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Reverend Simpson’s “Improper Liberties”: Moral Scrutiny and Missionary Children in the South Seas Mission

Manktelow, Emily J. (2012) Reverend Simpson’s “Improper Liberties”: Moral Scrutiny and Missionary Children in the South Seas Mission. Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 40 (2). pp. 159-181. ISSN 0308-6534. E-ISSN 1743-9329. (doi:10.1080/03086534.2012.697609) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:54105)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2012.697609

Abstract

This article explores a case of alleged sexual abuse, by a missionary, of a number of missionary daughters in the South Seas mission. The rich material connected with this

case allows for a powerful insight into the fabric of life of missionaries and their children, and illuminates various levels of moral scrutiny and social supervision that were embedded in the mission context. Parental moral scrutiny was the most effective mechanism to neutralise the internal threat posed by the potential deviance of missionary children. The levels of moral scrutiny in the mission were unevenly implemented, however, and the asymmetry of scrutiny that occurred (whereby missionary children were subjected to intense social and moral supervision, while missionaries themselves were permitted a certain level of deviation from spiritual and cultural norms) reflected the hierarchies of power and social dynamics of the mission context. This case led to the systemisation and legitimisation of both these scrutinies and these asymmetries, while further implementing new levels of social control, directed both at the behaviour of missionary children and the efficiency of parental moral scrutiny enacted by their parents.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1080/03086534.2012.697609
Subjects: D History General and Old World
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of History
Depositing User: M.R.L. Hurst
Date Deposited: 10 Feb 2016 14:18 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:22 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/54105 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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