Sexual and non-sexual offenders: a secondary data analysis.

In this thesis, the researcher explored the differences between sex offenders and non-sex offenders. Data was gathered from a previous study of 295 convicted inmates, grouped into in-treatment sex offenders, never treated sex offenders, and non-sex offenders. The secondary data analysis attempted to ascertain whether there exists any difference between sex and non-sex offenders and arrest behavior (i.e. age at first arrest, number of arrests, and types of offenses). In addition, it attempted to determine whether there is any difference between offender type and certain demographic variables (i.e. family structure, history of abuse, and age at first sexual contact). The findings revealed a significant association between offender type and age at first arrest, number of arrests, and types of offenses. Also significant was the relationship between paternal history of abuse and age at first sexual contact and type of offender. No significant connection was found between type of offender and family structure, as well as between type of offender and both total and maternal history of abuse

Infanticide in Victorian England, 1856-1878: Thirty legal cases (England)

The crime of infanticide plagued England throughout the nineteenth century, but by the 1860s it seemed to experts and laymen alike that incidences of the crime had reached crisis proportions. The publicity that newspapers gave to the problem sparked public concern; such publicity brought the crime increasingly to the attention not only of middle-class readers but also of medical, penal, judicial, and government officials. To determine whether a crisis of infanticide actually occurred in Victorian England, it is necessary to examine several areas of Victorian history--gender roles and the legal, economic, and social inequities women faced. While a profile of murdering mothers can be drawn from secondary material, this examination of infanticide draws upon primary data from the criminal records of thirty women and two men charged, tried, and convicted of the crime between 1856 and 1878. Both primary and secondary research provides new insights into contemporary fears of the problem, illuminates those characteristics that many murdering mothers and fathers shared, illustrates public reaction to their crimes, trials, and sentences, and outlines the judicial process these women and men faced when they stood before the bar of Victorian justice