Open AccessCrime and Punishment in Early-Modern Scotland: The Secular Courts of Restoration Argyllshire, 1660-1688
Author(s) -
Allan Kennedy
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
international review of scottish studies/international review of scottish studies.
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1923-5763
pISSN - 1923-5755
DOI - 10.21083/irss.v41i0.3581
Subject(s) - punishment (psychology) , historiography , criminal justice , criminology , economic justice , history , law , thematic analysis , sociology , political science , social science , psychology , qualitative research , social psychology
The study of crime in early-modern Scotland remains under-developed, some strong local and thematic studies notwithstanding, and Scottish historians have not so far been able properly to assimilate the theoretical and methodological advances pioneered by scholars working on other jurisdictions, particularly England. This article seeks to begin addressing that gap through a detailed micro-study of crime and its punishment in Argyllshire during the Restoration (1660-88), rooted in systematic analysis of surviving court records. The results add weight to the growing historiographical evidence against traditional notions of a stark Highland/Lowland divide in the seventeenth century, while also outlining patterns of secular criminality and criminal justice which could form the basis of further research.