The Setting Flashcards
What are the main societal factors influencing Whitechapel and the East End in the 19th century? (5)
Unemployment
Poverty
Prostitution
Anti-semitism and immigration
Housing
Why is the setting of the case important for understanding it?
Jack the Ripper was a mirror of the abominable conditions of London at the time, a reflection of the horrific living conditions within Whitechapel which was known as the Abyss
Describe the Nemesis of Neglect (3)
A cartoon published by Punch Magazine depicting a ghoulish figure hovering through the streets of Whitechapel
It basically illustrated that if you ignore a population long enough, they will eventually rise out of the abyss to fight back for their revenge and make you notice them
Some saw Jack the Ripper as a hero, an independent genius who took matters into his own hands
What is a folk devil? (2)
According to Albert Cohen in his book on Folk Devils and Moral Panics, folk devils are deviants who embody evil and symbolizes something despicable and ugly about social life
Jack the Ripper symbolized the evil occurring within the East End
How does a functionalist perspective view Jack the Ripper? (2)
Jack was a functional creature that allowed the East End to turn a general sense of wrongness into a real tangible problem that the West would be forced to respond to
Jack gave them a way of utilizing his crimes to advance all sorts of causes, beliefs and theories
What are the three functionalist lessons learned from Jack the Ripper?
Serial came to symbolize something other than repeated (it indicated the sinister characteristics of an offender such as irrationality and extreme violence; actual killers could draw inspiration from the idea of seriality and pattern their murders based on patterns of stalking and repetition)
That sex and violence occur together, which is a great combination to sell papers (violence and sex always sell and news editors could make a fortune)
It fostered the belief that the violence of a serial killer escalates over time (in numbers, violence and mutilation)
What are Charles Booth’s 3 categories of the poor? (3 each)
Poor: meager but regular income of between 18-21 shillings a week; 8% of population; mainly men who worked intermittently with intensive hard manual work that often resulted in eating and drinking with what little money they make
Very poor: made less than the poor; 11.25% of the population; mainly women and children working for others doing housework and menial tasks
Occasional laborers, loafers, unfortunates and criminals: the lowest of the low; 1.25% of the population; homeless dossers sleeping anywhere they can who were criminals, prostitutes and alcoholics who spent all their money on drinking
How did children live in the East End? (3)
They often died young as they were physically and mentally underdeveloped (starved, dull, incapable of controlling their emotions)
55% of East End children died by the time they were 5 years old
Prone to violence and anger as they never learned to express it through words
How did immigration impact the East End? (4)
There were 45,000 Jewish immigrants in Whitechapel coming from Germany, Russia and Poland which meant that unemployment rates were high
Jewish people would work for longer and cheaper which resulted in them undermining the Englishmen’s fight for shorter hours and higher wages
This all fostered anti-semitism and hatred for Jewish people, which was bolstered by the media who called the foreigners a disease
Lispki case, for example, had a Jewish man kill another Jewish woman and when he was executed Lipski became a derogatory term for Jews
What are doss houses? (4)
Common lodging houses where the poor, specifically prostitutes and criminals, could stay for cheap in disgusting conditions
About 233 doss houses in Whitechapel
Sleeping arrangements included packed sleeping rooms full of beds, private rooms that you would share with a stranger, a 2 penny rope lean
Police were supposed to regulate these but doss owners were given advance warning to make sure everything was to code or bribe the officers
How did prostitution impact the East End? (3)
Police estimated that there were about 1200 prostitutes of the lower class in Whitechapel and about 62 brothels
Prostitution was rampant and it was not a choice but a necessity to survive which often resulted in alcoholism
Prostitutes were easier to kill than married women and women virtually had no rights to anything back then which didn’t help the situation
