Crime In England 1815 1880

Crime in England, 1815-1880 provides a unique insight into views on crime and criminality and the operation of the criminal justice system in England from the early to the late nineteenth century. This book examines the perceived problem and causes of crime, views about offenders and the consequences of these views for the treatment of offenders in the criminal justice system. The book explores the perceived causes of criminality, as well as concerns about particular groups of offenders, such as the 'criminal classes' and the 'habitual offender', the female offender and the juvenile criminal. It also considers the development of policing, the systems of capital punishment and the transportation of offenders overseas, as well as the evolution of both local and convict prison systems. The discussion primarily investigates those who were drawn into the criminal justice system and the attitudes towards and mechanisms to address crime and offenders. The book draws together original research by the author to locate these broader developments and provides detailed case studies illuminating the lives of those who experienced the criminal justice system and how these changes were experienced in provincial England. With an emphasis on the penal system and case studies on offenders' lives and on provincial criminal justice, this book will be useful to academics and students interested in criminal justice, history and penology, as well as being of interest to the general reader.

This book is an ambitious attempt to map the main changes in the criminal justice system in the Victorian period through to the twentieth century. Chapters include an examination of the growth and experience of imprisonment, policing, and probation services; the recording of crime in official statistics and in public memory; and the possibilities of research created by new electronic and on-line sources; an exploration of time, space and place, on crime, and the growth internationalisation and science-led approach of crime control methods in this period. Unusually, the book presents these issues in a way which illustrates the sources of data that informs modern crime history and discusses how criminologists and historians produce theories of crime history. Consequently, there are a series of interesting and lively debates of a thematic nature which will engage historians, criminologists, and research methods specialists, as well as the undergraduates and school students that, like the author, are fascinated by crime history.

“An interesting introduction to Victorian crimes, the people who committed them, and how effective rehabilitation may have been.” —Ripperologist Magazine What was life like in the Victorian underworld—who were the criminals, what crimes did they commit, how did they come to a criminal career, and what happened to them after they were released from prison? Victorian Convicts, by telling the stories of a hundred criminal men and women, gives the reader an insight into their families and social background, the conditions in which they lived, their relationships and working lives, and their offences. They reveal how these individuals were treated by the justice and penal system of 150 years ago, and how they were regarded by the wider world around them. Such a rare and authentic insight into life in and out of prison will be fascinating reading for anyone who is interested in the history of crime and criminals, in legal and prison history and in British society in the nineteenth century. “A fascinating, informative and educational read providing the history of these one hundred individuals who lived so long ago but who can teach us today the practices of the Victorian penal system and the struggles of the era.” —Crime Traveller “It is intriguing and very readable opening a window into lives of so many unfortunates. If you have an interest in police history this work, particularly details of numerous convictions and what followed after the court case was concluded, will be of interest.” —Surrey Constabulary History Journal

Who decides what is right or wrong, ethical or immoral, just or unjust? In the world of crime and spy fiction between 1880 and 1920, the boundaries of the law were blurred and justice called into question humanity's moral code. As fictional detectives mutated into spies near the turn of the century, the waning influence of morality on decision-making signaled a shift in behavior from idealistic principles towards a pragmatic outlook taken in the national interest. Taking a fresh approach to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's popular protagonist, Sherlock Holmes, this book examines how Holmes and his rival maverick literary detectives and spies manipulated the law to deliver a fairer form of justice than that ordained by parliament. Multidisciplinary, this work views detective fiction through the lenses of law, moral philosophy, and history, and incorporates issues of gender, equality, and race. By studying popular publications of the time, it provides a glimpse into public attitudes towards crime and morality and how those shifting opinions helped reconstruct the hero in a new image.

The Routledge International Handbook on Fear of Crime brings together original and international state of the art contributions of theoretical, empirical, policy-related scholarship on the intersection of perceptions of crime, victimisation, vulnerability and risk. This is timely as fear of crime has now been a focus of scholarly and policy interest for some fifty years and shows little sign of abating. Research on fear of crime is demonstrative of the inter-disciplinarity of criminology, drawing in the disciplines of sociology, psychology, political science, history, cultural studies, gender studies, planning and architecture, philosophy and human geography. This collection draws in many of these interdisciplinary themes. This collections also extends the boundaries of fear of crime research. It does this both methodologically and conceptually, but perhaps more importantly it moves us beyond some of the often repeated debates in this field to focus on novel topics from unique perspectives. The book begins by plotting the history of fear of crime’s development, then moves on to investigate the methodological and theoretical debates that have ensued and the policy transfer that occurred across jurisdictions. Key elements in debates and research on fear of crime concerning gender, race and ethnicity are covered, as are contemporary themes in fear of crime research, such as regulation, security, risk and the fear of terrorism, the mapping of fear of crime and fear of crime beyond urban landscapes. The final sections of the book explore geographies of fear and future and unique directions for this research.

Scotland has often been regarded throughout history as "the violent north", but how true is this statement? Does Scotland deserve to be defined thus, and upon what foundations is this definition based? This book examines the history of crime in Scotland, questioning the labelling of Scotland as home to a violent culture and examining changes in violent behaviour over time, the role of religion on violence, how gender impacted on violence and how the level of Scottish violence fares when compared to incidents of violence throughout the rest of the UK. This book offers a ground-breaking contribution to the historiography of Scottish crime. Not only does the piece illuminate for the first time, the nature and incidence of Scottish criminality over the course of some three hundred years, but it also employs a more integrated analysis of gender than has hitherto been evident. This book sheds light on whether the stereotypical label given to Scotland as 'the violent north' is appropriate or in any way accurate, and it further contributes to our understanding of not only Scottish society, but of the history of crime and punishment in the British Isles and beyond.

The criminal class was seen as a violent, immoral and dissolute sub-section of Victorian London's population. Making their living through crime and openly hostile to society, the lives of these criminals were characterised by drunkenness, theft and brutality. This book explores whether this criminal class did indeed truly exist, and the effectivenessof measures brought against it. Tracing the notion of the criminal class from as early as the 16th century, this book questions whether this sub-section of society did indeed exist. Bach discusses how unease of London's notorious rookeries, the frenzy of media attention and a [word deleted here] panic among the general public enforced and encouraged the fear of the 'criminal class' and perpetuated state efforts of social control. Using the Habitual Criminals Bills, this book explores how and why this legislation was introduced to deal with repeat offenders, and assesses how successful its repressive measures were. Demonstrating how the Metropolitan Police Force and London's Magistrates were not always willing tools of the British state, this book uses court records and private correspondence to reveal how inconsistent and unsuccessful many of these measures and punishments were, and calls into question the notion that the state gained control over recidivists in this period.

A history of juvenile crime, punishment, and reform in England in the years before, during, and after the era of Charles Dickens. How were juvenile delinquents dealt with in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? What dire circumstances led to their behavior? Were the efforts to curb their criminal tendencies successful? From 1820–1920, ideas about youth and transgression changed dramatically in the United Kingdom. Criminal Children delves into this period to uncover fascinating insight into the neglected subject of childhood crime and punishment, and the “invention” of juvenile delinquency. Drawing on the life stories of twenty-four “bad seeds,” true crime journalists Emma Watkins and Barry Godfrey explore every aspect of these young and desperate lives: their experiences in prisons, reformatory schools, industrial schools, borstals, and female factories; their trials and criminal petitions; and the harrowing transport to Australia—considered the last resort for adult convicts and children alike. Including resources for researching one’s own criminal forebears, Criminal Children is “an interesting book to anybody who wants to know more about juvenile offenders in England” (Nell Darby, author of Life on the Victorian Stage).