The Coombs case indeed throws up a mirror to our apparently more modern age, where we consider ourselves to have more understanding. The Wicked Boy however does not lead one to the satisfactory conclusion that we would react differently now-a-days because we are so much more knowledgeable and clever. Instead it shows us that despite the great advances we've made both socially and in technology, once you scratch the surface the human reaction to children committing murder is the same tumultuous mix of shock, horror, pity, and disbelief, accompanied by the kind of wild blame seeking and judgement that speaks more of calming anxiety than the search for true understanding.
Tag: historical crime
The Macabre Tale of John Horwood: A True Crime Podcast
It's a tale as old as time. Boy grows up beside girl. Boy falls for girl. Boy shoots his shot. Girl rejects boy. Boy unleashes a campaign of harassment, including death threats, against the girl. As such the 200 year old tale of Eliza Bolsom's death in 1821, shows how stalking, harassment and violence has always been interlinked.
Triflers Need Not Apply: A Crime Fiction Book
Yet, when we look at the evidence over time it's likely that women have been just, if not more prolific in their voilence. A combination of using methods which have been more difficult to detect and less showy, such as posoin, combined with cultural taboo's that still exist around women, caring and motherhood which mean their violence can often not be contemplated, very weirdly leads me to conclude this is yet another area in which women's contributions have been overlooked. And as pshycologist Anna Motz says, when we deny women's violence, we deny women.