Crime and Punishment Flashcards
1
Q
What is smuggling?
A
The illegal movement of goods in/out of a country
2
Q
What is a social crime?
A
An act most people don’t believe is criminal and which they are prepared to commit or ignore
People did not necessarily disagree with this type of crime because they often benefited from it (e.g. smuggling)
3
Q
Why did smuggling increase in the 17th and 18th century?
A
Introduction of taxes (import duties)
Large organised gangs - Hawkhurst gang
4
Q
Who were the Hawkhurst gang?
A
A gang who controlled smuggling around the south coast of England in the mid 1700s - this form of smuggling operated on a larger and more organised scale
5
Q
Why was smuggling difficult to stop?
(3 main reasons)
A
- It was a social crime
- It would take place at night, there were few customs officers to enforce the law
- Some members of the upper class liked smugglers and protected them, so the crime wasn’t reported
6
Q
Why did smuggling decrease in the late 18th and 19th century?
A
Prime Minister William Pitt lowered the import duties in the 1780’s, so there was less incentive
The price of legally imported and smuggled goods were the same
7
Q
When was the Anglo Saxon period?
A
500-1066
8
Q
What was Trial by Ordeal?
A
Law Enforcement to prove guilt in the eyes of God:
Trust in God’s view and shows religion’s importance in Anglo-Saxon England, e.g. trial by water, if the person sank they were innocent
9
Q
What is collective community responsibility?
A
The idea that everyone is responsible for each other’s actions (emphasised in medieval law enforcement)
10
Q
What was the Hue and Cry?
A
The victim or witness of a crime would have to raise a hue and cry by shouting to alert the others and running to catch the criminal
11
Q
What was a Tithing?
A
a group of 10 men, 12+ who were all responsible for each other’s actions
12
Q
What law enforcement did the Normans introduce?
A
Trial by combat and Foresters
13
Q
What was Trial by Combat?
A
Two people would fight until one was killed or surrendered to settle disputes if there were no witnesses to a crime
14
Q
Who were foresters?
A
People who policed the Royal Forests and enforce Forest Laws (the crime that banned hunting, grazing animals or collecting firewood on any land that now belonged to the King)
15
Q
How did the King’s influence impact law enforcement?
A
As the influence and power of the King increased, the more centralised the approach to law enforcement
16
Q
When were coroners introduced? What was their purpose?
A
introduced 1194 under King Richard
To deal with and investigate suspicious deaths
17
Q
When were Justices of the Peace introduced?
What was their purpose?
A
first established in 1194, and extended to all areas by 1361 under King Richard
They met 4 times a year to maintain law and order and enforced the law in unruly areas/communities
18
Q
What was benefit of the clergy?
A
Church courts tried clergymen for moral crimes, they could prove their right of passage through reading a special passage in the Bible (Psalm 51:3)
19
Q
Why were the church courts often more lenient?
A
The church courts were often more lenient than other courts as they partially believed in reform
20
Q
What was sanctuary?
A
A person could claim sanctuary (protection from law) in the church after committing a crime without being able to be arrested
The accused could either agree to go to court or swear to leave the country, if they had not left the country within 40 days they would be outlawed
21
Q
What were watchmen?
A
People who patrolled the streets between 10pm and dawn carrying a bell and a lamp and warned people to go home in order to not be identified as criminals
22
Q
What were town constables?
A
Town Constables helped with administration and had the power to arrest suspects and take them to Justice of the Peace
23
Q
How did Henry VIII impact sanctuary?
A
Henry VII allowed non-clergy ‘benefit of the clergy’ a single time and people were branded to show that they had received the privilege
24
Q
What changed in 1576 about church courts?
A
Church courts could not trial criminal acts (only moral), so everyone was tried in secular courts
25
Who abolished sanctuary in 1623?
James I
26
When/where/by who were the Bow Street Runners established?
1748 - Henry Fielding in London
27
What did the Bow Street Runners believe about law enforcement?
What was their main aim?
They believed that the role of ‘thief takers’ should be part of law enforcement as the current system was no longer working with the growth of London
Their main aim was to deter
28
Why did the Bow Street Runners opt for mounted patrols on horseback from 1754?
To deal with highway robbery
To emphasise their public presence
29
How did the Bow Street Runners modernise law enforcement in terms of criminals?
They shared information on crimes and suspects and marked the beginning of a crime intelligence network
30
When was the Middlesex Justices Act?
