The Science of Proof: Forensic Medicine in Nineteenth-Century France

FAIN: FT-259759-18

Erin Claire Cage
University of South Alabama (Mobile, AL 36688-3053)

Research for a book-length study on the relationship between forensic science and law in 19th-century France.

This book project examines the history of forensics, or legal medicine, in France during the nineteenth century. It analyzes how medical and scientific knowledge was constructed in relation to transformations in the legal and penal systems, shifting political configurations, class, and gender. Drawing upon records of hundreds of legal proceedings, medical reports, and forensic studies, my research reveals how the state, medical authorities, jurists, and lay persons negotiated the boundaries between doubt and certainty as well as innocence and criminality. “The Science of Proof” argues that the practice of forensic medicine was fraught with uncertainty and that the rise of forensic experts both bolstered and undermined the pursuit of justice.

Associated Products

Child Sexual Abuse and Medical Expertise in Nineteenth-Century France (Article)
Title: Child Sexual Abuse and Medical Expertise in Nineteenth-Century France
Author: E. Claire Cage
Abstract: Child sexual abuse was a prevalent problem that appeared before the courts with dramatically increasing frequency in nineteenth-century France. During this period, medical experts played a much more influential role in the courts; however, those summoned to intervene in child sexual assault cases not only bolstered but also undermined efforts to bring offenders to justice. Many doctors who could not detect physical traces of sexual abuse concluded that the assault had never occurred and that the child's accusation was false. Furthermore, doctors routinely cast moral judgements on those identified as victims of sexual abuse. The understandings of childhood innocence that engendered new efforts to combat child sexual abuse were called into question by the simultaneous rise of medico-legal experts, whose frequent negative findings led many to discount accusations of abuse and to maintain that children, particularly girls and working-class children, were not as innocent as they seemed.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: (forthcoming)
Access Model: Subscription only
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: French Historical Studies
Publisher: French Historical Studies/Duke University Press

The Science of Proof: Forensic Medicine in Modern France (Book)
Title: The Science of Proof: Forensic Medicine in Modern France
Author: Erin Claire Cage
Year: 2022
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=9781009198332
Primary URL Description: WorldCat entry (9781009198332)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781009198332

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