Crime and Punishment - Methods of Punishment and Reform

Question 1

What was transportation?

Answer 1

A method of punishment where criminals were sent to Australia to remove the criminals from society.

Question 2

What was a reformer?

Answer 2

A person who makes a change to improve something.

Question 3

What does the word “forensic” mean?

Answer 3

Using scientific methods to investigate a crime.

Question 4

What was the Bloody Code?

Answer 4

The name given to the legal system from the late 17th century to the early 19th century.

The Bloody Code was a system where many crimes were punishable by the death penalty; based on the idea that harsh punishments deterred criminals.

Question 5

What was classed as “petty crime”?

Answer 5

A less serious crime such as prostitution, being drunk and disorderly, vandalism or simple assault.

Question 6

Who was Robert Peel?

Answer 6

Prime Minister from 1834 to 1835.

• He is responsible for reforming prisons
• as well as setting up the Metropolitan Police Force in London in 1829.

Question 7

Who was John Howard?

Answer 7

A prison reformer who argued that prisoners would only change their ways if they were reformed and given clean conditions and decent food and water.

Question 8

Who was Elizabeth Fry?

Answer 8

A prison reformer who did charity work to help the sick and poor.

She believed that prisoners should be taught to sew and read the bible.

She also believed women and children should receive an education in prison.

Question 9

What were the criticisms of transportation which led to its end?

Answer 9

• Australia was seen as a desirable place to settle for criminals;
• Expensive
• New prisons were built and seen as an alternative
• Many people believed criminals were responsible for high crime levels in Australia.
  •

Question 10

Name two prison reformers

Answer 10

Elizabeth Fry and John Howard

They criticised the harsh treatment—they wanted prisoners to have a chance to change.

Question 11

What year did the Metropolitan Police Act come into force, and what did it mean?

Answer 11

Metropolitan Police Act, 1829 – England’s first professional police force set up in London.

Question 12

What two reforms happened in 1868?

Answer 12

• The end of public executions

* The end of transportation to Australia

Question 13

Compare the number of convictions before 1829 and those of 1830

Answer 13

• Pre-1829—system of watchmen and constables caught about 9000 criminals.
• In 1830 there were 18,000 convictions for major crimes.

Question 14

How many men were enlisted into the Metropolitan Police Force?

Answer 14

3000 men were enlisted

Question 15

What uniform were the police recruits given?

Answer 15

a blue uniform
boots
a wooden truncheon
a rattle
a brown coat
a top hat made of iron

Question 16

What was the age limit for police recruits?

Answer 16

Then men had to be less than 35 years old

Question 17

How much did police recruits earn per day?

Answer 17

They earned 5p a day

Question 18

How many days a week were policemen expected to work?

Answer 18

7 days a week.

Question 19

How far were policemen expected to walk a day?

Answer 19

20 miles per day

Question 20

What was a reason that many police recruits were sacked?

Answer 20

Drunkeness

Question 21

What was the reason that many police recruits died?

Answer 21

London was so dirty that many policemen died of TB.

Question 22

Name 3 positives for the Metropolitan Police Force

Answer 22

1. Similar standard of policing across London;
2. They were paid a wage;
3. Centralised system with training.

Question 23

Name 3 criticisms of the Metropolitan Police Force

Answer 23

1. expensive
2. concerns about them interfering too much in people’s lives;
3. concerns that they would be like the French police—nicknamed ‘blue devils’.

Question 24

What were the criticisms of The Bloody Code?

Answer 24

• Public executions attracted large crowds and influenced criminals;
• crowds were often drunk;
• sometimes the crowds treated the criminal like a hero.
• Reformers argued public executions were inhumane.

Question 25

In what year did public executions stop

Answer 25

1868.

Question 26

What was the separate system at Pentonville Prison?

Answer 26

Pentonville Prison was set up in 1842 where prisoners were kept apart for as long as possible (up to 23 hours a day) under the ‘separate system’.

Question 27

What were the main ideas behind Pentonville Prison’s separate system?

Answer 27

The idea was to deter criminals from committing crimes because of the serious nature of the punishment.

Keeping them separate also ensured prisoners weren’t influenced by other criminals who might make them commit worse crimes.

Question 28

How bad were the conditions in Pentonville Prison?

Answer 28

• There were very harsh punishments to make sure the criminals ‘paid’ for their crime.
• The solitary conditions led to mental illness, depression and suicide.

Question 29

How small were the cells in Pentonville Prison?

Answer 29

The cells had a floor area of just 4m by 2m.