Exam style questions - Crime and Punishment

Question 1

Give 2 examples of crime against the person (medieval england)

Answer 1

Murder

Public disorder

Question 2

Give 2 examples of crime against property (medieval england)

Answer 2

Arson

Theft

Question 3

Give 2 examples of crime against authority (medieval england)

Answer 3

Treason

Rebellion

Question 4

Give 2 reasons why ordinary people hated Forest Laws

Answer 4

Many communities and farms were evicted from the land protected under Forest Laws
Many ordinary people relied on the forest for both food and wood, and were not longer to do this without a licence

Question 5

Explain the murdrum fine

Answer 5

If a Norman was murdered by an Anglo-Saxon, and a culprit was not found, the surrounding area where the body was found had to pay a large fee.
This was a way to prevent anti-Norman killing, and to establish nationwide Norman control without rebellion

Question 6

Why was Anglo-Saxon law enforcement mainly the local communities role?

Answer 6

Many of the law enforcement methods, such as the hue and cry, were performed on a local scale, with little nationwide law enforcement, like the police

Question 7

Give 2 ways in which law enforcement differed from Anglo-Saxon to later medieval England

Answer 7

• Trial by ordeal and combat were abolished

- The role of the sheriff expanded

Question 8

Give 2 changes to punishment from Norman to Anglo-Saxon England

Answer 8

• Use of corporal and capital punishment rose greatly

- Poaching and chopping down trees from area protected under Forest Laws were punished sevely

Question 9

Give 2 changes to punishment from Anglo-Saxon to later medieval England

Answer 9

• Use of capital punishment dropped hugely

- Use of fines rose

Question 10

Give 2 examples of trial by ordeal

Answer 10

• Burnt hands; if the hands healed well, they were innocent

- Dunked into water; if they sank they were innocent

Question 11

Give 2 features of church courts

Answer 11

• More lenient sentencing

- Chance to be given sanctuary, in which they were allowed to leave the country without sentencing

Question 12

Give 2 reasons why their was an increase in treason and heresy charges during early modern England

Answer 12

• Religious change

- Many rebellions and plots against the monarchy

Question 13

Explain what vagrancy is and why there was an increase in it during the late 1400s - 1500s

Answer 13

A vagrant is an unemployed, homeless person, and the level of these increased largely as a result of falling wages, increased goods prices and lack of aid for the poor

Question 14

Explain what smuggling is and why there was an increase in it from the 1600s onwards

Answer 14

Smuggling is bring goods into a country secretly and illegally, and it rose dramatically as a result of an introduction of import tax

Question 15

Explain the change in attitude and dealing with witchcraft over time

Answer 15

During the medieval period, witchcraft was seen as a minor crime, dealt with my church courts, however during the early modern period the belief in witchcraft rose hugely, leading to nationwide fear and new laws being passed against it, making witchcraft a very serious crime

Question 16

Give 2 features of the watchmen in early modern England

Answer 16

• Rang a bell to alert people
• Unpaid role
• Patrolled the streets at night
• Overseen by town constable

Question 17

Give 2 features of the town constable in early modern England

Answer 17

• Respected members of the community
• Could arrest people
• In charge of watchmen in their area
• Helped with administration

Question 18

Explain 2 changes to the Church during early modern England

Answer 18

• Church courts could now only try moral crimes for everyone, no longer criminal acts
• Sanctuary exile to other countries was abolished, and then eventually sanctuary was abolished completely

Question 19

Explain the Bloody Code

Answer 19

During the 1600s, the number of crimes punishable by death rose hugely- the aim was to frighten people into not committing crime of any kind

Question 20

Explain why transportation to North America became a punishment

Answer 20

Around 80000 people were transported to America because:

• It was a serious punishment, yet gave chance for reformation
• It provided a milder punishment option than execution
• It provided workers in America, whilst ridding of criminals from England

Question 21

Give 2 ways in which the civil war lead to increased witch hunting

Answer 21

• The civil war left many women widowed
• The civil war made it so there were more strangers around, as they searched for work or for the army
• The civil war weakened authority, and sometimes law and order collapsed entirely
• The civil war caused social and economic problems; witches acted as a scapegoat

Question 22

Give 2 reasons why crime increased during the 1700s-1850

Answer 22

• More people travelling; less tightly knit communities
• Larger towns made it easier to escape
• Extreme poverty led to increase in survival crimes (e.g. stealing food)
• Increase in gangs

