Crime and Punishment Glossary Flashcards
18th and 19th Century
The period covering the 1700s and the 1800s
Abolition
The ending, banning or getting rid of something
Agree
To have the same opinion as someone or something
Anglo-Saxon
The people of England before the Norman times; the Anglo-Saxons ruled England until 1066
Anti-social behaviour
Causing a nuisance or distress to people outside your home
Benefit of the clergy
A rule that said that the clergy (priests) would not be put on trial in the ordinary courts, but in church courts instead, which were often more leniant.
Bloody Code
The name given to laws introduced in the 1700s that massively increased the types of crime punishable by death
Bow Street Runners
The first semi-official police force, introduced by the Field brothers
Capital punishment
The death penalty, or execution
Car crime
Crimes related to cars and driving, eg speeding, car theft etc
Century
A period of 100 years
Change
Something that is different from before
Change over time
Something that becomes different as time passes
Chronology
Time or time order, arranging things in the order they happened.
CID
The Criminal Investigation Department: a branch of the police first set up 1878 that involves plainclothes detectives investigating crimes.
Clergy
A name for priests
Compare
To look at two different things - sources, features, events - and see what is similar (or different) about them.
Compensation
When you receive money for something you have lost or has been damaged (eg property, an injury, death of a family member)
Confession
When someone admits to committing a crime (this can sometimes be after torture or threats)
Conscientious Objectors
People who refused to fight in wars, eg World War One, because they believed in peace.
Continuity
Where things stay the same, or very similar, over time.
Contrast
To look for the differences between two or more things.
Conviction
When a defendant in a trial is found guilty, they are convicted or given a conviction.
Corporal punishment
Physcial types of punishment, eg whipping
Counter-terrorism
Prevention terrorism and terrorist groups
County Court
A court that deals with less serious offences, not crimes
Crime prevention
Stopping crime before it happens
Crimes against authority
A crime involving going against the king or the nobles or other forms of authority
Crimes against property
A crime involving someone’s property, eg stealing an object or burning down a house
Crimes against the person
A crime involving violence against someone, eg assault or murder
Custodial sentences
A sentence of prison
Demobbed from the army
When soldiers return from war and leave the army.
Derek Bentley
Sentenced to death for murdering a policeman even though he did not pull the trigger of the murder weapon
Deterrent
Something that makes you not want to do something, eg not want to commit a crime
Difference
Not the same as something else
Disagree
To have a different opinion from someone else
DNA
The genetic code in human cells; individual people can be identified using DNA left in tiny human cells left at crime scenes
Driving offences
An offence committed as a driver of a car, eg not having insurance or speeding
Drug crime
A crime involving illegal drugs (using them or buying/selling them)
Early Modern
The period 1500-1700
Elizabeth Fry
A campaigner for improving the very bad prison conditions in the first half of the 1800s
Era
A distinct period of time
Execution
An official, legal killing of someone for committing a serious crime
Extent of change
How much change happened
Factor for change
A reason for, or one cause of, change
Fielding brothers
Magistrates (brothers Henry and John) who set up the Bow Street Runners
Fine
Money paid as a punishment for a crime
Forest laws
Laws introduced by the Normans to reserve large areas for the king to go hunting; ordinary people could not collect wood or hunt animals in the forest
Forgery
Copying something and pretending it is the real thing, eg forging coins to make fake money
Fraud
A type of crime where someone deceives another person to take advantage (usually financial) of them
Gangs
A group of people, often a criminal group
Gentlemen of the road
A nickname given to describe highwaymen
Government
The group of people who have the authority to rule over a country
Gunpowder Plot
A plot (secret plan) to blow up Parliament and King James I in 1605; the plotters were Catholics unhappy with how their religion was treated.
Guy Fawkes
A key member of the Gunpowder Plot, he placed the gunpowder underneath Parliament and was arrested, tortured and executed.
Heresy
A religious crime, where you do not believe in the official form or religion
Highway robbery
A crime where highwaymen would stop carriages on their journey between towns, to demand money or valuables from the travellers
Hue and cry
The system were the inhabitants of a village in the Middle Ages would call out for help to catch a criminal
Hung, drawn and quartered
A rare punishment usually given to a traitor, where they were sentenced to death by hanging, then cut down alive and cut into pieces.
Identify theft
A crime where someone takes on someone else’s identity and pretends to be them to steal money
Importance
Being important
Individuals
Individual people, a single person
Influence of the Church
The power that the Church had in government and over society, especially in the Middle Ages
John Howard
A prison reformer in the late 1700s who campaigned for better treatment of prisoners, and argued for giving prisoners time alone to reflect
Jury
A group of 12 people (men only until 1919) who heard serious court cases and decided if someone was guilty or not guilty of a crime
Justice
The idea of creating fairness, and punishing people who commit crimes and breaking the rules of society
King Henry II
King of England from 1154 to 1189.
King Henry VIII
The second Tudor monarch, King of England 1509-1547.
King James I
King of England from 1603-1625
King William I
Known as William the Conqueror, who successfully invaded England in 1066, defeating King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, and King of England 1066-1087.
Law enforcement
Making sure the law is followed, by using police and
Let him have it!
The phrase supposedly spoken by Derek Bentley just before Christopher Craig shot a policeman, and which led to his sentence to death for murder.
Martyr
A person who willingly suffers death rather than deny their religion.
Matthew Hopkins
Known as the ‘Witchfinder General’ he was responsible for the execution of up to 300 women he called witches
Media
How we communicate and reach other people. For example, newspapers, radio, internet etc.