1792
31
What did the Middlesex Justices Act do?
Set up offices each with 6 constables tasked with the jobs of arresting suspects
32
When was the Metropolitan Police Act?
1829
33
What did the Metropolitan Police Act do?
Gave London a uniformed and professional police force with 17 districts with individual divisions (each with 4 inspectors with 144 constables each)
Emphasis to deter with public presence + patrols
Better organised with greater numbers
34
How many districts were involved in the Met. Police Act?
How many inspectors and constables did each have?
17 districts
with 4 inspectors with 144 constables each
35
When was the Municipal Corporations Act?
1835
36
What did the Municipal Corporations Act do?
Gave borough councils power to set up local police forces, 93/171 had done so by 1837
37
When was the Rural Constabulary Act?
1839
38
What did the Rural Constabulary Act do?
54 counties were able to organise paid police
JPs were given the power to: appoint chief constables, employ 1 constable per 1,000 population
39
When was the Police Act?
1856
40
What did the Police Act do?
Made it so all areas had to have a centrally controlled professional police force, police forces were inspected by government officials, principle of deterrence through detection of criminals
41
When were the National Crime Records set up?
1869
42
What did the National Crime Records introduce?
New technology in policing, telegraph communications = quick communication between police forces, sharing crime + suspects
43
When was the Criminal Investigations Department set up?
1878
44
What did the Criminal Investigations Department do?
Employed 200 detectives and 600 more in 1883
Introduced new detection methods e.g. 1880s used handwriting to attempt to identify Jack the Ripper
1902 they used fingerprints at crime scenes
45
State 3 differences between law enforcement in Modern Britain and the older enforcement.
Any 3 from:
- Motorised transport, hunting criminals is faster and easier
- Modern police force is more diverse
- Neighbourhood Watch: 1982
- Science and technology
46
What were some examples of development of science and technology to detect crime?
1901 - fingerprint branch set up
1988 - first murder convictions based on DNA discovery of forensic science
1995 - IT technology and national computer database + CCTV
47
State 3 examples of specialisation in modern law enforcement.
Any 3 from:
- National Crime Agency, detect and prevent serious organised crime
- Economic Crime Unit, investigate large scale fraud
- Police Central e-crime Unit, tackles serious cybercrime
- Special Branch, prevents all forms of terrorism
- Dog Handling, dogs trained to sniff drugs and find explosives
48
What years were the Bloody Code?
1688-1815
49
How many capital crimes were there by 1688?
50
50
What were some examples of capital crimes during the Bloody Code?
- theft
- poaching
- vagrancy
- stealing bread
51
What were the main reasons for the Bloody Code (3)?
The media exaggerating the degree of the problem, pamphlets created horrific details about crimes which spread fear
The growing population made it difficult to enforce collective community responsibility
Wealthy people were afraid of loss of wealth from crimes against property, so they helped to pass laws for harsher crimes
52
How many capital crimes were there in 1810?
What about in 1832?
222
60
53
What were the issues with public executions?
- they had a celebratory atmosphere as they acted as entertainment
- viewed as inhumane, lack of dignity
- drunk and disorderly crowds
- lots of pickpocketing and crime in the crowds
- people mocked authorities + idolised criminals
54
When were public executions abolished?
1868
55
What happened in transportation?
Criminals were transported in poor conditions overseas, where they would work for settlers for 7 years, providing free manual labour
56
Why did transportation end (to Australia)?
- discovery of gold, economical boom made Australia now a desirable place
- Australians no longer needed labourers, and they didn't want criminals
- the process was expensive
- transportation was failing as a deterrent
- an increase in prisons
57
What were prisons' main purpose originally?
Mostly used as somewhere to hold people awaiting trial
58
What was the first house of correction?
Bridewell Prison in 1556
59
Who were houses of correction for?
What would prisoners have to do?
Undeserving poor - able bodied but unemployed people
Inmates did hard labour, e.g. breaking rocks
60
What was the illness called that spread in prisons due to expensive and therefore inaccessible prison healthcare?
Gaol Fever
61
How many prisoners in Newgate prison lived in an area made for 150?
275
62
What were some things that John Howard advocated for in prisons?
- clean, decent food and water
- useful work
- Christian teaching
- private cells to allow self-reflection
63
What did John Howard publish in 1777?
What did this do?
