5. Attitudes To Crime And Punishment Flashcards
What were the attitudes toward punishment in medieval era
Deterrence- scare people out of committing crimes,
Retribution- revenge for crime ‘eye for an eye’
Order- authorities keen to maintain order and avoid unrest.
Over time what have attitudes become
More focus on reformation rather than retribution
Why/how do we punish people
To discipline,
Retribution
Deter
Reform
Keep order
Protect
What are the factors in why punishments have changed over time
Social change e.g growth in poverty & crime or growth in population & then crime.
Role of media- can give impression there’s more crime than there is or influence people’s attitudes e.g against death penalty.
Ideas&attitudes-we have progressed and decide reformation is better than harsh punishment.
Actions of individuals e.g prison reformers.
Wealth&poverty.
Fear of crime- can lead to calls for tougher punishment- sharp crime increase in 17th century resulted in introduction of bloody code.
Why has the way we punish criminals changed?
Before formation of organised police force and a formal prison system, local communities took responsibility for maintaining law & order. Most effective method of reducing level of crime was to make punishments harsh in order to deter people from committing them.- often best achieved by delivering punishments in public so they could see that justice had been done.
As time has gone on, society has become less tolerant of harsh punishment which has seen things like the bloody code, corporal and capital punishment come to an end
When did public executions end
1868
When was corporal punishment abolished
1948
When was capital punishment abolished
1969
What was the bloody code and why was it put in place.
255 crimes punishable by death incl. pickpocketing,rioting against high food prices & sending threatening letters.
It was introduced over fear of rising crime as 17th century saw a sharp rise in crime. It was common belief that punishment needed to be harsh in order to deter others from committing the crime. There was also an increase in new crimes.
The media e.g pamphlets and newspapers now reporting crime gave the impression that there was more
Why was the bloody code abolished?
Large unruly crowds at executions were a threat to law& order so ended in 1868.
Many juries felt the death penalty was far too harsh for some crimes- pious perjury- wheee juries find people not guilty or reduce the value of the amount stolen to avoid the crime being a capital offence.
Miscarriage of justice
Where an individual is tried, convinced and punished for a crime they didn’t commit
Arguments in favour of death penalty
Dead murderers can’t kill again,
Good deterrent,
Keeping prisoners is expensive,
It’s “deserved”- satisfies victims,
Protects police+prison staff
Arguments against death penalty
Wrong person may be killed,
Not really a deterrent, many murders in the spur of the moment.
Barbaric- no one has the right to take a life.
Even the worst of people can be reformed.
Can make martyrs of criminals.
Some people are mentally I’ll/don’t understand the extent of the crime.
Other countries have abolished it and had no crime increase
What attempts did MPs make to try abolish the death penalty
1930- recommended ending the death penalty for 5 years but Home Secretary didn’t accept it.
1948&1956- MPs voted to abolish capital punishment but on each occasion House of Lords overturned their decision.
1957- breakthrough… capital punishment restricted to 5 types of murder: of police/prison officers, by shooting/exploding, while resisting arrest, while carrying out a theft, of more than one person.
Examples of miscarriages of justice which added to the debate against capital punishment
Timothy evans- hanged for murdering baby daughter in 1950 then found that someone else had done it.
Derek Bentley- hanged after found guilty of being an accomplice in the murder of a police officer during a burglary. His 16 y/o friend committed it but he app encouraged it. Controversy in his execution as had learning difficulties & a mental age of 11. - resulted in 45 year campaign to win his a posthumous pardon.
Ruth Ellis- convicted of murder of her lover in cold blood after she had been violently assaulted by him on several occasions(he had had multiple affairs w other women). Despite appeals that it was a crime of passion she was still executed.
