Modern Britain c1900-present

• Crime in modern Britain

  • Some modern crimes show change from those committed in the past
  • Yet there is a lot of continuity, an example includes theft
  • However computers and modern transport have created new ways to steal
  • Weapons used in violent acts have changes
  • Other crimes that are sometimes seen as “new” are simply new versions of older crimes
  • Such as drink-driving (in 1872 it was illegal to drive a horse-drawn coach while drunk)
• Cybercrimes

  • Most are committed over the internet
  • Most are also new versions of old crimes
  • For an example, online theft, fraud or extortion
  • What has changed is the scale, as thousands of people have been targeted at once
  • Perpetrators can also be overseas, which can cause problems for police
• Smuggling

  • In modern Britain goods such as cigarettes, alcohol and illegal drugs are smuggled into the country
  • There is a growth in people-trafficking, of which people are smuggled for either prostitution, forced labour or even a fee
• Terrorism

  • Though not new due to the modern weapons, transport and communication, mean more ordinary people are at risk
  • On the 7th of July 2005, 4 suicide bombers, who claimed to be members of Al Qaeda attacked central London
  • Resulting in 52 people being killed and around 770 people injured
  • Three bombs had gone off on the underground and a bus
• New crimes

  • New ‘crimes’ emerged since 1900
  • Due to factors of changing social attitudes like race crimes, and crimes related to modern technology e.g. Computer hacking
• Changing society

  In the 20th century, Britain developed into a society that was;

  • Multicultural, containing different cultures snd races
  • more equality and equity as women’s roles in society changed
• 1967- Sexual offences Act

  • decriminalised homosexuality for men over 21
• 1967-Abortion Act

  • Decriminalised abortion in certain circumstances
• 2005-criminal justice act

  • Allowed more severe sentences for hate crimes
  • E.g. Crimes against gay people or because of someone’s race or religion
• 2006-Racial and Religious Hatred act

  • Made spreading racial or religious hatred a crime
• Race Crimes

  • if a crime is committed against someone because of their race, religion or sexuality, the criminal can receive harsher punishments
  • This is because targeting someone for those reasons is considered a hate crime,
  • Which is treated more seriously than crimes committed for other reasons
• Drug Crimes

  • Taking or supplying some substances has been illegal in the UK since the Misuse of Drugs Act in 1971
  • Drugs are classified according to how dangerous they are perceived to be
  • The criminalisation of drugs is controversial
  • For some believe that clarification is required to highlight that taking drugs is wrong
  • While others believe it is a personal choice
• Driving offences

  • Driving while under the influence of drugs
  • Driving without insurance, an MOT licence or a valid driving license
  • Speeding
  • Ignoring traffic lights, road signs, etc.
  • Driving while using a mobile phone
• Law enforcement in modern Britain

  • Law enforcement continues to be a mixture of community-run and authority based schemes
  • But it is the authorities, in the form of the police, that take a greater role in solving and preventing crime
• Changes in policing

  • Motorised Transport means police can reach crimes faster
  • This also means less police force on streets, which some may dislike
  • Some of the police force are armed and may look like soldiers, which not everyone supports
  • The modern police force includes women and officers from different ethnic groups
• Special police units

  • These units tackle specific crimes
  • Some officers specialise in tackling certain crimes, like rape
• NCA (national crime agency)

  • Seeks to detect and prevent serious organised crimes
  • Including large-scale drug trafficking
• Economic Crime Unit

  • Investigates large-scale fraud, officers require specialist understanding of financial systems
• PCeU (police central e-crime Unit)

  • Tackles most serious types of cybercrimes and raises awareness of e-saftey
• Special Branch

  • Each local force has a special branch which aims to prevent all forms of terrorism
• Neighbourhood Watch

  • From 1982 Neighbourhood watch groups have used volunteers to prevent and detect crimes in local neighbourhoods
  • This was introduced to increase vigilance and education to prevent crimes and reduce fears
  • This has met with varying degrees of success
• Police community support officers

  • Introduced in 2002 to try and prevent crime in their communities
  • Working with schools and community groups
  • To educate people to protect themselves and their properties
  • The police also play a role in challenging extremism and radicalisation, apart of the Government’s prevent programme
• Use of science and tech-rapid advances in technology have had a big impact on preventing, discovering and prosecuting crimes since 1900s including:

  • Radios
  • DNA evidence
  • CCTV
  • Computers
  • Cars, motorbikes and helicopters
  • Finger printing
• Abolition of the death penalty

  Capital punishment was last used in 1964, in 1998 it was completely abolished due to:

