–1751
No Devil in the Native Drink
Innovation and Discovery: The Seductive Madam Geneva
Always Roving: The Revenue Imperative and the Human Cost
The Trial of the Spirits: Legislative Window Dressing
The Premature Death of Madam Geneva
The Lesser of Two Evils: Crime, Consensus, and Moral Regulation
Concluding Thoughts on This Episode
References
7 Morality Amid Monstrosity: The London Monster Panic, 1790
Sex, the Metropolis, and the Monstrosity of Deviance
Folk Devils and Sexual Monsters
Discovery: ‘Oh ho! Is That You!’
The Pursuit of Decency: Consensus, Panic, and the Press
Moral Entrepreneurship and the Focussing of Hostility
Hysteria, Ridicule, and Iconography
Capture, Censure, and the Machinations of Trial by Media
Concluding Thoughts on This Episode
References
8 Conclusion
References
Bibliography
Index
