Nature and changing definitions of crime Flashcards
(73 cards)
1
Q
MEDIEVAL
When was the anglo-saxons period?
A
1000-1066
2
Q
MEDIEVAL
What were 4 crimes against the person during anglo saxon period?
A
- Assault
- murder
- public disorder
- rape
3
Q
MEDIEVAL
What were 3 crimes against property during anglo saxon period?
A
- Theft
- arson
- poaching
4
Q
MEDIEVAL
What were 3 crimes against authority in the anglo saxon period?
A
- Treason
- Rebellion
- actions that threaten the social structure
5
Q
MEDIEVAL
When was the normans period?
A
1066-1200
6
Q
MEDIEVAL
What was introduced in the norman period?
A
Church courts introduced for moral(religious) crimes like drunkenness and adultery
7
Q
MEDIEVAL
When was the Murdrum fine introduced and what was it?
A
- 1070
- Law saying that if a Norman was killed and the murderer was not captured and executed, the people of that hundred had to collectively pay a murdrum fine to the King
8
Q
MEDIEVAL
Why was the Murdrum Fine introduced?
A
- Introduced because Normans were a tiny minority(7000 in 2 million)
9
Q
MEDIEVAL
When were the Forest Laws introduced and what were they?
A
- 1072
- Became illegal to graze or kill wild animals or take wood without a licence
- Were punished by having their first two fingers cut off
- Protected Royal hunting forests
10
Q
MEDIEVAL, EARLY MODERN, INDUSTRIAL, MODERN
What was poaching and why was it seen as a social crime?
A
- Hunting wild animals on other people’s land
- Social crime as it was considered to be acceptable to many people as it helped people survive and ordinary people viewed is at unfair
- Reducing the amount of land meant many had to choose between breaking the law and going hungry
11
Q
MEDIEVAL
Why did rebellions take place and how were they punished in the norman period?
A
- Lots of resistance because of the Norman invasion
- William I punished these crimes more harshly to try to assert his authority
12
Q
MEDIEVAL
When was the later medieval period?
A
1200-1500
13
Q
MEDIEVAL
When was the murdrum fine abolished?
A
1350
14
Q
MEDIEVAL
Why was the Statute of Labourers introduced?
A
- After Black Death in 1348
- ruling classes were worried that peasants would demand higher wages as there was a shortage of workers
15
Q
MEDIEVAL
When was the Statute of Labourers introduced and what was it?
A
- 1351
- Introduced a maximum wage
- Made it a crime to ask for higher wages
16
Q
MEDIEVAL
In what years were the Heresy laws?
A
- 1382, 1401, 1414
17
Q
MEDIEVAL
What were heresy laws?
A
- Clergy persuaded the king to pass laws against heresy, punishments like being burnt at the stake
- JPs had the power to arrest suspected heretics
18
Q
EARLY MODERN PERIOD
What was the continuity between medieval period and early modern period in terms of crime?(4)
A
- Murder
- petty theft
- treason
- poaching
19
Q
EARLY MODERN
What were the 3 changes in society in the early modern period leading to changes in crime against person?
A
- Increase in population
- higher unemployment
- towns and cities grew = increase in crime against the person(e.g Street criminals, petty theft)
20
Q
EARLY MODERN
What was the change in society in the early modern period leading to changes in crime against property?
A
- New farming method led to enclosure of land(fencing it off for the use of the landowner)
- Poaching
21
Q
EARLY MODERN
What were the 2 changes in society in the early modern period leading to changes in crime against authority?
A
- Changes in people’s beliefs and religion of monarch
- Heresy and treason became interlinked 1534
22
Q
EARLY MODERN
What were the changes in increase in crime against authority?(2)
A
- Religious change
- Rebellions and plots against the monarch led to an increase in heresy and treason
23
Q
EARLY MODERN
Who was Henry VIII and what did he do?(3)
A
- Shut down monasteries and seized their land and wealth
- Interlinked treason and heresy in 1534 as he became Head of the Church
- Both P+C were punished as they refused to take oath of supremacy after 1534
24
Q
EARLY MODERN
Who was Mary I and what did she do? (2)
A
- Strict catholic who tried to restore the catholic church
- Executed 300 protestants for refusing to follow catholic faith
25
# EARLY MODERN
Who was Elizabeth I and what did she do?(2)
- Executed many catholic rebels for treason
- 1570 - Pope ejected Elizabeth from Catholic church
26
# EARLY MODERN
Who was James I and what did he do?
