History - Crime And Punishment Flashcards
Medieval (Crime)
Several crimes, all followed the idea; Crime against the person, crime against property and crime against authority.
Against the Person
- Assault and Murder
Against Property
- Theft, robbery or arson
Against authority
- Challenging people above you or commiting a prior mentioned crime on them
Moral Crimes
- Actions that dont fit society’s views or behaviors e.g sex outside of wedlock
Murdrum Laws
- Whole village fined if Norman is Murdered.
Forrest Laws
- Form of poaching, Land becomes royal and is illegal to hunt on without permission.
Statute of Laborer
- Illegal to ask a Pay rise
Heresy
- Believing in the wrong religion
Medieval (Law Enforcement)
Law Enforcement was yet to be centralized instead relied on elders, villagers and community leaders to police
Tithing
- A group of 10 men who were responsible for each others actions
Hue and Cry
- Anyone who witnessed a crime could shout for help, People who heard it were expected to immediately help and capture the suspect
Trial By Combat
- Introduced along side Trial by Ordeal where two criminals fought to the death, Often for money disputes.
Trial By Ordeal
- God Judges the innocence based on several facts, Abandoned in 1216
Benefit of the Clergy
- Priests immediately innocents if they could read psalm 51
Medieval (Punishment)
Wergild
- Form of Compensation paid to the loss of a Victim and paid to there family
Corproal Punishment
- Causing physical harm lead to retribution of their crimes e.g gouging eyes out.
Capital Punishment
- Treason, arson or betraying the lord resulted in Death by hanging.
Stocks and Pillory
- Accused’s necks and arms were secured and there feet shackled
** Hanged Drawn and Quartered**
- As described
Sanctuary
- Church could offer this to help criminals avoid trial or to plan an escape for up to 40 days.
Early Modern (Crime)
Vagarancy
- Unemployed Beggars moving towns, Punishable by death.
Witch Craft
- Believed they were descendants from the devil and were at fault for Earths sins
Black Act
- Becomes illegal to blackened your face to poach on land. Tightened rules on grazing on someone else land.
** Smuggling**
- People moving goods around to avoid import tax
** Heresy and Treason**
- Two most serious relating to religious change of threating authority
Early Modern (Law Enforcement)
Hue and Cry
- Continues and theft becomes more common due to easier ways to be anonymous
Nigh watchmen
- Increased role during this time frame some hired guards while others assigned members
Thief takers
- People who were paid a reward for catching a criminal. Some criminals became thief catchers to inform on rival gangs e.g John WIld
Early Modern (Punishment)
Vagarancy Act of 1547
- Able bodied Vagrants who couldnt find work within 3 days were marked with a V and were able to be sold as a slave for 2 years.
Prisons
- 1556 Bridwell Prison Opened, Used to punish the poor encouraged hard work for long hours of labor.
Bloody Code
- 222 Crimes punishable by death including Defacing a Duck Pond
**Transportation to America **
- Prisoners taken in chains to America to complete 14 years of Hard Labour
Industrial (Crime)
Highway Robbery
- Combination of secluded Country roads and the increasing need for travel made roads the perfect target to rob passing traffic.
** Poaching**
- Capital offence to own hunting dogs or carry animal traps
Witchcraft
- Decriminalized due to scientific advancements
Tolpuddle Marty’s
- 6 farmers from Dorset formed a Union and were sentenced to 7 years of transportation under Mutiny Laws
Industrial (Law Enformcement)
Bow street Runners
- Crime fighting team set up by chief magistrate Henry Fielding in 1748. They attended crime scenes and detected criminals.
Police force
- 1829 Met police act gave London a Uniformed police with 4 inspectors and 144 constables. The home secretary Robert Peel created a recognizable Blue uniform.
Industrial ( Punishment)
Number of Capital crimes began to decrease.
- Transportation was changed to send prisoners to 160000 Convicts sent there to populate and build the new colonies.
