Changes In Crime And Punishment - Causes Of Crime Flashcards
What were examples of poverty (medieval era) (6)?
Great Famine 1315-1317
Black Death 1340s
Poll Tax 1370s
1381 Peasants’ Revolt
Demands to pay for wars e.g Norman Conquest after 1066
War of Roses 1455 to 1485
When were the causes of poverty continuous up until?
Up to the early nineteenth century
What were other causes of crime in the medieval era?
Poverty - theft of property/ revolts/ rebellions
Trade and business - highway robbery
Access to dangerous weapons and farming tools - violent crimes (20% of all crimes between 1300 and 1348 were murder or manslaughter)
Famine - Great Famine of 1315-17 killed 10% of the population and followed poor harvest
Disease - Black Death of 1340s
Warfare
High tax such as the poll tax
What percentage of crimes from 1300 - 1348 were murder or manslaughter in the medieval era?
20
Why was there rise in poverty in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
The population of England and Wales doubled between 1500 and 1600 - more demand for food, clothing, housing and work
Rising inflation - wages worth less
Bad harvests - steep rise in food prices
Switched to keeping sheep - less need for labourers
All monasteries closed - had taken care of the desperate
Changes in the cloth industry
Costly foreign wars
What was the problem of vagrancy in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?
Many people left homes in the countryside to look for work in neighbouring towns
Forced into begging for food and money
Often resorted to petty stealing and fraud
The crime of being a wandering beggar
What is heresy?
Holding a belief that is different to those of the accepted religion
Serious crime in medieval times
Increases in the sixteenth century
Religion was a fundamental part of life and the Tudor monarchs changed the religion
What did Hersey become part of?
Treason
Betraying one’s country or monarch by not following the official religion of the country
What was smuggling and what time period was it specific to?
Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
Major crime
Secret trade in goods to avoid paying custom duties
No income tax so had to raise money from customs and excise duties on tea, chocolate, wine, spirits, salt, leather, soap
How much tax did tea have?
70 percent
People were willing to buy much cheaper smuggled goods
What was highway robbery and what time period was it specific to?
Eighteenth and nineteenth century
Changes to trade and business caused a rise in highway robbery
Increase in travel
Improvements to turnpike roads
Limiting banking facilities so money was carried by road
Handguns
Heaths and commons around London due to prosperity
What was urbanisation in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?
Forced people to move to towns for work
More opportunities to commit crime
Population of Britain rose from 16 million in 1800 to 42 million in 1900
Poverty caused by unemployment after the Napoleonic War ended in 1815
Poor living and working conditions
What were 5 protests in the industrial era?
Luddism
Peterloo Massacre
Swing Riots
Rebecca Riots
Chartism
What was Luddism?
1812 - 1813 Industrial towns in the Midlands and northern England - weavers protested about machines taking their jobs
What was the Peterloo massacre?
1819 Manchester - a mass meeting to demand electoral reform
What were the Swing Riots?
1830 - 1831 South East England - Farm labourers protested about machines taking their jobs
What were the Rebecca Riots?
1839 - 1843 South West Wales - Framers protested about increases in rent and tolls to use roads
What was Chartism?
1839 - 1848 National - Campaigning for the right to vote for working people and fairer elections
What were twentieth century specific crimes?
Car crime
Computer crime
Terrorism
Football Hooliganism
Modern smuggling
Drug related crime
Gun and knife crime
What was car crime?
The 1920s saw mass production in the car industry
1930s cars were affordable
Driving was dangerous as no license needed
1935 drivers had to pass test, pay road tax, get insurance and maintain a roadworthy car
More cars = more car thefts
What was computer crime?
Rise in home computer in 1980s and internet in 1990s
Stealing computers and mobile phones
Internet fraud
Illegal copying of music and films
What was terrorism?
IRA wanted to end British in NI 1970s - 1990s
al-Qaeda
ISIS
What was football hooliganism?
Gang violence at football matches became a problem at football matches in the 1970s
Rival fans fought each other under the influence of alcohol
What is modern smuggling?
Better transport has made smuggling difficult to prevent
Tobacco and alcohol smuggled in huge quantities
What is drug related crime?
The Dangerous Drugs Act 1920 - made possession of certain drugs illegal
Act of 1971 - classified drugs
Increase in smuggling
Higher instances of other crimes and gun and knife crime
What is gun and knife crime?
Juvenile gang culture in inner city areas
Lack of opportunity
Breakdown of family values
Causes behind gang culture and knife violence much debated
What were the treason laws introduced by Henry VIII?
- Anyone who said or wrote anything against the King, heirs or his wife or displayed support for the pope was guilty of treason
- Anyone who said the King was using his power unjustly or going against the Pope was guilty of treason
- Anyone who kept silent when asked what were the rights and authority of the King was guilty of treason
What was the problem with religion?
The religion changed under each monarch
Mary burnt more than 270 people at the stake so that they could taste hell
What were causes of crime in the 18th and 19th centuries?
End of Napoleonic wars in 1815 increased unemployment and poverty
Bad harvests
Little income
Political unrest
Poor living conditions
Growth of industrial towns
Increasing population
What is a key statistic from growth of industrial towns?
Manchester grew from 75,000 in 1801 to 303,000 in 1851
What is a key statistic from population growth?
16 million in 1800 to 42 million in 1900
Common causes of crime
Poverty
Lack of opportunity
Anonymity
Rich and poor divide
Direct action
Opportunity
Causes specific to modern
Access to information technology
Football hooliganism
Ban of drugs
Media attention
Gun and knife crime
Breakdown of family values and discipline
Easier to take sides
Technology