Question 23

Give 2 reasons why highway robbery increased during the 1700s

Answer 23

• Improved roads meant more people travelling
• Increased trade meant more goods, people and money traveled
• More roads were built, increasing the number of travelers and making it harder to monitor all of them

Question 24

Give 2 reasons why witchcraft prosecution decreased

Answer 24

`- The country became more socially and economically stable

• Scientific experiments explained some of the things that previously was a sign of being a witch
• General superstition decreased

Question 25

Give 2 new attitudes towards punishment during the 1800s

Answer 25

- Punishments should be equal to the crime - Corporal and capital punishment were inhumane except for very serious crimes - Punishment should also be about reformation

Question 26

Give 2 reasons why transportation to Australia decreased

Answer 26

- It no longer needed forced labourers, and didn't want a vast amount of their population to be criminals - It was often seen as too expensive and mild of a punishment - It was also often seen as too harsh on the criminal and their family - There was an increase in prisons

Question 27

Give 2 pros and 2 cons of the seperate prison system

Answer 27

PROS - Cleaner and less disease - Seen as the right level of punishment - No prisoner communication so no prison violence or escape CONS - High mental illness and suicide rate due to prolonged isolation - No education to provide new skills for prisoners when they escape

Question 28

Give 2 crimes that have changed over time

Answer 28

Terrorism- advances in transport, weapons and communication has made the risk of it far greater Fraud- advances in technology and the internet have made fraudsters able to have a platform to reach thousands of people at once, from a remote and overseas location, therefore are difficult to prosecute/shut down

Question 29

Give 2 changes to policing in modern England

Answer 29

- Motorised transport means faster response times, however fewer patrolling officers - Officers are often armed with automatic weapons - Officers can be from any ethnic group and women

Question 30

Explain the neighbourhood watch

Answer 30

Local volunteers who detect crime in their local neighbourhood

Question 31

Give 2 reasons why the death penalty was abolished

Answer 31

- Views towards punishment continued to change towards reform and paying back to society, rather than a simple punishment, and the death penalty disagreed with this - Controversial cases (such as Derek Bentley) led people to question the death penalty

Question 32

Give 2 modern alternatives to prison

Answer 32

- Community service | - Electronic tagging

Question 33

Explain conscription

Answer 33

The law that states everyone who is asked to, and fit to, fight in the armed forces must.

Question 34

Explain alternative conscientious objectors

Answer 34

They did not agree with the fighting and violent aspect of the war, and instead performed non combatant roles in both WW1 and WW2

Question 35

Explain absolute conscientious objectors

Answer 35

They did not agree with participating in the war at all. In WW1 they were imprisoned and treated very poorly. In WW2 they were mostly exempt, and those who were imprisoned were not treated terribly

Question 36

Explain the beat

Answer 36

A set route that policemen patrolled

Question 37

Explain the common attitude towards the police during the late 1800s

Answer 37

Much of the working class felt that the police were against them, which led to hatred of the police and their activities. The economic depression and ensuing poverty contributed to this also.

Question 38

Give 2 types of housing for the poor in Whitechapel

Answer 38

- Rookeries (slum areas) where incredibly overpopulated and had poor sanitation - Lodging houses provided a room with access to a kitchen for a nightly fee; they has poor conditions in general - Improved housing such as the Peabody estate where built to provide better living conditions for a reasonable price

Question 39

Give 2 features of factory jobs in Whitechapel

Answer 39

- Long hours - Bad pay - Poor working conditions

Question 40

Give 2 features of jobs in building or at the docks

Answer 40

- Better pay - Better conditions - Inconsistent pay

Question 41

Give 2 features of workhouses in Whitechapel

Answer 41

- Offered a bed and food for hard labour - Poor working and living conditions - Families were often divided

Question 42

Give 2 reasons why Whitechapel's poor environment led to greater levels of crime

Answer 42

- Low income led to stealing for survival - Unreliable or lack of work meant people had lots of free time, which led to alcoholism, disruptive and violent behaviour - Overcrowed areas meant there were often tensions between residents, leading to violence - Low income led to more prostitution which led to more violence and exploitation of women

Question 43

Give 2 reasons for rising tensions in Whitechapel

Answer 43

- Irish immigration - Fluctuating population - Jewish immigration

Question 44

Explain how Irish immigration led to increased tensions in Whitechapel

Answer 44

They were viewed by many as religious terrorists, therefore were feared and disliked by other residents

