Changes In Crime And Punishment - Methods Of Punishment Flashcards
What happened when someone was accused of crime in Saxon times?
Faced trial by jury of men from their village
Turned to trial by ordeal if they couldn’t decide
What were the different medieval trials?
Trial by hot iron - picked up red hot weight and if their hand festered they were guilty
Trial by hot water - if their hand festered after being placed in boiling water they were guilty
Trail by cold water - thrown into pond, if they floated they were guilty
Trial by blessed bread - choke on bread means they are guilty
What system did Saxons rely on?
Wergild - compensation paid to victims of crime of their families
What were the three main types of corporal punishment in medieval times?
Whipping or flogging e.g refusing to attend church or stealing something worth less than a shilling or beggars
Stocks and pillory e.g drunkenness, swearing and dishonest trading
Mutilation e.g regular offenders or crimes such as theft
What was the difference between stocks and pillory?
Stocks - holes for feet
Pillory - holes for head and hands
What were crimes punishable by execution in the nineteenth century?
Murder, treason, counterfeiting, arson
Some minor crimes, couch as stealing something worth more than a shilling
What did Rowland Lee, the President of the Council of Wales and Marches do?
Had over 5,000 people publicly hanged between 1534 and 1543
Who had heretics burned at the stake?
Mary Tudor
Believed they had rebelled against God
E.g Ridley and Latimer
What else was punishable by death?
Treason
Hung drawn and quartered
Higher social class - beheaded
Mary QofS executed in Feb 1587
By 1815 how many crimes were punishable by death?
225
Bloody code
The Criminal Code
E.g stealing rabbits or sheep
Juries reluctant to convict people
What did public executions attract?
Large crowds
Tyburn
Cause of lawlessness
Royal Commission of Capital Punishment set up in 1864 and recommended an end to public executions
Public executions stopped in 1868
Hangings were then to take place inside prisons
What did an Act of 1678 allow?
Allowed convicts to be sent to British colonies in North America and the West Indies
Between 1717 and 1776, how many prisoners were transported to North America?
30,000
What ended transportation to America?
The American War Of Independence
What happened as a result of prison overcrowding?
Hulks were used as emergency prisons. Conditions on the hulks were terrible and at least 1/4 of the prisoners died due to lack of sanitation and violence
Why did Australia become the new place for sending convicts in 1772?
Captain Cook’s discovery of Australia
What was the first shipment of convicts to Australia?
11 ships carrying 736 convicts arrived at Sydney Cove in NSW on 26 January 1788
Between 1788 and 1868, how many convicts were transported to Australia?
2,000 a year
165,000
What were conditions like in the penal colony?
Harsh
Those who didn’t conform were sent to harsher penal settlements like Norfolk Island where they worked in chain gangs at building roads
What was a motive for good behaviour?
Early release
A conditional pardon could be granted after 5 years
Couldn’t return to Britain
Certificate of freedom granted after full sentence allowing return
What led to the end of transportation all together?
Changing attitudes
Expensive
Growing resentment from Australia over use as dumping ground
1840 transportation to NSW stopped
1852 Tasmania refused to accept more convicts
Western Australia stopped 1868
What was the need for prison reform?
Punishment by imprisonment didn’t exist on the medieval period
Tutor period - JPs set up Houses of Correction to reform persistent beggars
What were prisons initially used for?
To hold suspects until they were brought to trial or released
No set time for how long they were held
No salary and depended on forcing money from prisoners
Conditions were appalling and prisoners brutally treated
How many prisons were there in London in the sixteenth century?
14
Newgate
The Clink (religious prisoners)
The King’s Bench (debtors)
Who was John Howard?
In 1776 John Howard, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, carried out a survey
Prisoners were forced to stay in prisons because they couldn’t afford fees
Not separated by types of crime
Dies from diseases such as jail fever
Believed prison should be a place of reform
Clergymen should make regular visits to help reform
Solitary confinement
Who was G. O. Paul?
New jail for the county designed for security (polygonal) with a 17 foot walk around it
Health - isolation section for checking new prisoners for disease
Exercise yard
Good ventilation
Separation - jail for offenders awaiting trial and a penitentiary for punishment
Male and female sepration
Who was Elizabeth Fry?
Devout Christian
Visited Newgate Prison in 1813 and was horrified at the conditions, especially for female prisoners
In 1817 formed Association for the Improvement of Women Prisoners in Newgate
Female wardens, schools for women and their children and work
Ladies Prison Committees to carry in reform
Influenced 1823 Gaols Act
Didn’t agree with separation
What was the Gaols Act 1823?
