Subject Area: Criminology
This course can also be studied in the following specialisations: History

This course examines the development of important institutions and procedures of criminal justice, and the debates they provoked. The focus is primarily on England, with some consideration of criminal justice practices in other parts of Europe (especially France). The time-frame ranges from the late 17th century to the 19th century, although this course presupposes no prior knowledge of European history in this period. At the outset we aim to establish the major features of England’s criminal justice system: Why were so few criminals prosecuted and convicted in the 17th and 18th centuries? Why did punishments in this period – even for apparently minor crimes – seem to be so brutal and bloodthirsty? Why were executions carried out in public? Why were there more capital crimes in England than the number of executions? We then consider some of the ways in which “reforms” were introduced during the 18th and 19th centuries: Why was the policy of transportation developed? What were the prison hulks? What changes were implemented in England’s prisons? How could the French Revolution’s famous innovation – the guillotine – be considered humane? Why did it take so long for the British to develop a professional police force?