- Room 14, 20 Portland Villas, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 585834
- kim.stevenson@plymouth.ac.uk
Profiles
Professor Kim Stevenson
Emeritus Professor
School of Society and Culture (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business)
Professor Kim Stevenson can be contacted through arrangement with our Press Office, to speak to the media on these areas of expertise.
- Crime history
- Sexual offences legislation
Email publicrelations@plymouth.ac.uk to enquire.
Biography
Biography
Kim joined the University of Plymouth in 2004 and formerly taught at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University, for 15 years. She was also a visiting professor at the William Mitchell College of Law, St Paul, Minnesota, USA and the Open University Hong Kong. Research interests and expertise include historical and contemporary aspects of the criminal law with particular emphasis on sexual offences, sexuality and violence. She is committed to promoting interdisciplinary collaborations and assisting and mentoring others to develop and enhance their personal research and publication profiles. She has published widely in the area of crime history and the law with a specialist emphasis on the development of the law relating to sexual offences and was appointed Professor of Socio Legal History in 2013, retiring in 2019 she is now Emeritus Professor of SocioLegal History.
She co-founded, in 1999, with Professor Judith Rowbotham, and was Co-director SOLON: Promoting Interdisciplinary Studies in Law Crime and History and its associated journal Law Crime and History She has now handed over the reins of editorship for both of these project to the next generation.
Kim remains General Editor RoutledgeSOLON book series Explorations in Crime and Criminal Justice Histories which she also co-founded and to date (2021) has published 17 titles.
Qualifications
PhD Nottingham Trent University 1995: Competence and Credibility: The Evidence of Children in Cases of Child Sexual Abuse
LLB (Hons) 2:1 Nottingham Trent University 1989
Professional membership
Appointed Senior Fellow Higher Education Academy 2014
Roles on external bodies
Member ESRC Peer Review College 2010 to 2020 (ESRC reviewer since 2004)
Member Australian Research Council 2014 to 2020
Teaching
Teaching
Teaching interests
English Legal System
Legal Skills
Criminal Law
Sex Power and Legal Control
Law in Context
Research
Research
Research interests
Research interests and expertise include historical and contemporary aspects of the criminal law with particular emphasis on sexual offences, sexuality, morality and violence. Lead General Editor Routledge SOLON Explorations in the Histories of Crime and Criminal Justice Book Series launched 2012.
Books Published:
- Sinead Ring, Kate Gleeson, Kim Stevenson, Legal Responses to Historical Child Sexual Abuse (Routledge SOLON 2022)
- Kim Stevenson, David J. Cox and Iain Channing, Leading the Police: A History of Chief Constables (Routledge SOLON 2017)
- David J. Cox, Kim Stevenson ,Judith Rowbotham and Candida Harris, Public Indecency in England 1857-1960 A Serious and Growing Evil’ third title in Routledge Studies in the History of Crime and Criminal Justice (Routledge SOLON 2015)
- Judith Rowbotham, Kim Stevenson and Samantha Pegg, Crime News in Modern Britain: Press Reporting and Responsibility 1850-2010 Palgrave Macmillan autumn 2013 -part of their history of the media book series
- Jackie Jones, Anna Grear, Rachel Anne Fenton, Kim Stevenson (eds) Gender, Sexualities and the Law (Routledge).
