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ETD Thesis- Schaub.pdf (769.48 KB)

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Abstract Header

Rape as a Legitimate Medical event from 1800 - 1910

Schaub, Katherine Elizabeth
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1372382350

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, History.
During the nineteenth century, physicians began to include rape amongst the bodily events that fell under their purview. Doctors were primarily involved in searching for forensic evidence of rape, as well as theorizing about biological causes of raping and medical interventions for rapists. Physicians were embedded in a culture which treated reports of rape with great suspicion, and the accounts of doctors often lent a note of medical authority to certain myths about rape, such as the prevalence of false reports as well as whether or not rape could lead to pregnancy. Despite being a phenomenon that is intimately associated with the body, physicians were unable to fully claim rape as a part of their professional domain. The writings of physicians during this period show how challenges from the legal profession frequently undermined doctors' own attempts to establish themselves as authorities on rape, as well as the roots of certain elements of rape culture. This paper examines physicians’ role in investigating the bodies of women, their attempts to claim authority in legal settings, their identification of rapists as disordered, and the experiences of victims themselves with the medicalization of rape.
Jonathan Sadowsky, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Renee Sentilles, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kenneth Ledford, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
67 p.
History
Rape; Medicalization

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Schaub, K. E. (2013). Rape as a Legitimate Medical event from 1800 - 1910 [Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1372382350

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Schaub, Katherine. Rape as a Legitimate Medical event from 1800 - 1910. 2013. Case Western Reserve University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1372382350.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Schaub, Katherine. "Rape as a Legitimate Medical event from 1800 - 1910." Master's thesis, Case Western Reserve University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1372382350

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1372382350
2,925
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.