- Protestant, strict anti catholic laws after Gunpowder plot 1605
- 1604 - summoning evil spirits made punishable by death
27
# EARLY MODERN
Why was there an increase in the number of vagrants?(3)
- Falling wages
- Rising food prices
- No system to help the needy - closure of monasteries 1536
28
# EARLY MODERN
What is vagrancy an example of?
How general population can put pressure on the government to make laws on what they feel should be classed as a crime
29
# EARLY MODERN
When was the Vagabonds and Beggars Act?
- 1494
30
When was the Vagrancy Act?
- 1547
- the able bodied without work for more than 3 days were branded with the letter ‘V’ and sold as a slave for two years
- (REPEALED IN 1550 AS IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO ENFORCE)
31
# EARLY MODERN
What was the Vagabonds and Beggars Act?
- Vagabonds were put in stocks for three days and then sent back to where they were born
31
# EARLY MODERN
What was the Vagabond and Beggars Act?
- Vagabonds were put in stocks for three days and then sent back to where they were born
32
# EARLY MODERN
When was the Act for Relief of the Poor and what was it?
- 1597
- split vagrants into ‘deserving’(elderly and disabled) and ‘undeserving’(those fit for work)
33
# EARLY MODERN
When were the Poor Laws?
- 1601
- ‘deserving’ poor were given poor relief by the local parish
- the ‘undeserving’ could be branded, whipped or sent to a correction house
34
# EARLY MODERN
What was smuggling in the early modern period?
- Import tax on goods like brandy and tea introduced in 17th century, smuggling increased dramatically
- People bring goods into the country secretly to avoid paying import tax
- Social crime as many did not view it as serious or a threat, difficult to enforce
35
# MEDIEVAL
What was witchcraft in medieval times?
Minor crime which was dealt with by church courts
36
# EARLY MODERN
What was witchcraft in early modern period?
- New laws in the early modern period made it more serious as they were scared of it
37
# EARLY MODERN
What were the new laws for witchcraft?(3)
- 1542 - Henry VIII made witchcraft punishable by death
- 1563 - Elizabeth I charges of witchcraft had to be tried in a common court
- 1604 - James I instructed the death penalty to be given to people ‘summoning evil spirits’
38
# EARLY MODERN
When was witchcraft made punishable by death?
1542
39
# EARLY MODERN
When did charges of witchcraft have to be tried in a common court?
1563
40
# EARLY MODERN
When was the death penalty intructed to people summoning evil spirits?
1604
41
# INDUSTRIAL
What were the four reasons for increased crime in the industrial period?
- People travelled more and moved into towns - less people knew each other and communities were less tightly knit
- Larger towns that made it easier to escape being caught
- Some criminals became ‘professional’ within gangs of thieves
- Extreme poverty led to ‘survival crimes’ being committed like stealing food
42
# INDUSTRIAL
What was done to try and reduce highway robbery?
- Mounted patrols on major roads and the growth of the railways helped reduce instances of highway robbery
43
# INDUSTRIAL
When did highway robbery disappear?
Disappeared completely in 1830s
44
# INDUSTRIAL
What were the 3 reasons for highway robbery?
- Improved roads led to more people travelling
- Increased trade between towns meant more goods and money were transported by road
- Many roads were isolated which made it easy to get away with highway robbery
45
# INDUSTRIAL
When did it become a capital crime to be armed and in disguise on a high road?
1772
46
# INDUSTRIAL
What were the changes in poaching in the industrial period?
- Increased in 18th century
- Poaching gangs
47
# INDUSTRIAL
What did poaching lead to?
- Led to 1723 Waltham Black Act - poaching as a capital crime and also made it illegal to carry snares or own hunting dogs in a poaching area
48
# INDUSTRIAL
Why did smuggling increase in the industrial period?
- Smuggling increased because the tax on imported goods was so high
49
# INDUSTRIAL
What was smuggling and why was it difficult to stamp out?
- Made large profits by bringing these goods into the country without paying tax
- Led to large gangs of smuggle e.g Hawkhurst Gang
- Found it difficult to patrol because of the large areas of coast
50
# INDUSTRIAL
Who was involved in smuggling?
- Lots involved: smugglers, traders, buyers, gave smugglers alibis
51
# INDUSTRIAL
Why did smuggling decrease?
