Week Two - Why Study the History of Crime?

Question 1

What are the two reasons for studying the history of crime?

Answer 1

It is hard to understand contemporary systems and trends without some grasp of how things were organised in previous eras

Unless we have some grasp of history we are unlikely to be able to understand the aetiology - the origins - of current practices.

Question 2

What is the first reason for studying the history of Crime?

Answer 2

It is hard to understand contemporary systems and trends without some grasp of how things were organised in previous eras. Thus, an appreciation of systems of punishment in previous periods may help provide a better understanding of how we organise our contemporary penal system

Question 3

What is the second reason for studying the history of Crime?

Answer 3

Unless we have some grasp of history we are unlikely to be able to understand the aetiology - the origins - of current practices. For example, why are our policing systems organised in the way they are? When and why did we come to use imprisonment as a punishment for serious crime? Asking such questions and seeking answers to them also potentially reveals important things about the nature of society more generally, and how society has changed