History Crime and Punishment

seperate system

\-1830 \n -main principle that criminals where kept in solitary confinement \n -1860 attitudes moved from reform back to reformation \n -beds

Blood Society

\-Early Kings allowed victims of crime to punish the criminal themselves

\-Anglo Saxons did not see this as fair

Anglo Saxons communities

\-By 1000 AD, farming communities shared responsibility to maintain law and order.

\-Most crimes where against properties , an example is theft

Social Crime

Poaching was an example of social law

\-Many people turned a blind eye to this as it was acceptable to survive in this period

Crimes against neighbours

Crimes against the person would include insulting your friend or neighbour or something as serious a neighbour

Changes under the normans

\-The most obvious change following the Normans was the building of castles

\-Did this to protect themselves and exert their authority over the area

\-Introduced a new language to the area

Forest Laws

Normans introduced Forest Laws

\-Claimed that all forest land belonged to the king and therefore trees could not be cut down for fuel

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\-Those living in the forest could not own dogs or have bow and arrows

\-Many people ignored this new law as they were happy to break the law in order to be able to survive

Tithings

\-absence of an official police force, local communities policed themselves

\-Every male over the age of 12 was expected to join the tithing

\-Group of 10 men who where responsible for each others behaviour

\-If one of the men broke the law, its the other men's job to hold the man accountable in court or ensure that any fines due were paid

Hue and cry

Following a crime being committed, either the victim or a witness must raise the hue and cry

\-The entire village must stop what they are doing and chase the criminal

\-If anyone did not join then the whole village must pay a fine

\-If the hue and cry failed then the Sheriff would group together a Posse of men who would carry on the search

Trial by Jury

\-Members of the local communities formed a jury

\-This was made up of men from the village that knew both the accused and accuser

\-The accused and the accuser would tell their version of events and the jury would decide who they thought was telling the truth

\-If there was no evidence, for example an eyewitness to the crime, the jury would decide on their knowledge of the two parties involved

Compurgation

In examples where the jury felt the accuser was more honest than the accused they would take this oath

\-The jury would swear that the accused was guilty

Constable

\-Well respected men in the village or landowners

\-Take on the role for one year

\-Take on the role for one year

\-Watch out for any crimes in their spare times and lead hue and cries when necessary

Deterrence and retribution

\-Punishments where supposed to be severe enough to deter people from doing the crime

\-Retribution is the idea that people should pay for what they have done

Corporal Punishment

\-Punishment to the body

\-Often their head, hands or ankles clamped between two pieces of wood, it would often take place in public as a means of humiliation to deter other people from doing the same crime

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\-Reoffenders where treated more harshly

\-Often had face mutations to their bodies

\-Again the severity of this crime was designed to deter them from further crimes

Wergild

\-System of fines was used in medieval England

\-Offenders paid an amount an amount of money to the victim of their crime. Mainly used in cases of crimes against person or property

\-Amount of money paid was directly linked to the crime that had taken place

Capital Punishment

-Reserved for serious crimes, treason was an example of this. This was done to show how important it is to be loyal to the authority

Prison

\-Prison was not widely used in the same way it is used today

\-Often used when waiting for executions or because you owe debt to someone

Changes in punishment following the Norman Invasion

-System of Wergild was removed and fines where paid to the King and his officials rather than the victims of the crime

Reaction to Norman changes

\-Lot of distrust and anger towards the Normans

\-Some Saxons fought back against their new rulers and killed Norman soldiers

As a result the murdrum fine was introduced

\-This meant that if a Norman was killed then everyone in the area would have to club together and pay a fine to the king

Trial by combat

\-Normans introduced this

\-Accused and accuser fight until one was either killed or unable to continue to fight

\-Loser hanged as God had seen them as guilt

Role of the Church in medieval church

\-Saxons where extremely religious and if a local jury could not decide if someone was not guilty then they would allow God decide through trial and decide

\-All trials happened in the Church apart from Cold water

\-Practice ended in 1215 by pope Innocent III

Trial by hot iron

\-Trial taken by women

\-Accused carried a red hot piece of metal for three paces

\-Bandaged for three days and then unwrapped

\-If the wound was healed then God deemed them innocent, if not then they where deemed guilty by God

Trial by hot iron

\-Usually taken by men

\-The accused had to bunk their hand into hot water to retrieve and object

\-Hand and arm bandaged for three days

\-If the burns healed they where deemed innocent, if not they where deemed guilty