  • ideas changed on punishment, reformation and paying back to society was considered more important
  • controversial cases would overall lead to the questioning of capital punishments
• 1950- Timothy Evans was hanged for murdering his wife and child, yet proved later on in evidence he had not
• 1953-Derek Bentley was hanged for murdering a policeman, though he did not fire a gun and had a serious learning difficulties
• 1955-Ruth Ellis was hanged for murdering her boyfriend after he had violently abused her for years
• Prison-The use of prison as a punishment increased throughout 1900 with many changes:

  • Different prisons to cater for different types of criminals e.g. Open prisons (prisoners are not locked up), where as high-security prisons exist (prisoners are kept away from other inmates)
  • Since 1907 prisoners have been released on probation, while being watched by probation officers and if they commit an offence, they are put back in prison
  • In 1948 hard labour in prison was abolished
  • Separate prisons have been established for young people
  • Borstals were set up in the early 1900s to help reduce re-offending rates by using work and education
  • Todays Young offenders institutions have high re-offending rates
  • There has been a rise in female prisoners although still only 6% of all prisoners are women
• New punishments have been developed as non-custodial (people are punished for their crime but are not kept in prison) alternatives to prison these include:

  • Community sentences- working on community projects
  • Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs)
  • Electronic tagging
• Rehabilitation

  • Prisons in the 1800s used to punish criminals to discourage them from re-offending on release
  • Yet now prisons today try to reduce re-offending rates through education and teaching prisoners new skills
  • However these have mixed success rates, and the general public may not always support what can be portrayed as a “holiday camp” to prisoners
• Conscientious objectors-are people who have religious, moral or political objections to war. During the 20th century, it became a crime, for a short time
• Conscription

  • This is a law that states that everyone who is asked to, who is healthy and fit, has to fight in the armed forces
  • Therefore anyone who was conscripted but then refused to fight would be imprisoned
  • These laws were introduced twice in Britain-during both World Wars
  • In both wars, conscientious objectors had to make their objections known to authorities
  • Then tried by tribunals who judged whether their objections were genuine
• Attitudes to conscientious objectors

  • The punishment and treatment of COs by authorities was very different in both world wars
  • This shows how people in authority had changed their attitude
  • However the attitude of the general public and treatment of the conscientious objectors was fairly similar in both instances
  • Due to people felt they were making great sacrifices and believed others should too
• Different Treatment-First World War

  • Conscription for men from 1916
  • A clause in the law excused conscientious objectors
  • 16,000 men refused to fight
  • Military tribunals made up of military officers and professionals would decide if COs were being genuine
  • “Alternativists” were given non-combat roles
  • “Absolutists” were imprisoned given brutal treatment
  • 10 died in prison, 63 died after release and 31 had breakdowns
• Different treatment-World War Two

  • Conscription from April 1939 for men
  • From December 1941 for women
  • A clause in law excused conscientious objectors
  • Over 59,000 men refused to fight
  • Tribunals (excluding military people) judged if COs were genuine
  • All except 12,204 were given complete or partial exemption
  • Partial exemption meant roles in non-combat
  • A far smaller percentage of those not given exemption were sent to prison
  • Those who did were not treated as harshly
• Similar Treatment from general public

  • Members of general public believed the COs were cowards and traitors
  • Some were shouted at in publicly and were even physically abused
  • They themself and their families risked being shunned by former friends and some were even dismissed from their jobs
  • During the first world war, The order of white feathers, encouraged women to hand out white feathers, symbolising cowardice, to young men not in military uniform
• Changes in treatment-COs

  • The press was less harsh and there were fewer organised campaigns against them during the second world war
• The Derek Bentley Case

  • In 1953 Derek Bentley was hanged for murder
  • His was one of several controversial executions , that played parts in abolishing the death penalty
• Public and parliamentary opinion

  • There was a huge public outcry against the sentence at the time
  • A motion was sent to parliament to reprieve Bentley supported by 200 Mps
  • Yet it was never debated in parliament
  • The Home Secretary could have reprieved Bentley as many others before, but chose not to
  • The case received lots of media coverage, which was sympathetic to his case
  • Bentley’s family continued to campaign after his death
  • And in 1993 he was pardoned and in 1998 his conviction for murder was overturned
• Significance of the Bentley case

  • Highlighted the vast difference in punishment for murder
  • Some were hanged, given death sentence while others were reprieved + prison sentences
  • It illustrated how the system of the Home Secretary reprieving murderers was a rare occurrence
  • It increased the number of people who were critical of the death penalty, as a fair and just punishment