Paperback: The years 1750-1950 were a crucial period in the shaping of the modern world. Urbanization and industrialization gave rise to a host of new social conditions and problems, engendering massive changes in the nature of both crime and criminal justice.
Key developments included the end of capital punishment and the transportation of convicts overseas: the rise of a system of mass incarceration (which has culminated in the UK today having the largest prison population in Europe); the beginning of the public, uniformed policing; the first mass-media moral panics about violent crime (from the 'garotters' to Jack the Ripper); and the introduction of the adversarial trial process we know today.
At the same time, the Home Office (an organization which grew from just six clerks in 1817) began the systematic recording of levels of crime for the first time, and the new 'scientific' discipline of criminology was developed. 'Crime' thus moved from being considered an accepted, if irritating, part of life (like bad weather) to being a topic which commanded the highest political and media scrutiny.
Crime and Justice 1750-1950 (2005, 2011) provides a highly readable text for students taking courses in modern criminal justice history, and for anyone seeking to understand the origins of today's criminal justice system.
Each chapter covers a key issue central to an understanding of this historical background. By drawing on primary source materials, the authors also aim to show how historical knowledge is constructed, and they explore a number of the historiographical debates which have arisen in the interpretation of this key period of criminal justice history.
About the authors: Barry Godfrey is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at Keele University in England. Paul Lawrence is Lecturer in European History at the Open University in England.
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