Janet Weston – författare

In July 1939, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, fifty-nine-year-old Beatrice Alexander was found incapable of managing her own property and affairs. Although Alexander and those living with her insisted that she was perfectly well, the official solicitor took control of her home and money, evicted her “friends,” and hired a live-in companion to watch over her. Alexander remained legally incapable for the next thirty years. In the mid-twentieth century, Alexander was one of about thirty thousand people in England and Wales who were, at any time, legally “incapable” and under the auspices of what is now the Court of Protection. Focusing on the period between the 1920s and the 1960s, Looking After Miss Alexander explains the workings of the court, using Alexander’s unusual case to consider the complexities of this aspect of mental health law. Drawing on Court of Protection archives – some of which were made publicly available for the first time in 2019 – and micro-historical methods, Janet Weston also highlights the role of chance, subjectivity, and uncertainty in shaping how events unfolded then, and the stories we tell about those events today.An engaging and accessible history of mental capacity law, Looking After Miss Alexander examines ideas of citizenship and welfare, gender and vulnerability, care and control, and the role of the state. It also offers reflections on historical research and writing itself.

In July 1939, at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, fifty-nine-year-old Beatrice Alexander was found incapable of managing her own property and affairs. Although Alexander and those living with her insisted that she was perfectly well, the official solicitor took control of her home and money, evicted her “friends,” and hired a live-in companion to watch over her. Alexander remained legally incapable for the next thirty years. In the mid-twentieth century, Alexander was one of about thirty thousand people in England and Wales who were, at any time, legally “incapable” and under the auspices of what is now the Court of Protection. Focusing on the period between the 1920s and the 1960s, Looking After Miss Alexander explains the workings of the court, using Alexander’s unusual case to consider the complexities of this aspect of mental health law. Drawing on Court of Protection archives – some of which were made publicly available for the first time in 2019 – and micro-historical methods, Janet Weston also highlights the role of chance, subjectivity, and uncertainty in shaping how events unfolded then, and the stories we tell about those events today.An engaging and accessible history of mental capacity law, Looking After Miss Alexander examines ideas of citizenship and welfare, gender and vulnerability, care and control, and the role of the state. It also offers reflections on historical research and writing itself.

Sexual crime, past and present, is rarely far from the headlines. How these crimes are punished, policed and understood has changed considerably over the last century. From hormone injections to cognitive behavioural therapy, medical and psychological approaches to sexual offenders have proliferated. This book sets out the history of such theories and treatments in England. Beginning in the early 20th century, it traces the evolution of medical interest in the mental state of those convicted of sexual crime. As part of a broader interest in individualised responses to crime as a means to rehabilitation, doctors offered new explanations for some sexual crimes, proposed new solutions, and attempted to deliver new cures. From indecent exposure to homosexuality between men, from sadistic violence to thefts of underwear from washing lines, the interpretation and treatment of some sexual offences was thought to be complex. Of less medical interest, though, were offences against children, prostitution, and rape. Using a range of material, including medical and criminological texts, trial proceedings, government reports, newspapers, and autobiographies and memoirs, Janet Weston offers powerful insights into changing medico-legal practices and attitudes towards sex and health. She highlights the importance of prison doctors and rehabilitative programmes within prisons, psychoanalytically-minded private practitioners, and the interactions between medical and legal systems as medical theories were put into practice. She also reveals the extent and legacy of medical thought, as well as the limitations of a medical approach to sexual crime.

Sexual crime, past and present, is rarely far from the headlines. How these crimes are punished, policed and understood has changed considerably over the last century. From hormone injections to cognitive behavioural therapy, medical and psychological approaches to sexual offenders have proliferated. This book sets out the history of such theories and treatments in England. Beginning in the early 20th century, it traces the evolution of medical interest in the mental state of those convicted of sexual crime. As part of a broader interest in individualised responses to crime as a means to rehabilitation, doctors offered new explanations for some sexual crimes, proposed new solutions, and attempted to deliver new cures. From indecent exposure to homosexuality between men, from sadistic violence to thefts of underwear from washing lines, the interpretation and treatment of some sexual offences was thought to be complex. Of less medical interest, though, were offences against children, prostitution, and rape. Using a range of material, including medical and criminological texts, trial proceedings, government reports, newspapers, and autobiographies and memoirs, Janet Weston offers powerful insights into changing medico-legal practices and attitudes towards sex and health. She highlights the importance of prison doctors and rehabilitative programmes within prisons, psychoanalytically-minded private practitioners, and the interactions between medical and legal systems as medical theories were put into practice. She also reveals the extent and legacy of medical thought, as well as the limitations of a medical approach to sexual crime.