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These are known as corporal punishments
punishment of a physical nature
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Gallows –wooden apparatus used to hang people in public
Stock - Wooden torture instrument where the criminal’s feet
were locked in
Gibbet – cage on a gallows type structure. Criminal is left on
public show to die of thirst/starvation
Pillory - Wooden torture instrument where the criminal’s head
and hands were locked in
Flogging - public whipping
Burning at the stake - Severest Tudor punishment it is
believed that your would would be freed and sent to Heaven
All the above were intended to humiliate the criminal and to
deter others from committing crime
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Mary I burned 300 martyrs for their faith
(Protestantism) between 1555-60
They were found guilty of heresy and were
served the severest punishment
Burned at stake in the belief that their soul would
be freed and would escape to Heaven
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Cousin of Elizabeth I
Plotted to overthrow her
Was thrown in the tower and then later executed
(beheaded)
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Welsh
Penry was concerned about the lack of preaching ministers in
Wales and the need for a Welsh Bible, He acquired a press and
printed tracts and books about the religious state of Wales and
as a result, Penry found himself in prison.
Penry escaped to Scotland. He remained there for three years
but eventually decided to return to London to continue the work
to which he had dedicated his life - namely, to ensure that the
gospel should be preached in Wales, in the Welsh language.
Back in London, Penry made the acquaintance of many
Independents. These were people who tried to worship in their
own way and not according to the Queen's command.
He was arrested
His chains were removed and he was dragged on a hurdle
through the narrow streets to St Thomas a Watering. There he
was hanged in the open air.
People believed in harsh punishments in order to
deter others and remove the criminal completely
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1820s – 200 hanging crimes even for minor crimes such
as poaching and theft. 1785 – 97 people were were
executed and 96 were for theft
This harsh system of punishment became known as the
“Bloody Code”
It didn’t work as the crime rate was not falling
Judges would let people off or reduce their sentences to
transportation (this happened in cases where the
criminal was a child a lot)
Many crimes ended in murder so that there were no
witnesses
People found public hangings entertaining they weren’t
scared
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Started in America but after the Civil war this was no longer a
possibility so the Government started to send criminals to
Australia (another colony)
Between 1787 and 1868 160,000 were transported to Australia
Convicts as young as 9 were transported
The journey was punishment in itself… taking over 8 months
On the first voyage 50 people died. The oldest passenger, Doris
Handland survived the journey but hung herself from a tree
when she saw the conditions she had to live in
They were sentenced to 7;14 years or life of hard labour in this
hot and desert like country
Each convict was assigned a master who used the convict to
carry out any work they wanted for the rest of their sentence…
usually very hard labour
If convicts were well behaved they could earn early release
Before transportation prisoners were usually held in hulks.
Disused rotten boats that were used as prisons were full.
Sometimes prisoners completed their sentences in hulks when
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Hulks were disused and rotten ships that were
used to house criminals, because the prisons
were full. Criminals were often held there while
they were awaiting transportation.
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A useful alternative to hanging for judges: a
middle punishment
It reduced crime by removing the criminal
The Government thought it would stop other
countries trying to take over their colonies and
resources
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Prisoners who served their time and stayed
found their wages were higher that in Britain
By the mid-1800s it was seen as more of an
opportunity than a punishment
When gold was discovered in 1851 people
started paying to go
Australians started to object to their country
being used as a dumping ground
In the 1800s many people started to campaign for more reformative
punishments as opposed to punitive punishments and there was a
dramatic change in attitude
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A campaign was started in Parliament by James Makintosh and Sir
Samuel Romilly to abolish the death penalty for trivial crimes
Reformative punishment meant trying to educate the criminal morally
and academically in the hope that they would not reoffend
1808 Romilly got a law passed abolishing the death penalty for pick
pocketing
Between 1822-40 Robert Peel reduced the number of hanging crimes
to 5 and the crime rate did not increase
Public hanging ended in 1868
Transportation ended in 1868
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Due to the increase of people coming into the cities
vagrancy/begging became a crime, and soon anyone
unable to prove their income was imprisoned in a
workhouse or house of correction.
The first workhouse in England was called Bridewell
because it was at St. Bridget’s well, near the town of
Blackfriars.
Soon, the word bridewell became the name for a
workhouse or house of correction
They were over crowded as judges used them as an
alternative to hanging
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Disease was common (25% of prisoners died from gaol
fever a year)
Not enough people to look after the prisoners and they
were unpaid. The gaoler’s made money by selling food
and blankets etc. If you were poor your time in prison
was not as comfortable as if you were rich
Jailers fee - even is found innocent or if you had not
served your sentence you had to pay the gaoler’s fee
which was like a rent. If this was not paid you could not
leave prison and in 1777 60% of people in jail were
debtors in the 1800s and there were many innocent
people in jail
Many prisoners were learning crime from other
prisoners – the system was not rehabilitative
(women/children and men were all kept together)
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Due to the state of prisons people wanted change
and many fought for this change
E.g.
