Female Serial Killers In Social Context: Criminological institutionalism and the case of Mary Ann Cotton
Elizabeth Yardley and David Wilson
Abstract
To date, approaches to understanding serial murder have focused on individual cases rather than the social context in which they occurred. This book marks a departure by situating nineteenth century serial killer Mary Ann Cotton within the broader social structure. Using archival records of her court appearances, local histories and newspaper articles, it uniquely explores how institutions such as the family, economy and religion shaped the environment she inhabited and her social integration through the roles of wife, mother, worker and criminal. Acknowledging that it takes a particular type ... More
To date, approaches to understanding serial murder have focused on individual cases rather than the social context in which they occurred. This book marks a departure by situating nineteenth century serial killer Mary Ann Cotton within the broader social structure. Using archival records of her court appearances, local histories and newspaper articles, it uniquely explores how institutions such as the family, economy and religion shaped the environment she inhabited and her social integration through the roles of wife, mother, worker and criminal. Acknowledging that it takes a particular type of individual to commit serial murder, the book shows that it also takes a particular type of society to enable that murderer to go unseen. As the first work to analyse serial murder through the theoretical framework of institutional criminology and institutional anomie theory, it will equip criminologists with a methodological toolkit for performing institutional analysis.
Keywords:
serial murder,
female serial killers,
social context,
institutionalism,
family
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2015 |
Print ISBN-13: 9781447326458 |
| Published to Policy Press Scholarship Online: May 2016 |
DOI:10.1332/policypress/9781447326458.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Elizabeth Yardley, author
Birmingham City University
David Wilson, author
Birmingham City University
More
Less
