c1700 - c1900: 18th and 19th century britain

• Between 1700 - 1850, street crimes increased due to:

  • more people travelling and moving to towns, resulting in less people knowing eachother
  • larger towns allowed criminals to escape
  • some criminals becoming professionals
  • extreme poverty, leading to survival crimes
• Highway robbery increased in the 18th century because:

  • improved roads meant more people travelling
  • increased trade between towns meant more goods and money were transported by road
  • many roads were isolated
• The bow street runners were established in London in 1749 by Henry Fielding to try and tackle the huge crime wave in 17th century London. At first, they charged fees and collected rewards, but by 1785 they were paid by the government.
• The bow street runners introduced new methods of finding evidence, becoming the first modern detectives. They branched out into patrolling major roads both on foot and horseback. These were not very successful though, as there was not enough of them to deal with the increasing crime rate.
• The Metropolitan Police Force began in London in 1829. The Criminal Investigation Department was set up in 1878.
• Conditions in 18th century prisons were very poor. John Howard's work led to the 1774 Gaol Act, which suggested sanitation and health in prisons could be improved. Elizabeth Fry set up education classes to reform female prisoners. Their work influenced Peel's prison reforms.
• Reasons for the seperate system:

  • for rehabilitation
  • solitude was the best way to provide prisoners with an oppurtunity to reflect on their crimes
  • it also meant prisoners could not be influenced by other criminals
  • for retribution
  • the isolation and boredom made the criminal pay for their crime
  • as a deterrent
  • a serious punishment
• Strengths of the seperate system:

  • clean, and far less disease
  • many people thought it provided the right level of punishment, seen as harsh but not overly so
• Weaknesses of the seperate system:

  • continuous isolation led to high suicide rates
  • no education to provide prisoners with new skills to use when released
• Robert Peel reduced the number of capital crimes by 100 becasue he wanted:

  • less harsh punishments for petty crimes
  • to try to reform petty criminals rather than kill them
• Peel tried to reform prisons by persuading parliament to pass the 1823 Gaols Act which stated:

  • chaplains should regularly visit prisoners
  • guards should be paid, to reduce the amount of bribes from prisioners
  • prisoners should not be put in chains