”This must be done in the dark” : Child suffocation and infanticide in Västbo district in Småland 1860–1949

In the following essay I have studied child suffocation and infanticide in Västbo district in Småland 1860–1949. This has been done with a quantitative study of the district's death and funeral books which have shown the reduced frequency of the phenomena over time. I have also been able to point to a connection where child suffocation tended to occur in cases where the parents were married. Infanticide, on the other hand, was in most cases caused by an extramarital affair. Based on theories concerning the role of marriage,combined with the assumption that a female ideal is constructed on the basisof two counter-images, I have been able to show how the child murderer was seen as a greater threat to the social morality, compared with the married woman who suffocated her child in her sleep. Thus, there was also a greater tendency to punish the former more severely. In the qualitative part of thestudy, I have reviewed the district court's records concerning child murderers. Based on a theory that pregnancies, births and morality fell within the scope of a female sphere of responsibility, I have analyzed the actions of to the accused woman's homosocial group. Here, the study has been able to shed light on a significant female presence. This was partly reflected in the gender distribution of witnesses, as well as in how the authorities seemed to show aconfidence in the female sphere to bring clarity to the case