Topic 6: Attitudes to Crime and Punishment Flashcards
What was the main purpose of punishment in medieval England?
- Deterrence
- Retribution
- To keep order
How were punishments carried out in Medieval ages?
- Public and harsh
- Show justice was being done
What was a result of increased crime rates in the Early Modern Era?
More public punishments e.g. whipping vagabonds through the streets
What are examples of humiliation in the Early Modern Era?
- Branding
- Stocks and pillory
What was a common form of execution in the Early Modern Era?
Public hanging
What were prisons used for in the Early Modern Era?
To temporarily hold offenders or debtors
When was a change in attitude seen in the Early Modern Era?
With the Elizabethan Poor Laws where the government set up Houses of Correction
How did transportation change attitudes in the industrial era?
- Banishing criminals was seen as an alternative to the death penalty
- Workers were needed for the new colony
- Some felt that the Bloody Code was unfair but didn’t want to let criminals off
What happened to the role of prisons in the industrial era?
- Increasingly used as Bloody Code abolished to 5 crimes
- Change in attitude to prison and towards reform
What happened as a result of increased use of prisons in the industrial era?
Overcrowding
What was the Gaols Act of 1823?
Improved security and sanitation
What happened as a result of the separate and silent systems not working?
The government decided to return to deterrence using harsh methods
What was the 1865 Penal Servitude Act?
Ruled that all prisoners should experience hard labour, hard fare and hard board e.g. hard work, bread and water and hard bed
When was public execution banned?
1868
When were reform schools introduced for 10-15yr olds?
1850s
What did borstals focus on and when were they introduced?
- Discipline and authority
- 1908
When was the old system replaced by Youth Detention Centres and what did they involve?
- 1982
- Much stricter, almost military, discipline
- This did not work and youth re-offending increased to 75%
When was flogging of prisoners ended?
1948
What 3 cases led to the abolition of capital punishment in 1969?
- Derek Bentley
- Ruth Ellis
- Timothy Evans
What is rehabilitation?
The belief that education & training, treatment for addiction, counselling a criminal could learn to be a useful member of society and not return to a life of crime
What is restitution?
Doing something for the victim or community to pay them back for the crime committed e.g. meeting with the victim, repairing the damage or helping the community
