This book provides a comprehensive, introductory text for students taking courses in crime and criminal justice history. It covers all of the key historical topics central to an understanding of the current criminal justice system, including the development of the police, the courts and the mechanisms of punishment (from the gallows to the prison). The role of the victim in the criminal justice system, changing perceptions of criminals, long-term trends in violent crime, and the rise of surveillance society also receive detailed analysis. In addressing each of these issues and developments, the authors draw on the latest research in this rapidly expanding field to explore a range of historiographical and criminological debates. This new edition continues its exploration of criminal justice history right through to the present day and discusses recent events in the criminal justice world. Each chapter now ends with a ‘Modern parallels’ section - a detailed case study providing historical analysis pertinent to a specific contemporary issue in the field of criminal justice and drawing parallels between historical context and modern phenomenon. Each chapter also includes a ‘Key questions’ section, which guides the reader towards appropriate sources for further study. The authors draw on their in-depth knowledge and provide an accessible and lively guide for those approaching the subject for the first time, or those wishing to deepen their knowledge. This makes the book essential reading for those teaching or studying modules on criminal justice, policing and youth justice.

This book provides an introductory text for students taking courses in recent criminal justice history. Chapters cover the key issues central to an understanding of the historical background to the current criminal justice system, covering the crime of murder, the emergence, establishment and development of the police, crime and criminals, criminals and victims, the courts and punishment, women and children, and surveillance and the workplace. In addressing each of these issues and developments the authors explore a range of historiographical and criminological debates that have arisen, looking at the ways in which the disciplines of criminology and history are converging, and offering new perspectives on both modern and historical.

Acknowledged as one of the best introductions to the history of crime in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,Crime and Society in England 1750-1900 examines thedevelopments in policing, the courts, and the penal system as England became increasingly industrialised and urbanised. The book challenges the old but still influential idea that crime can be attributed to the behaviour of a criminal class and that changes in the criminal justice system were principally the work of far-sighted, humanitarian reformers. In this fourth edition of his now classic account, Professor Emsley draws on new research that has shifted the focus from class to gender, from property crime to violent crime and towards media constructions of offenders, while still maintaining a balance with influential early work in the area. Wide-ranging and accessible, the new edition examines: the value of criminal statistics the effect that contemporary ideas about class and gender had on perceptions of criminality changes in the patterns of crime developments in policing and the spread of summary punishment the increasing formality of the courts the growth of the prison as the principal form of punishment and debates about the decline in corporal and capital punishments Thoroughly updated throughout, the fourth edition also includes, for the first time, illuminating contemporary illustrations.

This study examines the considerable changes that took place in the criminal justice system in the City of London in the century after the Restoration, well before the inauguration of the so-called 'age of reform'. The policing institutions of the City were transformed in response to the problems created by the rapid expansion of the metropolis during the early modern period, and as a consequence of the emergence of a polite urban culture. At the same time, the City authorities were instrumental in the establishment of new forms of punishment - particularly transportation to the American colonies and confinement at hard labour - that for the first time made secondary sanctions available to the English courts for convicted felons and diminished the reliance on the terror created by capital punishment. The book investigates why in the century after 1660 the elements of an alternative means of dealing with crime in urban society were emerging in policing, in the practices and procedures of prosecution, and in the establishment of new forms of punishment.

This book provides a synthesis of recent research on the history of crime and criminal justice in Europe from the mid-18th to the mid-20th centuries. It tackles the subject chronologically, paying due attention to the evolving economic, social, and political aspects of the continent over the two centuries. It addresses specifically the different forms of criminal offending and the changing interpretations and understandings of that offending at both elite and popular levels. It explores how both old regimes and the new nation states, that emerged in the early 19th century, responded to criminal activity with the development of police forces and the refinement of forms of punishment.

How was law made in England in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries? Through detailed studies of what the courts actually did, Peter King argues that parliament and the Westminster courts played a less important role in the process of law making than is usually assumed. Justice was often remade from the margins by magistrates, judges and others at the local level. His book also focuses on four specific themes - gender, youth, violent crime and the attack on customary rights. In doing so it highlights a variety of important changes - the relatively lenient treatment meted out to women by the late eighteenth century, the early development of the juvenile reformatory in England before 1825, i.e. before similar changes on the continent or in America, and the growing intolerance of the courts towards everyday violence. This study is invaluable reading to anyone interested in British political and legal history.