Medieval period
The period c1000-c1500
Metropolitan police founded
The starting of the first official police force in England, the Metropolitan Police in 1829, to police London
Milestone
An important and significant event, often representing a great moment of change
Modern Era
The period from 1900 to the present day
Monarchy
The system of having a monarch in charge
Mugging
Attacking and robbing someone in a public place
Murder in the Cathedral
The killing of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170
Neighbourhood watch
A system where neighbours in a local area keep an eye out for suspicious behaviour to report to the police, and also to deter crime
Night watchmen
A group of men who would patrol a town at night to keep it safe and peaceful
Non-custodial sentences
A sentence given by a judge that does not involve prison
Norman
Someone from Normandy, the Normans ruled England from 1066
Open prisons
A type of prison used in the 20th century where prisoners had a lot of freedom, used for low-risk criminals
Orphans
Children who no longer had parents and were looked after by other people, often in orphanages
Parish constable
A local person from the community who was responsible for keeping law and order in the parish, or village
Penal reform
Making changes to improve the penal (prison) system
Pentonville Prison
A prison in London built in 1816 known as the first modern prison in Britain, which kept prisoners using the separate system
Petty crime
Smaller, less important or less serious types of crime, like stealing a very small amount
Pickpocket
Someone who steals someone’s purse or wallet without the victim noticing
Pillory
A form of public punishment where a criminal would put their head and hands through a wooden frame
Poaching
Hunting animals on someone else’s land without permission
Police force
An official and professional group of people responsible for enforcing law and order
Police beat
A police officer would have a ‘beat’ which was the route that they patrolled
Police dogs (bloodhounds)
Bloodhounds are used by police for their sense of smell, which can help police hunt criminals hours or even days after the crime
Population growth
The increase in population, the increasing number of people living in the country
Present day
The increase in population, the increasing number of people living in the country
Prevention
Stopping something from happening before it happens
Prison
A place where people are held securely, either before trial or as a punishment
Public execution
An execution held in front of a large crowd
Queen Mary I (Tudor)
Queen of England 1553-1558, who changed England back to a Catholic country and made being Protestant a crime
Race crime
A crime committed against someone due to their race or skin colour
Reform
To make something better, improve it
Rehabilitation
Making a criminal become a better person and bringing them back into society as a good citizen
Retribution
To get revenge for something by using a punishment to cause suffering
Robbery
Stealing something from someone or from a property using force, or the threat of force
Role of the Church
The influence of the Church and priests over people’s lives, morals and how crimes were defined and punished
Sanctuary
Going to a church and claiming sanctuary meant that you could not be arrested for 40 days
Science and new technology
In the Industrial Age and Modern Period this became more important in new techniques for solving crime
Scotland Yard
The headquarters of the Metropolitan Police in London
Separate system
The policy of keeping prisoners separate from anybody else for most of, or all of, the day
Sheriff
The person responsible for law and order in a county or shire
Significance
Importance
Similarity
Something that is nearly the same, or the same in a particular way, as something else
Sir Robert Peel
The Home Secretary who founded the Metropolitan Police in 1829
Smuggling
Bringing goods into the country illegally (either banned items, or to avoid paying tax)
Social attitudes
The opinion of the public about certain things
Specialisation of Police
The formation of the police into divisions with particular jobs or expertise, eg detectives, scenes-of-crimes officers, etc
Stealing
To take a possession from someone else without their permission
Stocks
A form of public punishment where a criminal would put their feet through a wooden frame
Supersition
A belief in the supernatural, based on belief in things like magic or luck rather than science
Taser
A late 20th century police weapon designed to shock a threatening suspect so that they can be overpowered and arrested
Theft
The action or crime of stealing
Thief-takers
A private person who would hunt down a criminal in return for a reward
Thomas Beckett
The Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in 1170 by knights of King Henry II
Time period
A group of years defined in a certain way, like a century (100 years) or the Modern Era (1900 onwards)
Tithings
A group of 10 men above the age of 12 who were responsible for policing themselves in the Medieval Period
Tolpuddle Martyrs
A group of poor workers who were punished for organising a union to fight for better pay, sentenced to transportation to Australia
Torture
A way of extracting information from someone, or getting them to confess to a crime, by causing suffering, eg using thumbscrews, the rack
Town watchman
A group of men who would patrol a time or guard the town gates, usually at night, to keep it safe
Trial by jury
A trial decided by a jury of 12 ordinary people, who hear the evidence and decide if the defendant is guilty or not guilty of a crime
Transportation
Being sent to a colony outside of Britain as a punishment, for example sent to a prison camp in Australia
Treason
The crime of going against the king, or betraying your country; seen in the Medieval era as the worst type of crime
Trial by combat
A trial where guilt is determined by who wins a fight, such as a sword fight
Trial by ordeal
A trial where guilt is determined by going through an ordeal, eg holding a hot iron - if it started to heal after a week, you were not guilty; if it didn’t, you were guilty
Turning point
An event or moment in history that led to certain important changes
Two-way radio
A radio used by police so that officers on the street can communicate with headquarters and with each other
Vagabond
Term describing a person without a home or a job in the Medieval and Early Modern period
Wergild
A fine paid to compensate someone (or their family) for causing injury or death
Whipping
A punishment involving getting attacked by a whip, that could cause bleeding and permanent scarring
Whistle
Used by police officers in the nineteenth century to attract attention or call for help
Witchcraft
A kind of magic (supposedly practiced by women)
Witchfinder General
Mathew Hopkins
Young offenders
Someone who commits a crime or offence under the age of 18
Cockshafer
the prison treadmill a pointless activity to keep the prisoners busy.
