ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores how bodies defined social and criminal action and the courts' response. As Bryan Turner has argued, the body is an important axis of sociological, historical and criminological inquiry. The book shifts responsibilities of governance between courts, health and welfare officers, parochial authorities, commercial enterprises and civic officials. The role of myriad protagonists in the narrative of the changing face of Scottish cities over the nineteenth century has been well documented by scholars of urban history. Police court personnel juggled their judicial role along side interactions with other civic and legal officials in the urban governing landscape. Many of the behaviours which came under surveillance brought the courts into relationship and partnership with religious officials, including Protestant mainstream and dissenting leaders as well as Catholic authorities.
