Crime and Punishment for GCSE History: A Guide
Written by: Zoe Wade
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Crime and Punishment remains an exciting, thought-provoking and, at times, gruesome topic to study at GCSE History. Students will learn how society deterred and punished crimes developed from the Medieval period all the way to the 21st century. This engaging course continues to be a popular topic for schools across the country to select for GCSE History.
When I was the Lead of GCSE History, I taught and prepared hundreds of students for their GCSE History exams.
This guide will give you an overview of Crime and Punishment for GCSE History. I will also give some helpful hints and tips about how best to prepare yourself for your GCSE History Crime and Punishment exam.
Overview of Crime & Punishment in History
At Save My Exams, we love taking large topics like Crime and Punishment and condensing them to what you need to know. Take a look at this summary of GCSE Crime and Punishment below. It splits the module into its four key time periods. It also links the events in the course together through three core themes: types of crime, law enforcement and punishments.
Time period | Types of crime | Law enforcement | Punishment |
|---|---|---|---|
Crimes against property: Petty theft, counterfeiting coins, social crimes such as poaching, arson | The use of the tithings; the hue and cry; trials by jury, ordeal or combat; the use of the manor and church courts; the use of royal, shire and hundred courts; law enforcers such as Justices of the Peace, sheriffs, coroners, keepers, the Night Watch and parish constables | Retribution: The Anglo-Saxon blood feud system | |
Crimes against the person: Insulting a neighbour, assault, rape, murder | Deterrence: Fines, stocks, flogging and public executions through beheading or hanging | ||
Crimes against authority: Betraying a lord, rebellion, treason | Other punishments: Introduction of Wergild and murdrum fines; punishments such as blinding, castration, mutilation and maiming | ||
Crimes against property: An increase in social crimes such as smuggling; high unemployment levels results in ‘survival crimes’ such as petty theft | The continuation of hue and cry, parish constables, coroners and Justices of the Peace; introduction of town watchmen and town constables; the Habeus Corpus Act (1679); the reduction of the role of the Church in law enforcement | Retribution: The introduction of transportation to the American colonies in the 17th century | |
Crimes against the person: An increase in vagabondage increased levels of assaults and murders in towns and cities | Deterrence: The continuation of fines, stocks, flogging and public executions through beheading or hanging; the use of hung, drawn and quartered for treason; the introduction of the ‘Bloody Code’ and transportation to the American colonies | ||
Crimes against authority: Religious and political changes caused an increase in heresy, accusations of witchcraft and treason | Other punishments: The continuation of maiming; the introduction of carting, ducking stools and houses of correction; the development of prisons | ||
Crimes against property: Poaching and smuggling continued | The continuation of parish constables and night watchmen; changes to policing via the Bow Street Runners; the 1856 Police Act and the Criminal Investigation Department (1878); the repeal of the Waltham Act meant that smuggling was no longer a capital offence | Retribution: People began to think that corporal and capital punishments were inhumane | |
Crimes against the person: Highway robberies, which began to reduce by the 19th century | Deterrence: Public executions no longer put people off committing crimes. The decline of transportation as punishment by the 1840s | ||
Crimes against authority: A reduction in convictions for heresy and witchcraft; the Tolpuddle Martyrs and trade unions | Rehabilitation: More people began to believe that punishment should aim to reform criminals. Prime Minister Robert Peel abolished the ‘Bloody Code’. There was an increase in imprisonment and reforms of the prison system | ||
Crimes against property: Cybercrimes have replaced old crimes such as theft, fraud and extortion; the increase in car ownership has resulted in a growth in driving offences | Advances in science and technology have improved policing; an increase in specialist police units and representation in the police force; the police now focus on preventing crimes from happening; the introduction of the Neighbourhood Watch to return to medieval ideas of community law enforcement | Retribution: Many people in this period no longer agreed with the use of capital punishment. In 1965, the death penalty for murder was abolished | |
Crimes against the person: Immigration led to an increase in race and hate crimes; the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Acts increased the amount of drug crimes | Deterrence: From c1900, prisons began to focus more on rehabilitation than deterrence and harsh punishments. Prisons have proven to be ineffective at decreasing crime | ||
Crimes against authority: Terrorism continues to target authority but also ordinary people | Rehabilitation: The government now uses non-custodial alternatives to prison including electronic tagging and ASBOs. Young offenders are now treated differently than adult offenders because there is a belief that they can be reformed more easily than adults |
Zoe’s Top Tip Avoid simply reading this summary. Transform this table into an effective revision resource for you. You could make a mindmap of each time period or a flow chart of how types of crime or punishments changed over time. Want to test your Crime and Punishment knowledge? Try our new flashcards on Edexcel GCSE History on Crime and Punishment. |
The evolution of crime
Many factors have contributed to the changes in how crime is committed today in comparison to a thousand years ago:
Technology
Crimes like identity theft and fraud are committed virtually
Criminals have the latest technology to evade capture
The police can use technology, such as CCTV, to help catch criminals
Social changes
In Medieval times, the majority of people lived in villages. This meant that overall crime levels were low. Many crimes were committed against family members and neighbours
The Industrial Revolution in the 18th century meant that more people moved to towns and cities. Urbanisation increased crime because it was easier for criminals to avoid capture. More crimes were committed against randomly-selected victims, such as pickpocketing
In the 20th and 21st centuries, movements for social change grew. Feminists campaigned for rights for women. Civil rights activists campaigned for better treatment for people of different races. Unfortunately, this also increased hate crimes
The economy
In times of economic hardship in history, more people committed survival crimes
In times of prosperity, the overall crime rates usually fall
Religious changes
In Medieval times, people were highly religious. The fear of God’s judgement deterred many people from committing crimes. Religious beliefs also gave people a strict idea of justice, resulting in the use of corporal and capital punishment
In modern times, the number of religious people has declined. This change in people’s ideas and values had altered how some people view crime and punishment
Punishment Methods
In my years of experience in teaching GCSE History, it is vital to understand the key terms in your chosen topic. For Crime and Punishment, you need to know the difference between corporal punishment and capital punishment.
