Methods of Punishment Flashcards
What was the purpose if punishment in the medieval era ?
Retribution
Humiliation
Who would a person be judged by in the Medieval era?
Jury of men - Hearsay
What were the ordeals in the medieval era ?
Trails If the jury could not decide
What was the ordeal by Blessed Bread ?
- priest prayed over a piece of bread
- act of prayer would cause the accused to choke on the bread if they were lying
- choke = guilty
What was the ordeal by Hot iron ?
- accused picked up a red-hot metal weight
- If their burns became infected = guilty
What is ordeal by cold water ?
- The accused was lowered into a river or pond
- Floated = guilty
What was ordeal by hot water ?
- accused put their hand in boiling water
- If their burns became infected = guilty.
What was wergild ?
- a fine paid to compensate victims
What were common types of punishments used in the medieval era ?
- Whipping or flogging
- Stocks and Pillory
- Mutilation
- Execution
- Imprisonment
What was whipping or flogging used for in the Medieval era ?
- punish minor offences
- not going to church, petty theft , begging.
What was stocks and pillory used for in the Medieval era ?
- public punishment for less important crimes
- swearing or being drunk in public.
What was mutilation used for in the Medieval era ?
- Theft or regular offending
- Forest Laws = illegal hunters could have some of their fingers cut off.
What was execution used for in the Medieval era ?
- The most serious crimes
- Heresy = burned alive
- Treason = hanged until near death and then cut into pieces.
What was imprisonment used for in the Medieval era ?
- holding debtors or people waiting for their trial.
How were Vagabonds treated in the early modern era ?
- 1495 - put into the stocks for 3 days
- 1531 - whipped and sent back to the parish of their birth
- 1547 - branded with a V on their forehead(repeat = execution)
- 1601 - Poor Law meant whipping and house of correction
When was public capital punishment abolished ?
1868
Where was a common place of public execution in the early modern era ?
- Tyburn, London
When was being burnt at the stake abolished ?
1790
Who were beheadings reserved for in the Medieval era ?
- Royalty and Nobility
- Mary Queen of Scots - 1587.
How were commoners executed in the early modern era ?
Hung drawn and quartered
What forms of corporal punishment were continued from the early modern era ?
- Stocks and Pillory
- Flogging
What was the punishment of transportation?
- convicts were sent to the British colonies to work instead of being executed.
How did the punishment of transportation become common ?
- Transportation Act 1717
What was the transportation used for in the industrial era ?
- people found guilty of theft
- protestors such as luddites
When did transportation to Australia begin ?
- 1787
- 11 ships, 736 convicts
What were hulks ?
- A decommissioned ship used as a gaol when prisons were overcrowded.
What were transported convicts sentenced to do ?
- building roads or breaking rocks.
When were prisons initially introduced ?
- 1553 - Edward VI
- Royal Palace of Bridewell –> House of Corrections
How did JP’s try reform prisoners in the early modern era ?
- Bridewells
- Supervised work for inmates
How many prisons were there by 1700 ?
14 in London
How many prisoners were there by 1750 across Britain ?
4000
When did transportation end ?
1776
What was the separate system in prisons ?
prisoners were isolated from each other in individual cells
How were prisoners used in the separate system ?
put to work sewing mailbags and coal sacks.
What is a famous example of a prison that used the separate system ?
Pentonville
What was the silent system used in prisons ?
not kept physically separate but they were not allowed to communicate
What did the silent system result in the increase of ?
prisoner suicide and mental health problems.
When were all prisons brought under government control ?
1877
When was useless labour punishments abolished in prisons?
1902
When were the silent and separate systems abolished ?
1922
When was the death penalty abolished ?
1969
When was flogging abolished ?
1948
When were open prisons established ?
1934
What were open prisons ?
Gave more freedom to prisoners to work and become reformed .
What were Borstals ?
an alternative to prison for young offenders
When was the first borstal opened ?
Kent , 1902
What age group was sent to borstals ?
15-21
When were Borstals abolished ?
1982
What was the purpose of Borstals ?
to educate and reform young offenders with education and training courses
What is probation ?
a person has to follow a set of rules laid down by the court in return for freedom
When was probation introduced ?
1907
What is parole ?
can temporarily or permanently leave prison.
When was parole introduced ?
1967
What is community service ?
- Convicts take part in public works
-1972 introduced
What percentage of prisoners died every year ?
25%
When did John Howard publish his report on prisons?
1777
What did Howard believe should be implemented in to every prison?
-running water
-clean and hygienic conditions
-access to medical treatment
-improved standard of food
-payment of gaolers
-visits from churchmen
What was Elizabeth Fry outraged by?
conditions for female prisoners in London’s Newgate Prison.
How did Elizabeth Fry reform women’s prisons?
She provided clothes and bedding and began to teach inmates skills such as knitting.
She set up a chapel and a school in the prison.
She believed prisoners should be reformed via Christianity
What did Fry’s ideas influence?
After she spoke to a House of Commons Committee, her ideas influenced the passing of the 1823 Gaols Act
1823 Gaols Act
-prisons should be made secure
-gaolers should be paid
-female and male prisoners to be separate
-doctors and chaplains should visit prisons
What crime had most transportees been convicted of?
Theft
- 80 per cent of transported convicts were convicted thieves.
In what century were the separate and silent prison systems used?
19th century
What were John Howard’s observations in his report ?
- Prisoners not separated by gender or type of crime
- Prisoners dying of disease
- Corrupt gaolers
- Understaffed
- Jailers fee too high
What did John Howard suggest as reformations ?
- Running Water
- Clean and hygienic conditions
- Medical treatment
- Payment of gaolers
- Chaplin available
- Higher food standard
What did Elizabeth Fry campaign for in the early 19th century ?
Separate and better conditions of female prisons
What did Elizabeth Fry’s influence cause ?
The Gaols Act of 1823
