Over the last four decades, historians and social scientists have become increasingly interested in the way in which information about stature might be used to explore the impact of environmental factors on the physical growth and well-being of past populations. A particular problem encountered by many researchers is that height data is only available for selected populations, typically military recruits or those admitted to correctional institutions. Evidence from Australian military and prison records demonstrate how the two social groups, soldiers and prisoners, differed from each other and from the wider population in terms of age, birthplace, occupation, and stature. Different patterns of observable characteristics conceal additional differences in intergenerational experience. We trace male prisoners and soldiers born between 1870 and 1899 in Tasmania to their birth records and thence to the marriages of their parents. This allows us to contrast social and occupational change from father to son for both prisoners and soldiers. We conclude that evidence arising from these institutionalized populations can be used to estimate wider societal trends, although caution needs to be exercised.

中文翻译：

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矮个子和个子个子：比较男性监狱和军人的身材和社会经济地位

在过去的四年里，历史学家和社会科学家对如何利用身高信息来探索环境因素对过去人口的身体发育和福祉的影响越来越感兴趣。许多研究人员遇到的一个特殊问题是，身高数据仅适用于选定的人群，通常是新兵或被惩教机构录取的人。来自澳大利亚军队和监狱记录的证据表明，士兵和囚犯这两个社会群体在年龄、出生地、职业和身材方面彼此之间以及与更广泛的人口之间的差异。不同的可观察特征模式隐藏了代际经验的额外差异。我们追踪 1870 年至 1899 年间在塔斯马尼亚出生的男性囚犯和士兵的出生记录，进而追踪他们父母的婚姻。这使我们能够对比囚犯和士兵从父亲到儿子的社会和职业变化。我们得出的结论是，来自这些制度化人群的证据可用于估计更广泛的社会趋势，尽管需要谨慎行事。