John Howard
Elizabeth Fry
GO Paul
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A sheriff from Bedfordshire responsible for all
prisons in his county
He made tours of prisons in Britain and abroad
and was shocked at what he found
He published his findings in a book: The State of
Prisons in England and Wales in 1777and gave
evidence in Parliament
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Religious and visited Newgate Prison where
women were held in bad conditions
Formed the Association for the Improvement of
Female Prisoners in Newgate Prison
Set up the Ladies Prison Committee to help with
her reforms (moral and religious education)
In 2002 she was chosen by the Bank of England
to go on their new £5 bank note
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Sheriff in Gloustershire and responsible for
prisons there
1784 he wrote a book “Thoughts on the Alarming
Progress of Gaol Fever”
He believed and implemented his ideas of
security, health and separation
He thought up the Separate System
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Due to campaigns and campaigners laws were
introduced
Robert Peel Gaol Act 1823
Prisons must be secure and healthy
Gaoler’s are to be paid by the Government
Magistrates are to visit prisons
Female prisoners are to be kept separate from men
and have female wardens
Doctors and churchmen are to visit prisons regularly
Teachers are to be employed
Attempts must be made to reform prisoners
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This was thought up by GO Paul
Solitary confinement in own cell.
Prisoners were to be separated and isolated, throughout the
whole of their sentence.
Even when exercising, prisoners were kept apart, with hoods
over their heads; at religious worship, they were separated in
wooden cubicles.
This was very expensive as new prisons needed to be built
with separate cells
It was hoped that after weeks of non-contact the prisoner
would be persuaded to lead a better and godlier life
1842: Pentonville Prison opened as a model separate prison.
It was centrally heated and clean. The prisoners all had an
exercise yard
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Each wing had 130 cells and an exercise yard
It also had a heating system
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Many people became insane and committed
suicide
It was expensive and new prisons had to be built
No evidence that it reformed prisoners
Solitary confinement ended up being an extra
punishment rather than the normal way of life
Therefore, the silent system was introduced
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This was cheaper and let prisoners work together but
doing pointless tasks in silence such as walking round
treadmills like a hamster in a cage or unravelling rope
The idea was to let prisoners work together, but in silence
and allow them to think about their crimes and reform
However, people felt that prisons were becoming too
lenient
Statistics gradually showed that the Silent System also
failed to reform prisoners and there seemed to be no
alternative but to deter people by harsh methods.
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After the failure of the reformative silent and
separate systems there was a brief return to
more punitive methods (but this did not last and
punishment methods went back to a more
reformative route)
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This reintroduced harsher conditions ...
Whippings and electric shocks were introduced
for those not working hard enough
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Prisons brought back under direct Government
control
The man in charge of prisons that year stated “A
PRISONER’S LIFE SHOULD CONSIST OF HARD
LABOUR, HARD BEDS AND HARD FOOD”
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This century saw the abolishment of coporal and
capital punishment completely.
This meant that people had to look for alternative
more reformative measures
It also meant that we have seen our prisons more
overcrowded than ever before which has also
meant that other reformative methods have had
to be searched for
1847
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Juvenile Offenders Act
Under 16s must be tried in a special court
1854
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Reformatory schools
Tough conditions but separate from adults
To persuade children to give up their lives of
crime
They received some form or education
1899
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Borstals introduced to educate and reform child
criminals
They were less tough than reformatory schools
Important they kept children separate from
adults
1908
The Children's Act established juvenile courts
The Children’s Act abolished the death penalty
for under-16s.
The Prevention of Crime Act set up borstal
institutions more formally across the country
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Within England/Wales, criminal responsibility is
considered the age of 10 years.
This is when a child becomes responsible for their
actions. From this age onwards, they can be
prosecuted for any criminal offence in a Youth Court.
In exceptional circumstances, most notably the case
of the murder of James Bulger in Liverpool in 1993,
children can be tried as an adult in an adult court.
From the age of 18 onwards, individuals are then
considered an adult in the eyes of the law.
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If you are under 16 you are sent to “secure
accommodation” where you receive education
and counselling
Age of criminal responsibility is 10 years old
(when you can be punished)
Young offenders institutions for 18-20 year olds
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It shows how public opinions is changing
It prevents miscarriages of justice such as that of
Derek Bentley in the 1960s and Timothy Evans in
1950 who’s convictions have now been overturned
It shows how new types of punishment are evolving
and it has speeded up new ways of helping the
criminal such as education in prisons and counselling
provision
It has led to the development of life imprisonment
Many people now believe the punishments for
criminals are now too soft
There are currently over 85,000 men, women and
children in prison in England and Wales. The prison
population has been rising steadily since 1993,
increasing from 42,000 to today's unprecedented
levels. This means that there are now a higher
percentage of people in prison here than in any other
country in western Europe.
This means that there has been alternative punishments
to prison introduced to stop this overcrowding
These punishments tend to take a
reformative/educational view of punishment
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A suspended sentence is when a judge delays a
criminal's prison sentence after they have been
found guilty, during the period of delay the
criminal can perform a period of probation. If the
defendant does not break the law during that
period, and fulfils the conditions of the probation,
the judge usually throws out the sentence.
A suspended sentence will stay on the defendant's
record.