- Taxes were cut in 1840s and smuggling decreased
52
# INDUSTRIAL
Why did the number of prosecutions of witchcraft decline?
- After the civil war the number of prosecutions of witchcraft declined
53
# INDUSTRIAL
How did witchcraft end and what were the attitudes in the industrial period?
- All laws repealed by Witchcraft Act of 1736
- Some still clung to their superstitions although attitudes of authorities had changed
54
# INDUSTRIAL
Why did witchcraft stop being a crime?(3)
- Economic and social changes led to more prosperity and political stability
- Especially the educated became less superstitious
- Royal Society(by Charles II) led to more scientific experiments and explained many things thought to be the work of the witches
55
# INDUSTRIAL
Year of the tolpuddle martyrs? industrial period
1834
56
# INDUSTRIAL
When were the tolpuddle martyrs pardoned?
1836
57
# INDUSTRIAL
What happened to the Tolpuddle martyrs?
- Farm workers(George Loveless, Thomas Stanfield) in Tolpuddle, Dorset formed an early form of a trade union to protest about low wages
- The government feared they were losing control of the workers - they accused them of taking part in a mutiny and taking secret oaths
- All received the 7 years transportation to Australia in an attempt to deter others from forming trade unions
58
# INDUSTRIAL
What did the punishment of the Tolpuddle martyrs lead to?
- This led to mass protests and a petition of 200000 signatures was collected in opposition to the harsh punishment they received
59
# INDUSTRIAL
Why were the Tolpuddle martyrs significant and what did it show?(4)
- Showed how authorities used laws to criminalise people they viewed as a threat
- Government would protect the interests of employers
- Pardoning of the martyrs shows the impact of public opinion
- Martyrs inspired to fight for workers’ rights but others were deterred by the harsh punishment
60
# MODERN
What was the continuity in terms of crime in modern britain?(5)
- theft always common
- violent crimes same but weapons used have changed
- drink driving(driving a horse-drawn coach while drunk was made illegal in 1872)
- terrorism Gunpowder plot
- Smuggling
61
# MODERN
What is cybercrime?(2)
- Most cyber crimes are new versions of old crimes
- Online theft, fraud(deceiving someone to get money), extortion(using threats to get money from someone, what is new is the scale
62
# MODERN
What was smuggling in modern britain?(3)
- Smuggling legal and illegal items without paying tax has happened for centuries
- Modern britain: cigarettes, alcohol, illegal drugs, people trafficking
- In the past smuggling cigarettes and alcohol are seen by some as less serious social crimes
63
# MODERN
What is the change in terrorism?
- Not new but modern weapons, transport and communications mean that more ordinary people are at risk
- Gunpowder plot as a form of terrorism
64
# MODERN
What was society like in modern britain?(3)
- Multicultural - different races and religions
- More equal - position of women changed
- As attitudes changed, new laws were needed to ensure that all people were treated fairly and equally
65
# MODERN
What were changing crimes in modern britain in 1967?
- 1967 - Abortion Act - decriminalised abortion in certain situations
- 1967 - Sexual Offences Act - decriminalised homosexuality for men over 21
66
# MODERN
When and what was the Race Relations Act and Racial and Religious Hatred Act? What did they do?
- 1968 - Race Relations Act
- 2006 - Racial and Religious Hatred Act
- Both made certain acts race crimes
67
# MODERN
When and what was the Criminal Justice Act? What did it do?
- 2005
- Gave criminal courts the power to give more severe sentences for other crimes like assaut or murder if they are classed as hate crimes
68
# MODERN
What is a hate crime?
- If a crime is committed against someone because of their race, religion or sexuality the criminal can receive harsher punishments than if the crime was committed for another reason
70
# MODERN
When and what was the Misuse of Drugs Act?
- 1971
- Taking or supplying some substances has been illegal in the UK
71
# MODERN
What are drug crimes like in modern britain?(2)
- Drugs classified according to how dangerous they are perceived to be
- Some think it’s important for some drugs to be illegal to clarify that taking them is wrong, while others believe that drug-taking is a personal choice
72
# MODERN
Why are there new driving offences?
- Many driving crimes are totally new due to number of vehicles on today’s roads and the technological advances of modern transport
73
# MODERN
What are the five examples of driving offences?
- Driving while under the influence of drugs
- Speeding
- Driving without insurance, an MOT certificate or a valid driving licence
- Ignoring traffic lights, road signs, etc
- Driving while using a mobile phone