The State of Prisons in England and Wales
Raised awareness for poor conditions in prisons
64
What was Elizabeth Fry's main concern about prisons like Newgate?
How women and children were living alongside dangerous criminals in dirty, overcrowded cells
65
What did Elizabeth Fry set up to improve prison conditions?
the Association for the Reformation of Female prisoners at Newgate to campaign for better conditions
66
What were Elizabeth Fry's main contributions to prisons?
- improvement of living conditions (providing furniture and clothing)
- teaching Bible classes at Newgate to encourage rehabilitation
- prison education for women and children
67
What was the prototype for the Separate System?
Pentonville Prison in 1842
68
What were the main features of the Separate System?
Focused on keeping prisoners apart, in hope that it would enhance religious spirituality and self-reflection, resulting in rehabilitation
Solitary conditions and a lack of human contact meant that there were high rates of mental illness and suicide
69
What was Edmund Du Cane's famous idea about prisons?
'hard labour, hard fare, hard board'
70
What was the Silent System?
A prison system where prisoners were forced to do repetitive boring tasks in complete silence, living in increasingly harsh conditions
71
Who was Robert Peel?
Home Secretary in the 1820s, and became Prime Minister for one year from 1834-35 and later again from 1841-1846
72
What were Robert Peel's main actions?
- 1825, reduction of capital crimes by 100, wanted reform
- persuading the gov. to pass the 1823 Gaol's Act
73
What did the 1823 Gaol's Act include? (4)
- Prisoners would receive regular visits from Prison
Chaplains
- Gaolers would be paid so they would not need to make money from prisoners
- Female prisoners should be watched over by female warders
- Prisoners were not to be held in chains or irons
74
Why were the impacts of the Gaol's Act limited?
There were no paid inspectors to ensure the new laws were put into practice until the 1853 Prison Act
75
When + where was the first borstal set up?
1902 in Kent
76
What did borstals do?
Separated young male offenders from older offenders, and there was a focus on education, with a rigid daily routine including physical exercise, education and practical work programmes
77
What did the 1948 Criminal Justice Act introduced under the labour government include?
- Created a graduated system of prison which depended on the severity of the crime of the offender’s record
- Had detention centres introduced as deterrents which were more relaxed than borstals
- Had attendance centres for those committing minor crimes, where they attended on weekends only for rehabilitation
78
Why were there more crimes against authority in Early Modern England?
It was a period of rocky religious change between Catholicism and Protestantism, meant that heresy and treason were more common
79
What was heresy?
The crime of going against the church and having different religious beliefs to the official religion of the country
80
What kind of punishment was commonly used to enforce religious change?
What is a key example of this?
Capital Punishment
Mary I (Bloody Mary) had 297 people executed for refusing the Catholic faith
81
What did the 1547 Vagrancy Act mean?
That if you were a vagabond you would have to spend 2 years in prison, and at the second offence be enslaved for life or suffer execution
82
Why was vagabondage a crime?
Because people believed that vagabonds were not hard workers and therefore sinned against the expectations of the Bible
Vagabonds were also blamed by pamphlets for various crimes such as theft, assault and murders
83
How did Puritan Oliver Cromwell adapt laws to be centred around his beliefs?
- Banning feasting and drinking in the community as celebratory activities, he argued that these lead to irrational behaviour
- Sunday was now the Sabbath day, where people should go to church - men were no longer allowed to gather to do sports like wrestling after church
- Instead of spending time with family, Christmas was now the most holy day, where people should read the Bible and have a quiet time, reflecting on Jesus
84
In what year was witchcraft made a criminal offence and a capital crime?
1542
85
What caused more suspicion and fear around witches?
The death of the King created feelings of insecurity and fear in England, and the period was filled with plague and poor harvests
James I’s Demonologie book generated fear
86
Who was Matthew Hopkins?
Matthew Hopkins called himself the ‘Witchfinder General’ and made accusations first in his local area and East Anglia, and were paid for each accusation, scars and spots were used as evidence, they ran many witchcraft trials and tortured innocent women
87
What kind of crimes increased during 18th and 19th century Britain?
- theft and burglary
- drunk and disorderly behaviour, public disorder
- prostitution
- highway robbery
88
Why did highway robbery increase in the 18th and 19th century Britain?
- improved roads led to more travellers
- increased trade meant that more money/goods were travelling by road
- isolated roads, easy to escape
89
Why did witchcraft stop being a crime in 1736?
