Familiar Violence

A History of Child Abuse

Heather Montgomery (The Open University, UK)

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Hardback

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English

Polity Press
17 June 2024

History: specific events & topics; Society & Social Sciences; Child abuse

Child abuse casts a long shadow over the history of childhood. Across the centuries there are numerous accounts of children being beaten, neglected, sexually assaulted, or even killed by those closest to them. This book explores this darker side of childhood history, looking at what constituted cruelty towards children in the past and at the social responses towards it. Focusing primarily on England, it is a history of violence against children in their own homes, covering a large timeframe which extends from medieval times to the present.

Undeniably, the experience of children in the past was often brutal, and children were treated with, what seems to contemporary mores, callousness, and cruelty. However, historians have paid far less attention to how the mistreatment of children was understood within its contemporary context. Most parents, both now and in the past, loved their children and there have always been widely shared understandings of the boundaries that separate the acceptable treatment of children from the intolerable and morally wrong. This book will examine how these boundaries have changed and been contested over time and, in doing so, provides a context to the many forms of violence experienced by children in the past.

By: Heather Montgomery (The Open University UK)
Imprint: Polity Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 231mm, Width: 160mm, Spine: 31mm
Weight: 476g
ISBN: 9781509552917
ISBN 10: 150955291X
Pages: 264
Publication Date: 17 June 2024
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction: Personal Reflections and Disciplinary Perspectives Chapter One: Infanticide Chapter Two: Abandonment, Parish Nursing and Baby Farmers Chapter Three: Neglect and Negligence Chapter Four: Discipline, Socialisation, and Physical Abuse Chapter Five: Incest and Child Sexual Abuse in the Home Chapter Six: Intervening, Prosecuting and Preventing Abuse Chapter Seven: The Rise and Fall of Child Abuse Experts Conclusions: Child Abuse Now and in the Future

Heather Montgomery is Professor of Anthropology and Childhood at the Open University.

Reviews for Familiar Violence: A History of Child Abuse

"""Heather Montgomery’s Familiar Violence is an extraordinary account of the multiple ways children have been abused. It is a sensitive and subtle historical and anthropological story about childhood as well as the abuses inflicted on children. Montgomery is not afraid of asking difficult questions, and providing her readers with her own reflections on how they can be answered. Familiar Violence transforms our understanding of childhood, abuse, and vulnerability."" Joanna Bourke, Birkbeck, University of London"