Crime, Madness and Politics in Modern France: The Medical Concept of National Decline

385 Pages·1984·23.162 MB·English

by  Robert A. Nye

CRIME,
MADNESS,
& POLITICS
IN MODERN FRANCE

CRIME,
MADNESS,
& POLITICS
IN MODERN FRANCE
The Medical Concept of National Decline
ROBERT A. NYE
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS | PRINCETON, N.J.
Copyright © 1984 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, NewJersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Guildford, Surrey
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
will be found on the last printed page of this book
ISBN 0-691-05414-2
This book has been composed in Linotron Baskerville with Bodoni display
Clothbound editions of Princeton University Press books
are printed on acid-free paper, and binding materials
are chosen for strength and durability.
Printed in the United States of America by
Princeton University Press
Princeton, NewJersey
for Mary Jo and Lesley

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Chapter I The Historical Study of Deviance 3
Chapter II Criminal Law, Medicine, and Justice in the
Nineteenth Century 23
Chapter III Between MacMahon and Boulanger: Crime and
the "Moral Order" of the Opportunist Republic 49
Chapter IV Heredity or Milieu: The Born-Criminal Debate
and the Foundations of Criminology 97
Chapter V Metaphors of Pathology in the Belle Epoque: The
Rise of a Medical Model of Cultural Crisis 132
Chapter VI The Politics of Social Defense: Violent Crime,
"Apaches," and the Press at the Turn of the
Century 171
Chapter VII The Boundaries of Responsibility: Asylum Law
and Legal Medicine in an Era of Social Defense 227
Chapter VIII 1908: The Capital-Punishment Debate in the
Chamber of Deputies 265
Chapter IX Sport, Regeneration, and National Revival 310
Chapter X Conclusion: Comparative Reflections on Great
Britain and Germany 330
Bibliography 341
Index 361
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A Junior Humanist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the
Humanities, which financed a trip to France, enabled me to begin this
study in 1972. Subsequent grants from the College of Arts and Sciences
and the Research Council of the University of Oklahoma, and from
the American Philosophical Society supported later trips to France.
The Research Council was also generous with last-minute help for
illustrations and copying.
I am indebted to the staffs of several libraries for help, in particular
those of the Archives nationales and the Bibliotheque nationale in
Paris, the municipal libraries of Lyon, Toulouse, and Nancy, and the
university library at Lausanne, Switzerland. In this country I used the
collections at the University of Oklahoma, the University of California
at San Diego and at Berkeley, Princeton University, and the Institute
for Advanced Study.
I have profited considerably from having spent the academic year
1981-1982 at the Institute for Advanced Study, not as a member, but
as the grateful spouse of one. Much of the writing of this book was
done in the incomparable scholarly environment the Institute provides
for its guests. Mary Jo's industry and talent made it possible. A partial
sabbatical leave from the University of Oklahoma played no small role
in making this year such a fruitful one.
Other persons over the years have provided splendid settings for
work. I am especially thankful to Vikki and Michael Lockwood,J eanne-
Marie and Tom Barnes, and Ingrid and Jim Scobie, who is greatly
missed.
Many friends and colleagues have read or criticized portions or drafts
of this book. I owe thanks to John Biro, Gary Cohen, John Gillis, Pat
Hutton, Dave Levy, Guido Ruggiero, Bob Shalhope, Henry Tobias,
and Sabetai Unguru. I feel a special obligation to Charles Rosenberg,
who read the whole manuscript. Kris and Guido Ruggiero and Franz
Moehn helped keep the man inside the scholar of sound mind for an
entire year. Lee Congdon knows how much our conversations meant
to me.
Martha Penisten heroically transformed disorderly batches of man­
uscript sent through the mail into the finished typescript. She has made