Trial by blessed bread

\-Usually taken by priest that where accused of a crime

\-Accused would choke on the bread if they had lied

\-The accused then ate the bread and was deemed guilty if they choked

Trial by cold water

\-Usually taken by men

\-Accused put into a pool of water or river

\-Often the accused was lowered into a river

\-If they drowned then they where deemed innocent and God has taken him

\-If they rose to the top then they where deemed rejected by God

Sanctuary

\-If you where on the run, you could reach a church, you could claim sanctuary

\-This means the church would protect

\-No one could remove you from the Church not even the County Sheriff

\-Criminal had 40 days to decide if they want to face trial in the Church Court or flee the country

\-If they opted to leave the country, they would travel to the nearest port barefooted, carrying a wooden cross and get onboard and aboard the first ship heading abroad

Church Courts

\-The church claimed they had the right. to try and clergyman accused of a crime in its own courts

\-Trial would be in the presence of a local bishop

\-Main difference with the Church Courts is they wouldn't sentence anyone to death even if they committed murder so murderers could get away with crime

\-Moral offences such as failure to attend church , adultery and drunkenness were usually dealt by the church courts

Benefits of the clergy

When the accused claimed the right to be trial by the Church courts as they where usually more lenient

\-In theory this right should only have been for priest and men of the church

\-Church often test people claiming benefit of Clergy by making them read a bible verse

\-This verse became known as the neck verse, as it enabled you to escape hanging

Government and law makers

English Civil War (1642-1649)

\-Led to many feeling upside down as Charles I was challenged and beheaded in 1649

\-Friction between parliament and monarchy led to England becoming a republic until 1660 where the monarch was restored

\-Civil war meant areas took laws in there own hands, which lead to more people being accused of witchcraft and other crimes

Henry VIII

\-Became king in 1509

\-Put plans to change the religon in England, making it a protestant nation

\-Henry wanted to divorce his first wife , Cathorine of Aragon, but the pope refused this from happening.

\-Henry created the Church of England

The reformation

\-Period where England was swaying from Catholic and Protestant resulting in Chaos and confusion

\-Resulted in many being accused of being in "league" with the devil and belief in the supernatural became more popular

The Media

\-Printing press was an important invention which became a powerful tool during this period

\-Pamphlets where created containing pictures and information

\-Favourite topic was crime, especially witchcraft and vagabondage

\-Media fueled fear of crime by spreading ideas about the severity of the punishment

Travel and technology

\-Rising population meant fewer jobs, meaning people ended up travelling to find work

\-As a result the new crime of vagabondage became something that people in this period feared

Attitudes towards crime depended upon the situation in society at the time

\-During time of poor harvest, punishments became harsher

Wealth and poverty

\-Rising population saw very few becoming wealthy

\-Majority of the population lived in poverty

\-Large number of poor people resulted in more crime

\-Fear of wealthy landowners made crime seem worse than it was

\-During times of poor harvest, people did not have money so they would have to resort to crime

Key impacts on crimes during early modern society

\-Robert Catesby and the Gunpowder Plotters, planned to blow up the House Of Parliament to kill James 1 to restore England to Catholicism

\-Matthew Hopkins was a self declared witch hunter, during 1645-1647, persecuted people and punished accused witch, ultimately spreading fear of the crime of witchcraft

Heresy

Crime of religion

Going against the religion of the monarch

impact of the reformation on heresy

change of religion fuelled uncertainty as monarchs kept on changing religion

edward vi followed his fathers footsteps in making the country a protestant country, whilst mary 1st changed it back into chatholism

during marys 5 year reign, she burned 284 protestants

Vagabond

\-mainly people who were moving around looking for work

\-during times of mass unemployment, people in towns and villages became concerned about vagabonds , fearing a rise in crime if they cam to their local area

\-local unemployes people where assised financially in the village they lived in thanks to poor rates

\-residents were not happy to give help to outsiders

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vagabondage continued

\-media and paphlets made huge claims about vagabondage travelling in huge packs and people were concerned

\-rise of numbers of vagabonds often happened due to bad harvest and rising unemployment

witchcraft

\-tension between poor and rich increased

\-people who where previously been cared for ,such as the elderly, where looked at differently

\-common scenario was a elderly would ask help from a wealthier neighbour

\-mumbles of elderly woman would be taken to mean they where muttering spells to curse the neighbours for not providing assistance

