Unwilling mothers, unwanted babies : infanticide in Canada / Kirsten Johnson Kramar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kramar, Kirsten Johnson, 1965-

Series:

Law and society series (Vancouver, B.C.)

Law and society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Infanticide--Canada.

Infanticide.

Infanticide--Canada--History.

Sociological jurisprudence.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (227 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Vancouver : UBC Press, c2005.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"This book traces twentieth-century Canadian criminal justice responses to women who kill their newly born babies. Initially, juries were reluctant to convict these women of murder since it carried the death penalty. The current "infanticide" law was adopted in 1948 to impose uniformity on legal practice and to ensure a homicide conviction. Even then, prosecutors faced considerable difficulties, but now, amidst media pressure, and with public attitudes possibly hardening, there are calls for the repeal of the infanticide law and the adoption of a draconian framework to deal with these cases."--Amazon.com

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

Unwilling Mothers, Unwanted Babies

Introduction

1 Regulating Infanticide through Concealment of Birth

2 Unwanted Babies: Humanitarianism and the Infant

3 The Insanities of Reproduction: Medico- Legal Knowledge Informing Infanticide Law

4 Unwilling Mothers: The Disappearance of the " Unwanted" Baby

5 Vengeance for the Innocents: The New Medico- Legal Designation of " Infanticide" as " Child Abuse Homicide"

6 Retributive Justice: The Disappearance of Infanticide

Conclusion

Appendix: Current Legal Framework Governing Maternal Neonaticide

Notes

References

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-7748-5150-3

OCLC:

559954883