- Judith Rowbotham and Kim Stevenson (eds.), Criminal Conversations: Victorians Behaving Badly joint editor with Judith Rowbotham)(Ohio State University Press 2005)
- Judith Rowbotham and Kim Stevenson (eds.), Behaving Badly: Social Panics and Moral Outrage - Victorian and Modern Parallels, (Ashgate, April 2003)
- Kim Stevenson, Anne Davies and Michael Gunn, Blackstone’s Guide to the Sexual Offences Act 2003, (Oxford University Press, 2004)
Research degrees awarded to supervised students
Director of Studies: Iain Channing ‘Blackshirts and White Wigs: Reflections on Public Order Law and the legacy of the British Union of Fascists in Modern Extremism University bursary awarded March 2014
Director of Studies: Henry Yeomans (Plymouth) Spirited Measures and Victorian Hangovers: Public Attitudes to Alcohol, the Law and Moral Regulation ESRC 3+ 1 funded bursary awarded May 2012
Director of Studies: Jane Abbott, (Nottingham Trent University) Contemporary Analogies, Victorian Parallels; Juvenile Delinquency - Causation, Continuity and Change in the periods 1840-1880 and 1980-2000, awarded November 2004
Publications
Publications
Key publications
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Articles
(2017) '‘CHILDREN OF A VERY TENDER AGE HAVE VICIOUS PROPENSITIES’: CHILD WITNESS TESTIMONIES IN CASES OF SEXUAL ABUSE' Law, Crime and History Open access
(2017) 'Writing the History of Crime. By Paul Knepper. Bloomsbury. 2016. 241pp. £19.99' History 102, (349) 114-116 , DOI
(2016) '“Not just the ideas of a few enthusiasts”: Early Twentieth Century Legal Activism and Reformation of the Age of Sexual Consent' Cultural and Social History 14, (2) 219-236 , DOI Open access
(2016) '“These are cases which it is inadvisable to drag into the light of day” : Disinterring the Crime of Incest in Early Twentieth-Century England' Crime, History and Societies 20, (2) , DOI Open access
(2016) 'The Sexual Constitution of Political Authority: The 'Trials' of Same Sex Desire' , DOI Open access
(2015) 'Reparation for Betrayal of Trust in Child Sexual Abuse Cases: The Christian Duty of Care, Vicarious Liability and the Church of England' Australian Feminist Law Journal , DOI Open access
(2014) 'OUTRAGEOUS VIOLATIONS: ENABLING STUDENTS TO INTERPRET
NINETEENTH CENTURY NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE' Law, Crime and History 1, (4) 36-61 Publisher Site Open access
(2012) ''It is What "Girls of Indifferent Character" Do ...' Complications concerning the Legal Age of Sexual Consent in the Light of R v C (2011)' American Journal of Criminal Law (76) 130-139
(2010) ''Breaking the Thrall of Ambiguity: Simplification (of the Criminal Law) as an Emerging Human Rights Imperative'' Journal of Criminal Law 74, (6) 516-532
(2009) '“She got past knowing herself and didn’t know how many there were”: Uncovering the Gendered Brutality of Gang Rapes in Victorian England,' Nottingham Law Journal 1, (18) 1-17
(2009) 'Truth, law and hate in the virtual marketplace of ideas: perspectives on the regulation of Internet content’' Information & Communications Technology Law 2, (18) 155-184 Publisher Site
(2008) 'Inaccessible and Unknowable: Accretion and Uncertainty in Modern Criminal Law' Liverpool Law Review 247-267
(2007) ''For today in this arena...' Legal performativity and dramatic convention in the Victorian criminal justice system' Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture 14, (2) 113-141
(2007) 'Unearthing the realities of rape: Utilising Victorian newspaper reportage to fill in the contextual gaps' Liverpool Law Review 28, (3) 405-423 , DOI
(2007) 'Editorial: Answering Baker: Utilising ‘Best’ Evidence. The Challenge for Socio-legal Studies' Liverpool Law Review 28, (3) 319-326 , DOI
(2006) 'A Question of (dis)engagement? Historical Lessons in Promoting an Effective Public Interface to Address Current Crime Concerns' Crime Prevention and Community Safety 8, (2) 69-89 , DOI
(2005) 'Review: Sex Crime: Sex Offending and Society, Stone's Justices' Manual, Blackstone's Police Q&A and Blackstone's Police Sergeant's Mock Examination Paper 2005, the Criminal Jury Old & New: Jury Power from Early Times to the Present Day' The Police Journal: Theory, Practice and Principles 78, (2) 175-185 , DOI
(2004) 'Fulfilling Their Mission: The Intervention of Voluntary Societies in Cases of Sexual Assault in the Victorian Criminal Process' Crime, Histoire & Sociétés 1, (8) 93-110
(2003) 'Children of Misfortune: The Parallel Cases of Child Murderers Thompson and Venables, Barratt and Bradley' Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 2, (42) 107-122
(2000) 'Dystopias and Legal Utopias?: Reflections on Visions Past and the Enduring Ideal of Criminal Codification,' Nottingham Law Journal 1, (9) 25-38
(2000) 'Unequivocal Victims: The Historical Mystification of the Female Complainant in Rape Cases,’' Feminist Legal Studies (8) 346-366
(1999) '‘Observations on the Law Relating to Sexual Offences: the 'Historic Scandal of Women's Silence,’' Web Journal of Current Legal Issues http://webjcli.ncl.ac.uk/1999/issue4/stevenson4.html (4)
Reviews
(2012) 'The Beauty Bias The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law by Deborah L. Rhode (Book Review)' European Journal of Women’s Studies 4, (19) 4-7
Editorial comments
Stevenson K & Rowbotham J (2007) 'Editorial: ‘Answering Baker – Utilising ‘Best’ Evidence. The Challenge For Socio-Legal Studies’' Liverpool Law Review 3, (28) 319-326
Books
Sinead Ring, Kate Gleeson and Kim Stevenson, Child Sexual Abuse Reported by Adult Survivors: Legal Responses in England and Wales, Ireland and Australia, RoutledgeSOLON 2022
stevenson K (2017) Leading the Police A History of Chief Constables 1835-2017. Routledge Routledge SOLON Open access
(2015) Public Indecency in England 1857-1960 'A Serious and Growing Evil’. Routledge
(2013) Crime News in Modern Britain: Press Reporting and Responsibility 1820-2010. PalgraveMacmillan Publisher Site
Jones J; Greer A; Fenton R (2010) Gender, Sexualities and Law. Taylor & Francis
Rowbotham J; Stevenson K (2005) Criminal conversations. Ohio State Univ Press
(2005) Criminal conversations: Victorian crimes, social panic, and moral outrage.
(2004) Blackstone's guide to the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Blackstone Press
Rowbotham J; Stevenson K (2003) Behaving badly. Ashgate Pub Ltd
Chapters
(2019) 'Union Street: More than simply a metaphor for the coming together of Plymouth's Three Towns?' Union and Disunion in the Nineteenth Century 148-165
(2018) 'Authoritative Judgments in a Provincial Town: Responses to Everyday Offending in Plymouth 1860 – 1900' in Gregory J; Grey D A Time of Judgement Routledge
(2017) 'Chief Constables and public order: tensions between discretion and consistency' in Stevenson K; Cox D; Channing I Leading The Police: A History of Chief Constables 1835–2017 Routledge 174-190 , DOI
(2017) 'Chief Constables as ‘moral heroes’ and guardians of public morality' in Stevenson KA; Cox DJ; Channing I Leading The Police: A History of Chief Constables 1835–2017 Routledge 91-108 Publisher Site , DOI Open access
(2017) 'Sexual assault' A Companion to The History of Crime and Criminal Justice 232-237
(2017) 'Sexual assault' A Companion to The History of Crime and Criminal Justice
(2017) 'Introduction: Behaving badly' Behaving Badly Social Panic and Moral Outrage - Victorian and Modem Parallels 1-13 , DOI
(2016) 'Women and Young Girls Dare not Travel Alone’: The Dangers of Sexual Encounters on Victorian Railways' Gendered Journeys, Mobile Emotions 189-200 , DOI
(2013) 'Challenging the ‘Golden Goose’? 1885–1900' Crime News in Modern Britain Palgrave Macmillan UK 60-83 , DOI
(2013) 'Enhancing Sensationalism: 1939–1960' Crime News in Modern Britain Palgrave Macmillan UK 143-170 , DOI
(2013) 'New Journalism Triumphant: 1900–1914' Crime News in Modern Britain Palgrave Macmillan UK 84-113 , DOI
(2013) 'New Perspectives and New Informants: 1914–1939' Crime News in Modern Britain Palgrave Macmillan UK 114-142 , DOI
(2013) 'Online and Offline: Postscript 2011–2012' Crime News in Modern Britain Palgrave Macmillan UK 202-223 , DOI
(2013) 'Positively Criminal? Press, Police and Politicians: 1960–2010' Crime News in Modern Britain Palgrave Macmillan UK 171-201 , DOI
(2013) 'The Beginnings of Crime Intelligence: 1800–1860' Crime News in Modern Britain Palgrave Macmillan UK 14-38 , DOI
(2012) '‘Women and young girls dare not travel alone’: The dangers of sexual encounters on victorian railways' Gendered Journeys, Mobile Emotions 189-200
(2010) '‘‘Most Intimate Violations’: Contextualising the Crime of Rape,' in Kilday A-M; Nash D Histories of Crime Britain 1600-2000 Palgrave MacMillan 80-99
(2010) '‘She Never Screamed Out and Complained’: Recognising Gender in Legal and Media Representations of Rape,’' in Jones J Gender, Sexualities and Law Taylor & Francis 121-134
(2005) '‘Crimes of Moral Outrage: Victorian Encryptions of Sexual Violence’' in Rowbotham J; Stevenson K Criminal conversations Victorian Crimes, Social Panics and Moral Outrage Ohio State Univ Pr 232-246
(2003) '‘Causing a Sensation: Media and Legal Representations of Bad Behaviour’' in Rowbotham J; Stevenson K Behaving badly: Visible Crime, Social Panics and Legal Responses - Victorian and Modern Parallels Ashgate Pub Ltd 31-46
(2000) '‘Ingenuities of the Female Mind: Legal and Public Perceptions of Sexual Violence in Victorian England 1850-1890’' in D'Cruze S Everyday violence in Britain, 1850-1950 Addison-Wesley Longman Ltd 89-103
(2000) '‘The Respectability Imperative: A Golden Rule in Cases of Sexual Assault?' in Inkster I; Workshop NTH; University NT The Golden Age: Essays in British Social and Economic History, 1850-1870 Ashgate Pub Ltd 237-248
Conference Papers
(2018) 'The Credibility Gap: The Objectification of Child Victims of Sexual Abuse 1880-1980' ‘From Trauma to Protection: the twentieth century as the children’s century’ University of Warwick 4-/-0/20184-/-0/2018Open access
(2017) 'The Significance of Union Street in the Unification of Plymouth’s Three Towns' PUNCS Union and Disunion Plymouth University 6-/-0/20171-/-1/2017Open access
(2017) 'The Legal Vilification of the Vulnerable Child Witness: Some Historical Perspectives' Responding to Historical Child Sexual Abuse. Kent University 3-/-0/20171-/-1/2017Open access
(2015) '‘My experience has shown me that children of a very tender age have vicious propensities’: Child testimony in Nineteenth Century cases of sexual abuse' Historicizing Rape Cardiff University 7-/-0/20157-/-0/2015
(2015) '‘The Youngest Chief Constable ever’' British Criminology Society Plymouth University 7-/-0/20157-/-0/2015
(2014) '‘…these are cases which it is inadvisable to drag into the light of day:’ Revisiting the Historiography of Incest 1885 to 1977' TRANSNATIONAL RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE Cardiff University 4-/-0/2014
(2013) 'Plymouth Student e-journals: comparing different approaches to publishing undergraduate research and scholarly work' British Undergraduate Research Conference 2013 Plymouth University 4-/-0/20134-/-0/2013
(2012) 'Open Journal Publishing: Letting Elpis out of Pandora's Box' North American Conference on British Studies Montreal 1-/-1/20121-/-1/2012History Working Papers Publisher Site
(2012) '‘There is a strong consensus of public opinion …’:
Edwardian Activism and the utilization of Criminal Law to prohibit Immorality and
Indecency' SOLON Modern Activism Conference Liverpool John Moores 6-/-0/20126-/-0/2012
(2011) ''"I Beg to Apologise for Troubling You on This Disagreeable Subject": the Criminal Law Amendment Acts and the Elusivity of Establishing the Age of Consent'' British Legal History Conference Clare College Cambridge Uhiversity 7-/-0/20117-/-0/2011
(2010) '‘Real' Rape, ‘Real’ Consent' National Conference Sex and the Law, Criminalisation? Protection? Rights Centre for HIV and sexual health Sheffield 9-/-0/2010
(2010) '‘Should there be a Human Right to know the criminal Law?’' Society of Legal Scholars Southampton University 9-/-0/20109-/-0/2010
(2008) '“She got past knowing herself and didn’t know how many there were”: Uncovering the Gendered Brutality of Gang Rapes in Victorian England' European Social Science History Conference Lisbon Lisbon 2-/-0/20083-/-0/2008
(2008) '‘The Legal Cassandra: Rethinking Fitzjames Stephen’s Influence on the Criminal Law’' Society Legal Scholars Annual Conference LSE London 9-/-0/20089-/-0/2008
(2007) '‘Inaccessible and Unknowable: The problem of legislative hyperactivity and frenzied law making in the Criminal Law’' SOLON Experiencing the Law Conference Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 2-/-1/2007
(2007) '‘“A Waste of Time?” Overcoming Student and Staff Resistance to Academic Development Planning in Curriculum Design and Delivery’' Association of Law Teachers Annual conference University of Plymouth 4-/-0/20074-/-0/2007
(2005) 'Female Monsters or Damsels in Distress?’' Behaving Badly Again SOLON 4th Annual Conference Galleries of justice Nottingham 9-/-0/20059-/-0/2005
(2005) '‘Reporting Legal Ingenuities: Representations of Sexual Offences in the Press’' Hart Workshop Empirical Research in Law and Legal Process Institute of Advanced Legal Studies London 6-/-0/20056-/-0/2005
(2004) '“The Sexual Offences Act 2003”' Sexual Offences Act Conference Manchester Metropolitan University 0-/-1/2004
(2004) '‘Evil Counsels; Perspectives on recent legislative initiatives’,' Evil State and the law International Conference Oxford University 7-/-0/20047-/-0/2004
(2003) '‘“She got past knowing herself and didn’t know how many there were”: Uncovering the Gendered Brutality of Gang Rapes in Victorian England.’' IAHCCJ International Colloquium ‘Gender and Crime in Historical Perspective Paris 6-/-0/20036-/-0/2003
(2003) 'Victorian Gang Rapes' Sociolegal Studies Association Annual Conference Nottingham Trent University 4-/-0/20034-/-0/2003
(2003) '‘Ganging Up, Should Stranger Rape be Constituted as a Hate Crime?’' SOLON/NCSRHC Hate Crimes Conference Galleries of Justice Nottingham 2-/-0/20032-/-0/2003
(2002) '‘Revealing the Sexual Truth, Sourcing records of sex crimes’' Crime Research Network One Day Seminar Series Nottingham Trent University 1-/-1/2002
(2002) '‘Indecent Propositions - The Mystification of the Female Complainant in Rape Cases’' Gender Sexuality and the Law International Second Conference Keele University 6-/-0/20026-/-0/2002
(2002) '‘Damsels in Distress or Female Monsters - Sexual Violence and Seduction in Railway Carriages’' SOLON Off the Rails One Day conference York Railway Museum 5-/-0/2002
(2001) '‘Courting Connexions: Legal Protagonists and the Press in the Victorian Period’' Law, Cultures and the Humanities, International Conference, Fourth Meeting University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA 1-/-1/20011-/-1/2001
(2001) '‘Helping the Vulnerable or Helping Themselves? The role of Voluntary Societies in Nineteenth Century Prosecutions of Sex Crimes’' Annual Meeting of the Social Science History Association Palmer House, Chicago, USA 1-/-1/20011-/-1/2001
(2001) '’Media Manipulations: Lawyers Reporting and Bad Behaviour?’’' Behaving Badly First SOLON International Conference Galleries of Justice Nottingham 9-/-0/20019-/-0/2001
(2001) '‘“Taking Indecent Liberties;” The Victorian Encryption of Sexual Violence’' International Conference on the History of Violence University of Liverpool 7-/-0/20017-/-0/2001
(2001) '“Taking Indecent Liberties?” Victorian Representations of Sexual Violence’' Women and Gender Keele University 6-/-0/2001
(2001) '‘Media Manipulations? Images of Crime, Lawyers, Judges and Police - Past and Present’' SOLON Open Public Lecture Galleries of Justice Galleries of Justice, Nottingham 3-/-0/2001
(2000) 'The Mystification of Rape: An exercise in Cultural Contextualisation’' Law, Cultures and the Humanities - International Conference, Third Meeting Georgetown University, Washington DC 3-/-0/20003-/-0/2000
(2000) '‘Societal Distopias and Legal Utopias: In Pursuit of a Code Victoria’' Social History Society Millennium Conference Gonville and Caius Cambridge University 1-/-0/20001-/-0/2000
(1999) '’The Respectability Imperative: A Golden Rule in Cases of Sexual Assault?’' One Day History Conference, The Golden Age, Nottingham Trent University 6-/-0/1999
(1999) '‘Ingenuities of the Female Mind: Legal and Public Perceptions of Sexual Violence in Victorian England 1850-90’' Women Gender and Interpersonal Violence: Historical Perspectives Leeds Metropolitan University 2-/-0/1999
(1998) '‘Loose Ends and Legal Disjunctions: Offences Against the Person? Socio-Legal Dynamics and Sexual violence in the mid nineteenth century’' Critical Legal Studies Conference Lancaster University 9-/-0/19989-/-0/1998
Exhibitions
(Re)Purposed Communities: Law, History and Heritage in Devonport Exploring historical and contemporary Crime and Everyday Offending in Devonport. Devonport Guildhall 06/11/201727 Open access
ESRC Festival of Social Science 2016 Piracy and Plymouth: privateering, profiting and policing. Sherwell United Reform Church 12/11/201620 Open access
Presentations and posters
'Creating the Virtuous Panopticon: Moral dimensions of Everyday Offending in Plymouth 1880-1910' Open access
'‘Conscientous Objectors: A Matter of Conscience or Freedom Expression?' Open access
'A Plymouth Contribution: The development of the Cowpox Vaccine' Open access
'Criminalists or Rationalists?'
'Decrying Drunkenness in Devonport' Open access
'Devonport – Building a Purposed Community: Who lived in Plymouth Dock?' Open access
'FIT FOR PURPOSE: INSTITUTIONS FOR DISPENSING LAW AND JUSTICE: Devonport Police' Open access
'FIT FOR PURPOSE? INSTITUTIONS FOR DISPENSING LAW AND JUSTICE Devonport Prison: The most efficient establishment of its kind' Open access
'Pirates, Visionaries or Entrepreneurs' Open access
'Purposeful Collaborations in Devonport – Police and Services in the Community' Open access
'PURPOSEFUL INSTITUTIONS FOR DISPENSING LAW AND JUSTICE: Devonport Magistrates' Open access
Other Publications
(2014) ‘Oh Man of Learning! Victorian Public Education in Matters Legal. PUNCS Publisher Site Open access
(2013) An Inadvertent Revolutionary? Developing Law Crime and History as an Open Access Journal. History Workshop Online