A Historical Study of Changes in Morals and Attitudes towards Personal Life in the 1960s Britain-"Permissive Society" Revisited.

2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 14510399
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: History of Europe and America
• Research Institution: Saitama University
• Principal Investigator: ICHIHASHI Hideo Saitama University, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Associate Professor, 教養学部, 助教授 (70282415)
• Project Period (FY): 2002 – 2004
• Keywords: Britain / 1960s / permissiveness / homosexuality / death penalty / abortion / divorce / personal freedom

Research Abstract

This historical research has looked into the so-called ‘permissive' social changes occurred in the 1960s Britain via examining certain legislative reforms, such as decriminalization of private homosexual acts between consenting male adults, modernization of divorce laws, abolition of capital punishment, relaxation of abortion laws, introduction of free family planning service and abolition of censorship in the theatre. How far were these legislative changes significant? Did they really reflect the changing attitudes and morals of British people? Primary sources are from the National Archives in London, parliamentary papers, official and non-official social surveys, newspapers, magazines, and various recollections and contemporary books.
In the academic year 2002/2003, three subjects were researched and analysed : decriminalization of private homosexual acts between consenting male adults, abolition of capital punishment and die relaxation of abortion laws. In 2003/2004, introduction of free family planning service, modernization of divorce laws and the abolition of censorship in the theatre were tackled In 2004/2005, after some follow-up research had been done, efforts were directed to producing the report.
There have been broadly two contrasting views on the 1960s Britain : those who are likely to praise the decade as an era of a cultural revolution which produced quite new, much more liberal values in the society, and those who tend to criticize it as a start of the moral decay in British society. As a result of this historical research, both are found unsatisfactory. Although 60s Britain has a unique historical moment in British people's life, changing their perception on personal life and lifestyle, the changes were fairly limited and continued to change.