Order JPs to visit prisons on a regular basis to inspect conditions
Jailers were to have salaries and prisoners were to follow a reform programme in secure and sanitary conditions
Separation
What was the separate system?
Kept in individual cells to work, pray and be visited by clergymen
Only left cells for religious services or exercise and had to wear masks to take away identity
Put to work making boots, mats and prison clothes and sewing mailbags and coal sacks
By the 1850s, how many prisons used the separate system?
50, including Pentonville built on radial design with five wings
Aim was to give prisoners time to reflect on mistakes and learn a lesson
What was the silent system?
Prison life was made as unpleasant as possible
Prisoners could eat and exercise together
Work was boring and pointless like crank turning, shot drill or tread wheel
What was the aim of the silent system?
To make the prisoners hate the silent system so much they wouldn’t reoffend
High suicide and insanity rates
What was the 1865 Prisons Act?
Imposed strict punishment rather than reform
What were borstals?
Set up in 1908 to punish 15-21 year olds. Strict rules and designed to educate rather than punish.
When was the birch (corporal punishment) abolished?
1962
In 1969 what happened in Borstals?
The minimum age to be sent to Borstals was raised to 17
Abolished in 1982
What were Young Offenders’ Institutions?
Set up in 1988 to reform violent young offenders aged 18-21. Secure Training Centres for those younger than 18;to prevent reoffending through education and rehabilitation
What were juvenile prisons?
For 15-18 year old offenders, focused on reform
What were open prisons?
Started after the Second World War to house non-violent prisoners with a low risk of escaping. Aimed to help prisoners resettle into community.
What made it difficult to reform or rehabilitate offenders?
Prisoners were overcrowded and expensive
Probation
1907 first introduced
Offenders follow a set of orders and keep in touch with probation officer and report regularly to the police
From 1980s also attend courses to discuss issues and get help
Suspended prisons sentences
1967 offenders do not go to prison unless they commit another offence during their period of suspension
Parole
Introduced in 1967 allowed prisoners to be released before the end of their sentence following good behaviour
Follow a set of orders like those on probation
Community service
1972 offenders do a number of hours of unpaid work like removing graffiti or rubbish or doing gardening
Electronic tagging
1990s - limits to where and when they can move and must where an electronic tag which allows police to monitor exact movements
Who was imprisonment initially for?
Debtors
Corporal
Inflicting pain
Capital
Execution
Humiliation
Public
Exclusion
Removing from society
Compensation
Give money to victim families
Transportation
Send them away
Deterrence
Displaying consequences of crime to stop others doing same
Reform
Change someone’s mind and character
Maintenance of law and order
Show consequences
Protection
Society is protected to ensure they are safe
Retribution
Offenders deserving punishment
Trial over blessed bread
For priests or members of church accused of crime
Chocked = guilty
Trial over hot iron
Picked up red hot iron
Hand infected after 5 days = guilty
Trial over cold water
Lowered into pond or river by rope
Float = guilty
Trial over hot water
Place hands in hot water
Infected after 3 days = guilty
When did trial by ordeal continue until?
2015
Vagabonds Act 1572
Whipped
Bunt through gristle of ear
Stocks/ pillory
1351 - Act - must be public
Minor crimes
1406 - punished vagrants and drunkards
Failed to pay fines = 3-6 hours
Abolished in 1872
Dishonest traders
Killed in pillory for sexual crimes
Pillory abolished in 1837
How many people were hanged at Tyburn from 1703-1792?
1232 including 92 women
1724 - 200 000 watched Jack Shepard execution
What were prison hulks?
Old rotting warships
25% prisoners died
400 prisoners
12oz bread, pint of cocoa
Lower decks were darkest and dirtiest
Good behaviour move up
Hard labour 6am to 6pm
Carry coal, clear rubbish, pull carts, building
Poor diet
Disease
Group cells
Supposed to be temporary
Not sea worthy
Advantages and disadvantages of hulks
Cheap and available
Alternative to America
Isolated prisoners
Space feed up in prisons
Illness and disorder common
High death rate
Not a solution to overcrowded prisons
How would the Gaols Act improve conditions?
Consistency across the country to prevent overcrowding
Sanitary conditions
Prevents corruption
Reform
Prevent disease
High security
Healthcare
Key terms Australia transportation
Ticket of leave
Conditional pardon
Absolute pardon
Prisons Act 1877
Central organisation of prison system
3 person committee to run prisons
80 small prisons closed
113 under government control
Home Office Control