\-often word spread around leading to many elderly women being accused of witchcraft

Stocks and pillory

\-stock and pillory was still used as a method of public humiliation

\-often for those who couldn't pay a fine

whipping and flogging

-punishment used as public humiliation

prisons

-still used for those who held debt and those awaiting trial or execution

treason

most serious punishment

hanging

drawing

quatering

house of correction

punishment in 1500s designed to punish and reform criminals

forced to do hard labour

trasnsportation

began in 1600s

american convicts often lived lives in conditions of slavery

transported on large wooden ships known as hulks

known as a soft punishment compared to death penalty

bloody code

introduced in 1688

minor crimes such as poaching, cutting down trees where punishable by execution

by 1815, 225 crimes where punishable by death

The hue and cry

-used in a similar way as before

constable

main method of tracking down criminals

still a part time role undertaken by a key figure in the area

church courts

remained in use and dealt with crimes committed by churchmen and those who could claim benefit of the clergy

however by 1600 many ordinary people where claiming benefit of the clergy by reading the neck verse, so this practise was ended

trial by jury

continued as a method

\-still relied on a jury made up of people

town watchmen

\-introduced to patrol the streets

\-patrolled during the day and night, role was to arrest and detention vagabonds and drunks

\-not really effective as they where poorly paid

justice of the peace

\-became an important method of law

\-usually local wealthy people took this position

\-enabled them to pass sentence onto others, issue fines, ordered people to be whipped or send them to stocks and pillory

crimes jp dealt wih

often minor crimes

but local jps met up every 4 years to discuss more serious crimes

at the sessions, they had the power to sentence people to death

army

became part of local law enforcement

often used to stop riots and rival criminal gangs

method was particular unpopular with ordinary people

James 1 reign and Catholicism

\-James 1 became king following Elizabeth's death in 1603

\-Catholics hoped they could continue to worship but James government felt strongly catholic

\-laws where tightened and new rules where enforced harshly

Robert Catesby gun powder plot

-created a plan to blow up house of parliament, kill James 1 and restore a Catholic Monarch

The plotters of gunnpowder plot

\-13 plotters filled up the basement of hop with 36 barrels of gunpowder

\-however anonymous letter was sent to member of parliament warning the monarch to not attend state opening in the coming weeks

the failure of the gunpowder plot

\-basement beneath parliament was searched and fawkes was arrested and tortured until he revealed his allies

\-the others attempted to escape but where captured up north and executed, this was done as an act of deterrence to stop others to do acts of treason

Matthew Hopkins

1645-1647 unusual rise in number of accusations made against witches

\-he searched east anglia for witches, naming 36 women and collected evidence against them

\-many where charged with harmful magic resulting in harm to animals or poor crop growth

torturing witches

\-often forced awake all night to gain confession

\-often forced to move continuously

farmiliars

\-animals found and accused of being created by the devil and worked for the witch

\-sucked the blood of any witch through any scars , spots or birthmarks on the witches body

witchcraft accusations

\-increasing number of accusations by Hopkins led to fear of witches spreading to villages upon Hopkins to come and remove

\-Hopkins made a lot of money due to this

\-majority accused where women but some where men

\-local vicur accused because they found "devil marks" found in his mouth

hopkins disappeared

disappeared in 1647, never to be seen again

cases of witchcraft in east angelica reduced as a result

urbanisatoin

-1750 there was 9.5 millions people living in villages, by 1900 the population had risen to 41.5 and people lived in mostly towns and cities

industrialisation

-lots of jobs where made due to the process of undustrialisation

harvest failure in industrial britain

harvest failure was less of a problem as people could easily import food from other countries

crime and punishment industrial britain

\-ideas started to change

\-prison became most common punishment

\-punishment began to focus on reformation rather than deterrence

creation of police

created in 1829

highway robbery

\-huge threat of disruption as it was a threat (disruption to trade)

\-dembolised soldiers were returning from war and became jobless so started to do highway robberies

\-horses and weapons became easier to obtain so more people where travelling the country

impact of toll roads

\-better roads which you had to pay to travel on

\-buisinessmen travelling around to complete transaction carried large sums of cash so it was a easy target

laws on poaching industrial britain

\-only landowners with land over £100 could hunt on their land

\-if vaules at less then it was forbidden

1723 black act

\-made hunting deer, hare or rabbits a capital crime

crime of poaching

\-gamekeepers often employed to protect land, sometimes led to violence as poachers would often attack them

