Making Men during the Age of Reason

Jeffery Dennis, Minnesota State University

When the concept of the juvenile as wayward, in danger of becoming criminal but not criminal yet, arose during the 18th century, several institutions appeared with the goal of teaching wayward boys "the rules of manhood." This paper examines the origin, history, and activities of four such institutions, the Bridewells and Children's Houses of Britain, the Beterhuizen of the Netherlands, and the Hospice of St. Michel in Florence, to argue that the orginal goal of juvenile delinquency intervention was patroling for and punishing gender-role transgressions. They wer attempts to draw physical, sexual, and social energy away from homosocial and homoerotic "deviant" ends to "useful" work as a householder, husband, and father.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 119. Regulating Criminal Bodies