- Public execution’s stopped due to lack of deterrent
- Prisons used more to rehabilitate and began to see positive reform under Robert Peel and the advice of Elizbeth fry and John Howard.
Modern (Crime)
Many Crimes from prior decades continue
New Crimes
**Homophobic Crime **
- Until 1967, Homosexuality is illegal in the Uk.
- In the same year the Sexual Offences Act decriminalized homosexuality for men over 21
- Crimes now include using discriminating based on the sexuality
Race Crimes
- In 1968 the Race Relations Act made it illegal to refuse jobs, housing or public service applications based on race.
- Racism is now a crime and to derogators is a crime
**Domestic Violence **
- During 20th century attitudes towards women changed drastically and demanded the equality for women
- Several laws and additions to existing laws have been made to better protect women from abuse
Abortion Laws
- In 1967 the Abortion Law was passed legalizing’s abortion if the Child was to have serious disabilities or if the mother was at risk of health factors due to the pregnancy
- Originally couldn’t be terminated after 28 weeks
Conciencoius Objectors
- Military service act of 1916 made it compulsory to serve in ww1
- Objectors were people who did not want to participate
- Punishments included exceution
- Some for religious beliefs other due to there disagreement with war as a whole.
Technology crimes
- Crimes online including bullying or scamming have been illegal
- Police teams established to address growing risks
Modern (Law Enforcement)
Law enforcement has seen a dramatic change in both the way it operates and the purpose of its operations.
- Increasing developments in Science and Technology
- 1901 Finger Print set up in Scotland Yard for the first time
- 1995 National Automatic Fingerprint Identify and National DNA database goes Online
- Speed Cameras introduced in 1995
- Police force becomes increasingly specialised, departments established to target drugs, Firearms, Money and fraud
- Neighborhood watch schemes set up to raise awareness on crimes in their local area
- First one is set up in 1982
- Approximately 3.8 Million Households involved in the Scheme
- Reduce the fear of Crime)
Modern (Punishment)
Changes the Punishment followed changes to the laws and introduction of International Laws. The main aim and goal turned to Reformation and Rehabilitation to make sure that criminals were fit for their life outside of prison and could adapt to every day society
Death Penalty
- 1965 The Murder Act Suspended the usage of the death Penalty for 5 years
- Death Penalty is fully removed in 1969 for Most crimes
- Ends in 1998 for all crimes
- The Death Penalty saw several Miscarriages Of Justice being the main reason for the closures
- Derek Bentley wrongfully excuted due to his friend shooting a policeman
- Timothy Evans Believed to have killed his wife and Child, Instead was his neighbor
Borstals
- Boys only prisons
- Reoffending rates about 30% un 1930
- Institutions weren’t seen as educational instead meant to punish
- Abolished in 1982 and replaced with Young Custody Centers
- Aimed more at reform that punishment
- Child and Young Persons Act 1963 and 1969 focused on caring for young offenders and favored social workers and probation over prison time.
Whitechapel (Enviroment)
Whitechapel has a huge problem with overcrowding in slum areas.
- Whitechapel was know for the rookeries and there wide amount of disease and crime that surrounded it.
- Housing was also offered through lodging houses that offered a bed.
- It is estimated that there was over 200 Lodging houses in Whitechapel at this time. More than 8000 people Lived in them.
- 11 New blocks of flats replaced the unhealthy maze like streets known as the Peabody Estate Opened in 1881 and paid for by the wealthy American George Peabody
- The estate provided ** 286** Flats
- Workhouses are established in the early 19th century as a part of the “Poor Relief” system and were ran by Law Administrators.
Whitechapel (Tensions)
Tensions were on the rise as the competitive way of life and the survival of the fittest meant that groups and factions were beginning to form in Whitechapel
- In 1881 Tsar Alexander 2nd Of Russia was Assasinated and a Jew was blamed
- The Jewish Population of Whitechapel were heavily resented by the population
- Hate due to the cultural differences and conflicting attitudes to work.