\-villagers would then provide and alibi, which evidence towards this crime

\-many poachers would sell on the black market as you could make significant amount of more money

smuggling

\-took place in costal areas on England

\-smugglers bought wine, tea into the country, avoiding payment of tax on the goods

\-smuggling was a crime that had a great impact on the income of the authorities

\-often smugglers where ruthless and often resorted to violence if they had to

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\-attracted all sorts of people

\-good source of additional income, having access to a number of luxury items

\-many towns and villages turned a blind eye as they could reap benefits

aftermath of french revolution

\-genuine fear of revolt and uprising in England

\-Government were worried so was extra vigilant for conspiracy and plotting

end of bloody code

\-juries increasingly unwilling to find people guilty and sentence them to death

\-many felt that punishment was unfair for the crime

\-as a result, criminals became more confident

changings attitudes towards death penalty

\-1700s 40% sentenced to death by hanging

\-by 1800s this dropped by 10%

transportation of colonies

\-convicts stopped being sent to America when they gained independence

\-needed new place to send convicts, they sent them to Australia

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\-kept on prison hulks

\-chained and did hard labour

\-good behaviour could lead you to gain a ticket back to England

crime rates increased proving that it wasn't an effective deterrence

majority of convicts chose to remain in Australia and some became well respected members of the community, suggest

prison system in industrial period

\-basic

\-all genders mixed together

\-officers didnt get paid

\-only got paid by chargin inmates fees for food clothing and their release

conditions of prisons

\-often relied on charities for their prison fees

\-richer inmates could afford a single cell

\-prisons were damp and dirty

john howard

1726-1790 inspected prisons in Bedfordshire and report 1777 about the general state of prisons

\-proposed changes to the systems

\-better accomidation

\-police pays

\-improving diets

1860 attitudes

1860 attitudes moved from reform back to reformation

\-beds made or harsh wooden bunks

\-better food was replaced with hard fare

\-hard labour

Fielding Brothers

magistrates who tried to improve policing in London

\-decided that if there was more men on the streets they would be able to reduce crime

development in metropolitan police

-established in 1749-more organised way of catching criminals introduced horse patrol which eliminated highway robbers-published newspapers called the hue and cry where they published names of criminals in hopes to get the public to catch them

robert peel

-appointed home secretary in 1822-aim to improve life by reducing crime-showed crime statistics to politicians to prove there was a need for an official police force-used funds from tax to help pay for the police force-rise in crime convinced people that this was needed

pentonville

\-design with a central area and prison wings were spokes from the centre

\-so less guards required

separate system

\-prisoners spent most of their time in their cell

\-to stop influence from other criminals

\-effective but led to people becoming insane, suicidal

activites in pentonville

\-exercised in yard wearing mask

\-to avoid communication between inmates

religious instruction was major

\-provided boxes to sit in whilst in Church to avoid contact with inmates

gaols act

\-applied to 130 biggest prisons in the country

\-prisoners classified by their crime

\-so hardened criminals were not housed with first time offenders

\-male and female prisons seperated

staff in prison

\-guard paid

\-local magistrate visit often to check if guards are doing good job

hygeine in prison

-gaols act state prison have access to fresh water, food and good food

living standards 20th century

\-better than 19th century

\-better houses, better food

\-welfare state provided for the more vulnerable

reporting and recording crimes

\-people happier to report crime

\-as police where more approachable

\-police recorded more crime more consistently

\-appeared crime statistics increased

\-use of technology made crime appear that it had risen

new crime in Britain

\-hate crimes created in 2007

\-terrorism became bigger threat

\-IRA bombed Britain during 1970 80 90s

\-conscientious objection

\-people who refused to go to war for moral reason

\-seen as cowardice

\-had to attend a tribunal where they were punished

cars

\-lead to more offences being committed

\-cars stolen and drove dangerously so more frequent injuries in britain

computuers

\-widespread use led to changing approach to criminal activity

\-fraudsters target victims through phishing emails to steal bank accounts

air travel

-made smuggling more easier to commit and more difficult to detect

police officers

\-prior to 1900 had a whistle to call for help

\-1930 two way radio was introduced allowing for police officers to communicate more easily

\-carried pepper spray or cs gas which could be used in serious situations