Crime and punishment topic 6

Question 1

Why does society punish those who commit crime

Answer 1

To discipline/deter/reform/keep order/protect or for retribution

Question 2

What factors have influenced attitudes to punishment

Answer 2

Attitude of government, social change, wealth and poverty, role of the media, fear of crime and actions of individuals

Question 3

What was the attitude to punishment in the medieval times (16th and 17th centuries)

Answer 3

Main focus was deterrance, there was no ideas of reform and capital and corporal punishment were dominant

Question 4

What was the attitude to punishment in the industrial Era (18th and 19th century)

Answer 4

As there was more migration to the city, methods had to change eg transportation and corporal punishment ended

Question 5

What are the attitudes to punishment in the 20th and 21st century

Answer 5

Society is more tolerant and punishment is seen as both rehabilitation and retribution. There are other punishments than prison now such as community service and probation and parole

Question 6

What is corporal punishment

Answer 6

Punishment of the body, eg whipping or flogging (often done in public)

Question 7

When was corporal punishment ended

Answer 7

1948

Question 8

When were the stocks abolished

Answer 8

1872

Question 9

Give examples of crimes that you could be executed for under the Bloody Code

Answer 9

Stealing horses or sheep
Sending threatening letters
Rioting against high food prices

Question 10

Why was the Bloody Code developed

Answer 10

Fear over the sharp rise in crime, increase in new crimes eg vagrants, influence of rich landowners wanting to protect their properties

Question 11

When were public executions ended

Answer 11

1868

Question 12

What replaced public executions as a punishment

Answer 12

Transportation overseas

Question 13

Which two men fought to abolish the Bloody Code in Parliament

Answer 13

The MP Sir Samuel Romilly and the Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel

Question 14

What were the five capital crimes(crimes worthy of the death penalty) by 1861

Answer 14

Murder, treason, espionage, arson in royal dockyards and piracy with violence

Question 15

Why did the criminal code end

Answer 15

Juries weren’t willing to unfairly convict low level criminals, alternative punishments like transportation were now available and public executions upped levels of pickpockets and riots

Question 16

Why did prison reform happen

Answer 16

Campaigns of humanitarians that highlighted the bad conditions, ending of transportation, changes in public and government attitudes

Question 17

What was the great debate that the Victorian period witnessed

Answer 17

How to treat prisoners - punish or reform?
Silent or separate system?

Question 18

What were the main points of the report by the Gladstone Committee on prison conditions

Answer 18

Isolation had negative effects on mental health
Prisoners 16-20 shouldn’t have the same harsh treatment as older prisoners
Younger prisoners should be given education and training while in prison

Question 19

When was hard labour on the crank and tread abolished

Answer 19

1902

Question 20

When was the flogging of prisoners abolished

Answer 20

1948

Question 21

What replaced borstals in the modern era

Answer 21

Youth Detention Centres

Question 22

What are some new ways of youth punishment in the modern era

Answer 22

Antisocial behaviour orders, tagging and curfew orders as well as fining the parents

Question 23

What were the five types of murder capital punishment was restricted to in 1957

Answer 23

Murder
of a police officer
By shooting or explosion
While resisting arrest
while stealing
Of more than one person

Question 24

Give arguements for the death sentence

Answer 24

Good deterrent, dead murderers can’t kill again, less expensive than prison, satisfies the victims family

Question 25

Give arguements against the death sentence

Answer 25

An innocent person could be hanged, it’s barbaric, some people murder because they are mentally ill, it can make martyrs of criminals eg terrorists

Question 26

What was the case of Timothy Evans

Answer 26

He was convicted of killing his wife and daughter and hanged. It was later found out that his downstairs neighbour was a serial killer who confessed to murdering Evans’ wife. Evans was given a posthumous pardon

Question 27

What was the case of Derek Bentley

Answer 27

Hé shouted ‘let him have it ‘ to his 16 year old friend Christopher Craig who killed a policeman. Craig couldn’t be executed as he was underage so Bentley was even though he had learning difficulties and the mental age of 11. Bentley was given a full pardon in 1998

Question 28

What was the case of Ruth Ellis

Answer 28

She was the last woman to be hanged in the UK because she murdered her lover who assaulted her. The appeals that this was a crime of passion were not accepted and she was hanged

Question 29

When did capital punishment completely end in the UK

Answer 29

1999

Question 30

What is restitution

Answer 30

Giving something back to society or the victim of the crime