- Witchcraft Act, 1736
- social and economic shift, the educated became less suspicious
- Royal Society, (set up by Charles II) lead to increase in scientific knowledge
90
Who were the Tolpuddle Martyrs? (1834)
Farm labourers who formed a friendly society to protest about low farming wages, but were transported to Australia
91
Why were the Tolpuddle Martyrs punished?
Farm owners and government feared they were losing control
92
How were the Tolpuddle Martyrs punished?
How did the public disagree? What impact did this have?
Transported to Australia for 7 years
Mass protest from the public - a 200,000 person petition in opposition of the punishment
Their punishment was continued until 1836, then they were pardoned and returned
93
What are common crimes in modern Britain?
- smuggling goods, e.g. alcohol, cigarettes
- people-trafficking (smuggling people and selling them)
- terrorism, e.g. 2005 suicide bombs in London, killed 52 people
94
What are new attitudes in modern Britain like?
Modern, liberal, tolerant, progressive attitudes
95
When was homosexuality for men over 21 legalised?
1967
96
What did the 1968 Race Relations Act state?
That it was illegal to refuse housing/jobs/public services on the basis of race, minimised discrimination
97
When did coercive behaviour become a crime?
2014
98
What were the group of violent Irish nationalists called?
The Fenians
99
When did the Fenians bomb Parliament?
1884 and 1885
100
What kind of jobs did most Irish immigrants have?
What were they known as due to this?
Labouring jobs on canals and railways
'Navvies'
101
How did the 1881 assassination of Tsar Alexander II of Russia impact the perception of Jews?
A jew was blamed for the assassination - caused a wave of hatred for jews in Russia, Poland and Germany
102
Why were the Jewish unpopular in Whitechapel?
- their cultural differences
- success in business (impacted by their different holy day)
- for driving down wages due to their use of sweatshops
103
What do anarchists believe?
Anarchists do not believe in restriction or law and reject the government
104
What triggered anarchists fleeing to England in the early 1870s?
A failed revolution in Paris, they fled to politically tolerant England
105
What do socialists reject?
Capitalism
106
What party did the socialists use in England to try to bring down capitalism?
Social Democratic Federation (1st British socialist party)
107
Which riot were the socialists a supposed cause of?
Bloody Sunday - a violent riot in Trafalgar square
108
Name 3 impacts of poverty in Whitechapel.
Any 3 from:
- high crime rate due to desperation
- unemployment because of economic depression
- women turning to prostitution because of low employment rates
- workhouses
- tensions between residents, locals and immigrants
109
What is one example of a slum area in Whitechapel?
Flower and Dean Street
110
What were workhouses?
Social welfare institutions that provided food and shelter for the poor
They would do hard labour, e.g. oakum picking, as the poor were seen as lazy
Harsh conditions were made to deter others
111
What was an example of a problem with police recruits in Whitechapel?
- Policemen drinking on the job
- Understaffed, therefore lack of control
112
How many pub and gin palaces were there on 1 mile of Whitechapel road?
What would be the impacts of this?
45 pubs and gin palaces per 1 mile of Whitechapel road
Alcohol would be more accessible + cheap, promotes public disorder
113
What was 'the beat'?
The specific area and route that the constable would have to patrol
During the day 30 minutes, during the night, 20 minutes
114
What was the beat constable's uniform like?
- distinct and recognisable
- dark blue
- special gear, e.g. an angled helmet to deflect punches
115
Why were beat constables somewhat ineffective?
They were easily avoidable - a crime could be committed just after they had passed by
116
What were common attitudes towards the police in Whitechapel?
- mistrusted
- useless
- careless for the working class
117
What was the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee?
Created by George Lusk to criticise the police's efforts at trying to catch Jack the Ripper
People patrolled the streets at night making noise to disrupt police investigations
118
What was the 1877 Trial of the Detectives?
A large corruption scandal that revealed corruption of officers in the senior detective branch in an international fraud gambling conspiracy
119
What was a consequence of the Trial of the Detectives?
- lack of trust in police and detectives
- reform and development of the CID by Howard Vincent
120
What was wergild?
Used by Anglo Saxons, a recompense for the family of the victim based on social status
Under the Normans the fine became paid to the King rather than the victim
121
What was the murdrum fine?
If a Norman was murdered, the community was responsible for finding the perpetrator and were obliged to pay a large fine after the perpetrator's execution
