not use public executions as a warning. Crazy, huh? Public Hanging was abolished in 1868 and the Bloody Code was finished. 6. How to waste time. 19th Century style. The final part of Peel’s major reforms came with changes to how Prisons would work. In the Tudor times, Prisons were very much an afterthought for punishment. Yet as the Industrial Revolution went on they became a key part of punishment thanks to the work of three people who helped cause a number of changes Name Work Impact John Howard Howard was responsible for Prisons in Bedfordshire and made a tour of them in the He published a book in 1777 that highlight the major problems (Disease is high, prisoners are mistreated and prisoners learn more about crime from others) and gave a series of recommendations (Get prisoners to work and think about what they’ve done, clean up Prisons, look after the prisoners) Howard’s work was taken quite seriously and his book was referenced in Parliament a number of times. In 1823 as part of Peel’s reforms a number of changes were made to Prisons that reflected Howard’s ideas – Prisons had to be secure and healthy, Prisoners are to be kept apart, doctors, teachers and churchmen are to visit the prisoners regularly and attempts should be made to reform the Prisoners. Elizabeth Fry Fry visited prisons and was shocked by the conditions she found. She spent her time getting prisoners to clean the cells and taught them how to knit socks. She also made sure that female prisoners could learn how to read and write A lot of people did mock Fry for her efforts, but she also gained a lot of respect. She also made people realise that conditions in prisons were far too harsh and that it was possible to change the behaviour of prisoners for the better and maybe that was a better idea that letting ¼ of them die! George O. Paul Worked in Gloucester in the 1780s to design a new type of Prison. Paul was disgusted with conditions same as Howard and came up with a number of ideas. He designed his prison so that the Walls were 5.4m tall to make sure escapes was not possible. He also created ventilated cells and open spaces to allow fresh air in the prison to help keep Gloucester Prison became the that pretty much all other prisons built in the 19th Century were based on and his ideas were widely copied.
So... the systems developed in the 19th Century have been expanded on and developed during the 20th. 9. Can’t beat ‘em? Tag ‘em! With the abolition of corporal and capital punishments, a range of different punishments have been introduced in their place. The basic idea behind many of these is to give the criminal a second chance – again linking in with the idea of rehabilitation and allowing people a chance to make up for their wrong doing. All of the following punishments are only given for minor crimes and offences – like multiple traffic offences etc. Punishment Description Reason Electronic Tagging The Criminal is fitted with an electronic tag that allows the Police to know where they are at all times. The criminal is allowed some freedom with restrictions. It shows a degree of trust but makes sure they can’t do anything else wrong! Suspended Sentences The criminal is a jail sentence – but it is suspended. Meaning they don’t have to do it unless they break the law again. Gives the criminal a second chance and acts as a warning for their behaviour in the future. Bit like getting a C1! Probation/Parole Criminals are allowed out of sentence early on the promise that they will behave and follow certain conditions. Usually a reward for good behaviour Again it is the idea of giving people a second chance and actually rewarding those that have made the effort to change. Community Service Criminals are assigned to jobs that will provide a service to their local community. This can be working with those who are in need, cleaning up litter/graffiti or things like that. The criminal is given the opportunity to pay back the community that they have done wrong to and basically earn forgiveness ASBOs Anti-Social Behaviour Orders were designed to stop people from doing minor things that disrupted others Again, it acts as a warning system to people. Rather than punishment straight away they are given the chance to change the behaviour before it turns into a major problem