Topic 5: Methods of Punishment Flashcards
What was held before the punishment in Saxon times?
Trial by ordeal e.g. trial by hot iron
What were Saxon fines called?
Wergild
What were the 3 main types of punishment in medieval times?
- Whipping e.g. beggars
- Stocks and pillory: minor crimes such as swearing or drunkenness
- Mutilation e.g. branding for beggars
What crimes received the death penalty in the Early modern era?
- Murder
- Treason
- Persistent theft/begging
What was the usual method of carrying out the death penalty in the Early modern era?
Public hanging
What was the method of carrying out the death penalty for treason in EME?
- Hang, drawn and quartered
- E.g. Guy Fawkes (1605)
- E.g. Thomas Culpepper who committed adultery with Katherine Howard (Henry VIII’s 5th wife)
What was the death penalty for nobles in the early modern era?
Beheading if committed treason e.g. Duke of Norfolk / Mary QoS
What was the death penalty for heretics?
Burned at the stake e.g. Mary I burnt over 280 protestants
What was the Bloody Code?
225 crimes punishable by death by 1815
What was introduced as an alternative to the death penalty in the Industrial Era?
Transportation
When did Australia start being used for transportation instead of North America?
1770s
What were used as a temporary prison containment in the Industrial Era?
Hulks
When did the first fleet of prisoners arrive in Australia?
1788
How many convicts were transported each year?
2000
What were conditions like in a penal colony?
- Harsh
- Prisoners who did not conform were whipped with cat o’nine tails
- Or sent to work in chain gangs
When did transportation stop?
Mid 19th century
Who were 3 prison reformers?
- Elizabeth Fry
- George O’Paul
- John Howard
What did the separate system set out to do and how?
- Reform
- Individual cells with work and religious sermons
- Made boots, mail bags or sewed clothes
How many prisons used the separate system by 1850?
Over 50
What was the silent system?
- Made life as unpleasant as possible
- Pointless tasks like the crank, shot drill
What was the result of both the silent and separate systems?
- Failed
- Re-offending rate high
- Suicide common
- Expensive
When was corporal and capital punishment abolished?
In the 20th century
When were borstals set up?
1908
What was the function of borstals?
- To reform 15-21yr olds
- Strict rules and education
- Corporal punishment was used to begin with
When and why were borstals abolished?
- 1982
- Reoffending rates were high
When and why were Young Offenders Institutions set up?
- 1988
- To reform violent offenders aged 18-21
What was there for those up to 17 in Young Offenders Institutions?
Secure training centres focussing on education and rehabilitation
What are open prisons and when were they set up?
- House non-violent offenders, low risk of escape
- Set up after WW2
Why were alternatives to prisons needed?
Prisons continued to be overcrowded
What is probation?
- Set of rules and probation officer to report to police
- From 1980s had to undertake counselling for issues such as drug dependancy
What is parole?
- Allows prisoners to be released earlier for good behaviour
- Similar to probation
What is community service and when was it introduced?
- Unpaid work to benefit the community e.g. cleaning graffiti
- Introduced in 1972
What is electronic tagging and when was it introduced?
- Limits on when and where they can go and the tag monitors their movements
- Introduced in the 1990s