This book is an ambitious attempt to map the main changes in the criminal justice system in the Victorian period through to the twentieth century. Chapters include an examination of the growth and experience of imprisonment, policing, and probation services; the recording of crime in official statistics and in public memory; and the possibilities of research created by new electronic and on-line sources; an exploration of time, space and place, on crime, and the growth internationalisation and science-led approach of crime control methods in this period. Unusually, the book presents these issues in a way which illustrates the sources of data that informs modern crime history and discusses how criminologists and historians produce theories of crime history. Consequently, there are a series of interesting and lively debates of a thematic nature which will engage historians, criminologists, and research methods specialists, as well as the undergraduates and school students that, like the author, are fascinated by crime history.

Invisible Voices explores the intersection of criminology and history as a way of contextualizing the historical black presence in crime and punishment in the UK. Through case studies, court transcripts, and biographical accounts it reimagines the understanding/s of the role of history in shaping contemporary perceptions. The book: Moves beyond the confines of presenting ‘criminological history’ as monocultural Demonstrates how ‘mainstream criminology’ is complicit in obscuring ‘hidden criminological histories' Critically assesses the implications regarding the positioning of ‘the black presence’ within the discipline of criminology Revises current thinking around excluded, marginalized, and muted histories, when looking at ‘crime and punishment’ as a whole. The opening chapters lay the foundation for locating the historical black presence in crime and punishment, whilst offering practical guidance for anyone wanting to pursue the journey of unearthing hidden history. Chapters 5–9 comprise compelling case studies designed to fuel new discussions regarding important excluded voices in crime and punishment history. The following chapters reveal powerful testimonies from those black voices involved in speaking out against slavery during the Georgian and Victorian periods, and highlight the pivotal role played by black activists during significant periods of British history. Chapter 12 explores ‘The Black Rage Defence’, illuminating a moment in British legal history which tied both the UK and US into a struggle for validating mental health and offending, where race was a significant factor. The final chapter focuses on the need to engage criminologists in a critical dialogue regarding a reimagining of the way criminological history is (re)presented. Invisible Voices is crucial reading for students not just of Criminology and History, but also Sociology, Cultural Studies, Black Studies and Law, as well as criminal justice practitioners. It also aims to provide scope for A-Level students contemplating going to university, community educational programmes, and prison education departments, as well as anyone wanting to learn more about the black presence in UK history.

The Limits of Criminological Positivism: The Movement for Criminal Law Reform in the West, 1870-1940 presents the first major study of the limits of criminological positivism in the West and establishes the subject as a field of interest. The volume will explore those limits and bring to life the resulting doctrinal, procedural, and institutional compromises of the early twentieth century that might be said to have defined modern criminal justice administration. The book examines the topic not only in North America and western Europe, with essays on Italy, Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Finland but also the reception and implementation of positivist ideas in Brazil. In doing so, it explores three comparative elements: (1) the differing national experiences within the civil law world; (2) differences and similarities between civil law and common law regimes; and (3) some differences between the two leading common-law countries. It interrogates many key aspects of current penal systems, such as the impact of extra-legal scientific knowledge on criminal law, preventive detention, the 'dual-track' system with both traditional punishment and novel measures of security, the assessment of offenders' dangerousness, juvenile justice, and the indeterminate sentence. As a result, this study contributes to a critical understanding of some inherent contradictions characterizing criminal justice in contemporary western societies. Written in a straight-forward and direct manner, this volume will be of great interest to academics and students researching historical criminology, philosophy, political science, and legal history. Chapter 2 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This book draws upon three overlapping bodies of work to generate fresh approaches to the study of crime and criminal justice in Britain and Ireland between 1660 and 1850: the conceptual lens of the "public sphere", "performativity" and speech act theory, and the history of the emotions. It opens new perspectives on the theatre of justice.