- Anarchist groups formed were growing all around Europe
- In paris in 1871 they took control of paris and when the revolution failed the leaders fled to Britian
- Social Democratic Federation formed to represent Agricultural and industrial laborer’s and the rights for women
- They wanted to bring down capitalism
Whitechapel (Crimes)
Crime was common in Whitechapel due to the hardship police had to police the area
- It was hard for women to find work so many went to prostitutions for work
- They needed special police management as prostitution was not illegal but it was a social problem
- Drunkens was also a problem as it turned to violent and crime to help fuel the addiction to alcohol
- In One Mile of ** Whitechapel Road** there was no less than **45 ** Buildings serving alcohol
- Some voliolence stirred due to the gangs made up of eastern Europeans known as the Bessarabia Tigers and Odessans
Whitechapel (H Division)
H Division was the Policing Unit for Whitechapel. It struggled as it wasn’t cared for as much as other divisions by the MET police as the poor were not in positions of power to enforce the Polices Appearance and standards.
- Inspector ** Frederick Alberline**and his CID team were assigned the case of Jack the Ripper by the Met Police to help H division
- in 1888 the police could only communicate from a distance by whistle meaning the police benefited from the ability of telephone boxes
- H division did not get a telephone box until 1901
- Police Introduced bicycles in 1896 and most rural forced had them by 1905.
- H division did not get bikes until 1909
- DNA evidence began to be used later part of the 20th century
- Scientists could not yet tell the difference between human and Animal Blood when on crime scenes
- Crime Photography was only just beginning and many officers were unaware of this.
- Many divisions didnt collaborate information with one and other and didnt keep any record.
Aims of Punishment
The aims of punishment have changed drastically over the prior decades and eras
There is four Main types of Punishments and there goals.
Retribution
- Retribution is doing back what was done to the victim
- E.g. Death Penalty for Murders
- Some Disagree as this goes against religious beliefs that “Only god Gave life so he can only take it”
- Ghandi once argued against the usage claiming “an eye for an eye” will make the world go blind.
Deterrence
- Deterrence is when you stop or attempt to prevent before the crime has actually been done
- For example speeding cameras are intended to deter people from speeding
- Police also provide an active deterrence as crime is less likely to happen if there is a police officer watching you do it.
Reformation
- Reformation is to reform them back into every day society
- Main function of open prisons is to reform them into every day ordinary civilians and try and integrate them into normal life
Rehabilitation
- For people who are deemed mentality or physically inefficient
- Usually used on serial killers or people who have committed very disturbing crimes with no remorse
- Means to treat and try to become a Normal Person and Understand there crime.
Prison Reforms
The prisons prior to reforms were heavily crowded, full of disease and violence, they needed major change and 3 individuals were mainly responsible for it.
John Howard
- John Howard was responsible for his suggests to pay Gaolers (Prison Guards)
- This was meant to reduce corruption as the Gaolers were now being paid so didnt rely on prisoners to pay them off to survive.
- He also suggested the removal of the exit fee for when they leave prisons
- This was to promote fairer and more promising prison systems that were not discriminative based on income or worth,
Elizabeth Fry
- Suggested the separation of me and Women in prisons having there own prison or at least there own ward completely separate from any men.
- This was due to the high amounts of sexual violence towards women as well as high Infant mortality in such poor conditions
- She also suggested the introduction of women Gaolers in women’s prisons
- This meant that men couldn’t take advantage of there position to abuse women in prisons.
Robert Peel
- Home Secretary of the time, known for implementing the suggestions listed above under law
- 1823 Gaols act made it mandatory of sex segregation with women wardens as well as a fair living wage for the Gaolers
- Showed the governments care for the standards of the prisons and showered their support for the poor for the first time in there time.
These were crucial differences as they are things that we still use and adapt to the modern era with prisons becoming less of a risk for the more Vulnerable in Society