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Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities.
An offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions
set by the court, under the supervision of a probation officer.
Offenders are ordinarily told they are not allowed to have
firearms, and may be ordered to remain employed, stick to a
curfew, live at a certain address, obey the orders of the
probation officer, or not leave the area. The criminal may be
ordered as well to not contact the victims (e.g.a former partner
in a domestic violence case), or known criminals, particularly
co-criminals. Additional restrictions can include: a ban
onalcohol, even if alcohol was not involved in the original
criminal charges.
Offenders on probation might be fitted with an electronic tag
(or monitor), which signals their whereabouts to officials.
Also, offenders have been ordered to submit to repeated
alcohol/drug testing or to participate in alcohol/drug or
psychological treatment, or to perform community service work.
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Parole should not be confused with probation, as
parole is after a criminal has been in prison.
Parole is serving the remainder of a sentence
outside of prison. Probation is given instead of
serving the remainder prison sentence and tends
to place stricter conditions upon the individual
serving the term.
Parole usually rewards “good behaviour” in
prison.
Prisoners can return to prison if they break the
conditions of their parole.
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Electronic tagging is a form surveillance consisting
of an electronic device attached to a person/criminal,
allowing their whereabouts to be monitored.
In general, devices locate themselves using GPS and
report their position back to a control centre.
It can be used in place of a prison sentence e.g. when
a prisoner is on probation or when they are released on
parole.
Electronic monitoring has been said to be particularly
useful for making sure people on parole/probation do
not disappear or for preparing people in prison for
release back into the community.
It is also used to monitor defendants before they
appear in court in order that they do not disappear.
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Criminals are required to perform community
services entirely or partly in place of a prison
sentence or fines.
For instance, a fine may be reduced in exchange for a
number of hours of community service. The court
sometimes allow the convict to choose their
community service or they can choose a specific
service.
Sometimes the sentencing is specifically targeted to
the convict's crime, for example, a litterer may have
to clean a park or roadside, or a drunk driver might
appear before school groups to explain why drunk
driving is a crime.
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An open prison is describes a prison where
the prisoners are trusted to serve their sentences
with little supervision and security and so do not
need to be locked up in prison cells.
Prisoners may be permitted to take up
employment in the community, returning to the
prison by curfew.
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Many people think that offenders are now
treated too leniently, that prison is a ‘soft option’
and that the prison system is failing because it is
now over-full.
British prisons were built to house 50,000
offenders, but there are now 85,000 offenders in
prison
This suggests that developments in prison
reform, although important and reflecting
changed attitudes to criminals, do not effectively
punish offenders.
In Tudor times, and for a long time afterwards, corporal public punishments like flogging, stocks and pillory, and public
executions were thought to be effective and acceptable to the public; this is no longer the case.
Public executions and even torture were thought to be valid methods of punishment from Tudor times because the public
expected harsh and humiliating punishments such as the burning of heretics seen during the Marian Persecutions or the use of
stocks and pillories.
In the 1700s and 1800s Britain saw the “Bloody Code” and more than 200 crimes were punishable by death in the 1820s. Views
changed in later centuries and transportation was tried as a method of punishment in the 1800s, however, this method failed to
word=k due to the gold rush in Australia and people no longer saw being transported there as a punishment.
Then the public began to think in terms of reform so that more use was made of imprisonment. However, due to the state of
prisons in England and Wales (25% of all prisoners died due to illness and disease) there were campaigns for reform of the
prison system. Reformers such as Elizabeth Fry, John Howard and GO Paul campaigned for changes and the C19th saw various
reformative systems of punishment tried in prisons such as the use of the Silent and Separation system where prisons were
encouraged to think about their crimes. However, these various methods of punishment that were tried in prisons in the C19th
were not successful and crime rate did not decrease.
This meant that there was continuous change throughout the C20th as alternative methods were sought, in an attempt to
provide a successful method of punishment:. The methods of punishment for juveniles were reformed with the introduction of
borstals in 1899 and the Children’s Act in 1906 which abolished the death penalty for under 16s. Children were treated
differently from adults and were kept separate from them. For adult offenders the system changed dramatically as well with the
abolishment of capital punishment in 1969. This mean that different punishment methods had to be introduced such as life
imprisonment. Due to over crowding alternative punishment methods have also had to be introduced such as as community
service and suspended sentences.
However, although new punishment methods are being introduced the amount of offenders are rising there are 85,000
prisoners in prisons built for 50,000. Therefore, one could claim that the punishment systems today are not effective methods.
Therefore, the quest goes on and change is continuous. The C20th is increasingly focused on rehabilitation as a form of
punishment and yet more methods are tried, e.g. suspended sentences reflecting continuous change in a search for effective and
acceptable forms of punishment.
People will always break the law and will always have to be punished. In early modern times, the pace of change was much
slower and the types of crime committed may not have changed all that quickly and neither did the methods of punishment. In
more modern times, the pace of change is fast; types of crime change more quickly and it is much more difficult to keep changing
the methods of punishment and to implement methods which are still a deterrent, without the threat of the death penalty.