Murder, Medicine and Motherhood
eBook - PDF

Murder, Medicine and Motherhood

  1. 246 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Murder, Medicine and Motherhood

About this book

Since the early 1990s, unexplained infant death has been reformulated as a criminal justice problem within many western societies. This shift has produced wrongful convictions in more than one jurisdiction. This book uses a detailed case study of the murder trial and appeals of Kathleen Folbigg to examine the pragmatics of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It explores how legal process, medical knowledge and expectations of motherhood work together when a mother is charged with killing infants who have died in mysterious circumstances. The author argues that Folbigg, who remains in prison, was wrongly convicted. The book also employs Folbigg's trial and appeals to consider what lessons courts have learned from prior wrongful convictions, such as those of Sally Clark and Angela Cannings. The author's research demonstrates that the Folbigg court was misled about the state of medical knowledge regarding infant death, and that the case proceeded on the incorrect assumption that behavioural and scientific evidence provided independent proofs of guilt. Individual chapters critically assess the relationships between medical research and expert testimony; the operation of unexamined cultural assumptions about good mothering; and the manner in which contested cases are reported by the press as overwhelming.

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Yes, you can access Murder, Medicine and Motherhood by Emma Cunliffe in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Law & Criminal Law. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Year
2011
Print ISBN
9781849461573
eBook ISBN
9781847316608
Edition
1
Topic
Law
Subtopic
Criminal Law
Index
Law

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Prelims
  3. Acknowledgements
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Table of Cases
  6. Table of Legislation
  7. List of Illustrations
  8. Chapter 1. Introduction
  9. Chapter 2. The Folbigg Case
  10. Chapter 3. Unexplained Infant Death: A Shifting Theory of Maternal Culpability
  11. Chapter 4. Distinguishing Homicide from SIDS
  12. Chapter 5. The Scientific Case against Folbigg
  13. Chapter 6. A Mother Who Would Kill Her Children
  14. Chapter 7. Reading Guilt: Kathleen Folbigg's Diaries
  15. Chapter 8. Media Monster
  16. Chapter 9. Conclusion
  17. Bibliography
  18. Appendix. Chronology of Folbigg Children's Lives and Deaths
  19. Index