Question 45

Explain how Jewish immigration led to increased tensions in Whitechapel

Answer 45

- They often found jobs quicker than locals as they would work for less - They set up sweatshop businesses that could undercut local business' prices, putting them out of business - Locals disliked the different culture and language, leading to a clear divide between them

Question 46

Explain how fluctuating population led to increased tensions in Whitechapel

Answer 46

Most Whitechapel accommodation and residents were temporary, therefore a sense of community was never really established

Question 47

Give 2 problems the H-division faced in Whitechapel

Answer 47

- Gangs - Prostitution - Violent demonstrations - Antisemitism - The media

Question 48

Explain 1 way in which punishment in medieval England and the 17th century were similar

Answer 48

- Wergild - To punish minor crimes such as theft - Fines - Again to punish minor crimes

Question 49

Explain 1 way in which policing was similar in Tudor England and the 18th century

Answer 49

- Parish constables - Used for day to day law and order maintenance - Parish constables still used - Still for day to day law and order maintenance, however with more responsibilities and power, as things like hue and cry had stopped

Question 50

Explain 1 way in which aims of punishment were similar in the later middle ages and late nineteenth century

Answer 50

- Deterrence - Lots of corporal punishment - Deterrence - Bloody code saw a rise in capital punishment

Question 51

Explain 1 way in which policing methods were different in the later middle ages and nineteenth century

Answer 51

- Community based - Hue and cry, tithings - More government established - Met police

Question 52

Explain 1 way in which trials were similar in the middle ages and seventeenth century

Answer 52

- Juries - Local juries using knowledge of offender - Juries - More professional + less bias juries

Question 53

Explain 1 way in which local community law enforcement was different in the 16th and 20th century

Answer 53

- More responsibility for local communities - Hue and cry, less government established policing - Less responsibility - Minor things like Neighbourhood Watch, more government enforced policing (Met police force)

Question 54

Explain 1 way in which treatment of witchcraft was similar to treatment of conscientious objectors

Answer 54

- Hunted and outcast by society - Witch hunts were common, many witches were killed - Scorned and outcast by society - Often mocked, mistreated, imprisoned and sometimes killed

Question 55

Explain 1 way in which prison conditions changed from the mid 19th century to the late 20th century

Answer 55

- Often very poor - Pentonville prison prisoners were isolated and forced to do manual labour - Better - Focused on reformation so had good facilities for education

Question 56

Explain why the Church sometimes hindered justice from 1000-1500

Answer 56

- Trial by ordeal - Sanctuary - Benefit of the clergy

Question 57

Explain why the Normans made changes to crime and punishment after their takeover

Answer 57

- Assert dominance - Prevent revolt against Norman control - Give more power to the King

Question 58

Explain why trial by ordeal was used

Answer 58

- A method to try the accused according to God's fair judgement - Not a strong fair justice system in place - Majority of the population were heavily religious/heavy influence by the Church in society

Question 59

Explain why the authorities took vagrancy so seriously from 1500-1700

Answer 59

- Increasing number of vagrants - Often committed crimes like theft - Viewed very negatively by the public

Question 60

Explain why highway robbery increased and decreased from 1700-1900

Answer 60

``` INCREASED - more and better roads - more nationwide trade DECREASED - mounted patrols on roads - increase in railways - became a capital crime ```

Question 61

Explain why there were changes in methods of punishing of criminals from 1700-1900

Answer 61

- Social change towards reform - Increase in alternative punishments (e.g. prison) - Specific cases (Timothy Evans, Derek Bentley)

Question 62

Explain why transportation was used as a punishment from 1600-1850

Answer 62

- Meant prisoners had to do hard labour and move away from their families - Gave free workers to countries were they were needed - Rid of criminals from society

Question 63

Explain why there were changes to policing from 1700-1900

Answer 63

- Motorised transport (faster transport so less patrolling officers) - Computers (huge criminal databases so stronger national policing) - Government established policing (Met police established so move away from local communities policing)

Question 64

'The Norman conquest saw little change to law enforcement and punishment in England'. How far do you agree?

Answer 64

ONLY PARTIALLY AGREE - Severity of punishments increased (more capital and corporal punishment, forest law breakers punished more harshly) - Many castles built nationwide (assert royal authority and impose law and order) + Court system remained + Law enforcement remained community based (hue and cry, tithings)