To judge a thief: How the background of thieves became central to dispensing justice, Western Australia, 1921-1951
- Publication Type:
- Journal Article
- Citation:
- Law and History, 2017, 4, (1), pp. 113-144
- Issue Date:
- 2017
Closed Access
| Filename | Description | Size | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| informit.757745485917155.pdf | 298.72 kB |
Copyright Clearance Process
- Recently Added
- In Progress
- Closed Access
This item is closed access and not available.
This article examines the increasing inclusion of character reports and letters to judges concerning defendants' pasts in trial briefs for property offenders tried by the Western Australian Supreme Court between 1921 and 1951. The life histories presented in these materials offer rich sources for analysing how theft fit into the dynamics of family, employment and social relationships in the early twentieth century. This illuminates an area of criminal justice history little studied in Australian scholarship, which has typically examined property crime in the nineteenth century, particularly the convict period. The production of such documents also points to important changes in the criminal justice process, including the rise of the guilty plea and individualised sentencing, and a shift in focus from the victim and crime to the defendant and criminality. Understanding these production contexts is important to evaluating the motivations behind the narratives presented and what they reveal about how the 'thief', as an identity or persona, was understood and constructed during this period.
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: