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The short and the tall: comparing stature and socioeconomic status for male prison and military populations
Citation
Inwood, K and Kippen, R and Maxwell-Stewart, H and Steckel, R, The short and the tall: comparing stature and socioeconomic status for male prison and military populations, Social Science History, 44, (3) pp. 463-483. ISSN 0145-5532 (2020) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2020 the authors
Abstract
Over the last four decades, historians and social scientists have become increasingly
interested in the way in which information about stature might be used to explore
the impact of environmental factors on the physical growth and well-being of
past populations. A particular problem encountered by many researchers is that height
data is only available for selected populations, typically military recruits or those
admitted to correctional institutions. Evidence from Australian military and prison
records demonstrate how the two social groups, soldiers and prisoners, differed from
each other and from the wider population in terms of age, birthplace, occupation, and
stature. Different patterns of observable characteristics conceal additional differences
in intergenerational experience. We trace male prisoners and soldiers born between
1870 and 1899 in Tasmania to their birth records and thence to the marriages of their
parents. This allows us to contrast social and occupational change from father to son
for both prisoners and soldiers. We conclude that evidence arising from these institutionalized populations can be used to estimate wider societal trends, although caution needs to be exercised.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Research Division: | History, Heritage and Archaeology |
Research Group: | Historical studies |
Research Field: | Australian history |
Objective Division: | Culture and Society |
Objective Group: | Understanding past societies |
Objective Field: | Understanding Australia's past |
UTAS Author: | Maxwell-Stewart, H (Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart) |
ID Code: | 141504 |
Year Published: | 2020 |
Deposited By: | Office of the School of Humanities |
Deposited On: | 2020-10-26 |
Last Modified: | 2021-01-27 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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