Crime and Punishment

1750-1900

Why was there a revolution in punishment and policing 1750-1900

By 1850 the Bloody Code had been swept away

Prison sentences became the most common punishment

Professional police forces set up

What were the reasons for these changes?

The work of reformers like Elizabeth Fry and Sir Samuel Romilly which persuaded Sir Robert Peel to make the changes abolishing the Bloody CodeRising crime and fear of crimeChanging attitudes to the Code and punishment in generalGovernment getting more involved

Why was the Bloody Code abolished by the 1830s?

Public executions were not working

Juries would not convict

Ideas about punishment were changing

Reasons for transportation

To provide a less harsh punishment that courts would accept

To provide a deterrent

To reduce crime by removing criminals

To claim Australia

To reform criminals

Courts would convict

Crime levels went up

Australia clearly part of the British Empire

Many convicts made fresh starts in Australia

The Changes in Prisons

What were the problems in prisons before the changes?

Problems in Prison

Gaolers not paid

Debtors mixed with serious criminals

New prisoners often had to make payments to cell mates

Prisoners had to pay for their keep

Prison cells often filthy & overcrowded

Men & women prisoners mixed

Old ships (hulks) were used to keep prisoners – high death rate

What changes were made to the prisons?

A cell in Pentonville prisonA hammock for sleeping A loom for workingWhat does this tell you about changing attitudes to punishment?

Changes to prisons (2)

New Pentonville prison , built in 1842

What can we learn from this about attitudes towards punishment?

Changes in prisons (3)

Prisoner in his cell, working the crank

Could be turned 20 times a minute, 10,000 times a day for over 8 hours

What was the purpose of this?

Changes in prisons (4)

Prisoners on the treadmill

48 steps a minute in silence, up to 9 hours a day

What was the point ?

19th century Prisons (5)Prisoners in exercise yard

Wearing masks (blindfolds), walking in silence at intervals

What was the purpose?

19th century prisons (6)

Picking oakum, pulling apart and cleaning a 3 foot length of tarred ship’s rope each day

Worked in silence

19th century prisons (7)

Prisoners at a religious service

They sit separately

Why did prisons change so much in the 19th century?

Separate or silent?

Work – useful or pointless?

Time off for good behaviour?

What seemed to be the main attitude towards punishment after 1850?