Types of punishment | Intention | Types of crimes it has been used for |
|---|---|---|
Corporal | To physically hurt a suspect | Less serious crimes, such as petty theft and public disorder |
Capital | To kill and remove the most serious criminals from society | Very serious crimes, such as murder and treason |
In the Medieval and Early Modern periods, corporal and capital punishment was considered an accepted and necessary part of society. However, from the 18th century, people began to question how ethical corporal and capital punishment was. Attitudes changed and people favoured other methods of punishment, including:
Transportation to the colonies
This became a popular method to deter people from committing crime
It was unsuccessful in this aim. The use of transportation as punishment slowly declined from the 1840s
Imprisonment
Imprison began to be increasingly used in the Early Modern period
It became a very popular form of punishment in the 19th century
By the 21st century, it became clear that imprisonment did not deter crime. Recidivism (the likelihood of a convicted criminal to re-offend) is very common in the UK
Non-custodial punishments
In the 21st century, we now look for alternative punishments
Governments are attempting to reduce the cost of the prison system
Many first-time offenders receive punishments such as community service and suspended sentences
The public’s belief in punishment has changed to favour reforming and rehabilitating criminals
Zoe’s Top Tip Crime and Punishment is a thematic study. This means that the course spans a long period of time and shows how a range of themes changed or continued over time. In the section above, you can see that I have taken the theme of public attitudes to punishment and shown how it developed over time. In your revision, you could show a theme growing or dropping in importance visually through a graph or a flow chart. |
Influential Figures in Crime & Punishment
Famous criminals in history
GCSE History Crime and Punishment has many case studies to help you see the continuity of crime and punishment over time. Try to include a range of criminals or groups in your revision. You can use this as an example of types of crimes, law enforcement and punishments.
Time period | Case study/studies |
|---|---|
Medieval (c1000-c1500) | No person or group specified |
Early Modern (c1500-c1700) | The Gunpowder Plotters (1605) |
18th and 19th centuries (c1700-c1900) | The Hawkhurst Gang (1747-1748) |
Jack Sheppard and Dick Turpin (highwaymen) | |
The Waltham Blacks | |
The Tolpuddle Martyrs | |
The Whitechapel Murderer (‘Jack the Ripper’) | |
Modern (c1900-present) | William Joyce (the last person tried for treason) |
Terrorist groups, such as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and AI Qaeda | |
Derek Bentley | |
Ruth Ellis |
Reformers & lawmakers
Another important aspect of GCSE Crime and Punishment is the people throughout history who attempted to improve Britain’s criminal justice system. The reformists below contributed to the changes in crime and punishment over time.
Time period | Reformist or lawmaker | Impact of crime and punishment |
|---|---|---|
Medieval (c1000-c1500) | Henry II | Introduced prisons through the Assize of Clarendon (1166) |
Henry III | Abolished trial by ordeal (1219) | |
Early Modern (c1500-c1700) | Henry VIII | Reformed the system of claiming sanctuary |
James I | Abolished sanctuary Began to use transportation as punishment | |
Matthew Hopkins | The ‘Witchfinder General’ who enforced the law on witchcraft | |
18th and 19th centuries (c1700-c1900) | The Bow Street Runners | An early form of police officers |
The Fielding Brothers | Magistrates who were the first to bring an organised policing system to London | |
Robert Peel | Passed the Gaols Act (1823) to improve prison conditions Introduced the Metropolitan Police Act (1829) to create the first professional, full-time police force (The Met) Reformed the ‘Bloody Code’ | |
John Howard | Published a report detailing problems in prisons. His work led to the 1774 Gaol Act | |
Elizabeth Fry | Worked on making female prisoners’ lives better. Her work influenced the 1823 Gaols Act | |
Modern (c1900-present) | Sofia Stanley | The first female recruit to the Metropolitan Police (1919) |
Harry Daley | The first openly gay British policeman (1925) | |
Sislin Fay Allen | The first black female police officer (1968) |
Understanding Crime & Punishment for GCSE History
You have everything you need to know for GCSE History Crime and Punishment. Now, you can focus on how to revise for the exams. Here are a few tips to help you.
Understand what skills your exam is testing
Edexcel assesses you on:
Your understanding of the historical environment of Whitechapel, London
Defining two features of an event
Analysing historical sources
Explaining the similarities or differences between two events across multiple time periods
Explaining why an event happened or is important
Judging how far you agree with a statement
Prepare yourself with the right skills for your exam
For Edexcel GCSE History Crime and Punishment revision, I would advise you to:
Create quizzes on the key sections of the course. You could test yourself or ask a friend to complete the quiz
Choose a 16-mark How far do you agree..’ question. In a group of 2-6, allocate one team to agree and one team to disagree. Write a debate arguing your side of the question. Use evidence to support your side and counter the other team’s argument
Pick a Whitechapel source from a past paper. Draw three boxes around the source asking “What can you see?”, “What do I know about this?” and “How useful is this source?” Allocate 10 minutes to complete the three boxes
For general advice on how to revise, have a look at my top tips to achieve GCSE success in History.
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