History · Crime and Punishment in Britain
Crime, punishment and law enforcement in recent times
How changing attitudes redefined crime, how technology created new crimes and new ways of policing, how prisons turned towards reform, and why Britain abolished the death penalty.
Lessons
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1
Changing Views: Attitudes and the Law
How changing attitudes in society made some actions legal and others criminal - and how Britain treated conscientious objectors in two world wars.
6 terms -
2
New Crimes and Modern Policing
Car crime, cyber crime, terrorism and people trafficking - how new technology created new crimes, and how the police changed to fight them.
7 terms -
3
Prisons and Reforms
How punishment in the twentieth century turned towards reform - probation, borstals, open prisons, community sentences and restorative justice.
7 terms -
4
The Abolition of the Death Penalty
Timothy Evans, Derek Bentley and Ruth Ellis - the cases that turned public opinion, and why Britain abolished hanging for murder in 1965.
6 terms
Downloads
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- Changing Views Attitudes and the Law.pptx Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- Changing Views Attitudes and the Law - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, every gap filled in - to check against, or to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- Changing Views Attitudes and the Law - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- New Crimes and Modern Policing.pptx Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- New Crimes and Modern Policing - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, every gap filled in - to check against, or to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- New Crimes and Modern Policing - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- Prisons and Reforms.pptx Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- Prisons and Reforms - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, every gap filled in - to check against, or to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- Prisons and Reforms - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- The Abolition of the Death Penalty.pptx Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- The Abolition of the Death Penalty - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, every gap filled in - to check against, or to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
- The Abolition of the Death Penalty - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 23 September 2026. View
Key terms in this chapter
All 26, gathered from every lesson.
- Decriminalise
- To make something no longer a crime.
- Conscription
- Making people join the armed forces by law.
- Conscientious objector
- Someone who refuses to fight for reasons of conscience.
- Tribunal
- A special court that decided whether an objector's case was genuine.
- Absolutist
- A conscientious objector who refused to do anything to help the war effort.
- Hate crime
- A crime motivated by prejudice, for example against someone's race or religion.
- Cyber crime
- Crime committed using computers or the internet.
- Terrorism
- The use of violence or threats for political aims.
- People trafficking
- Moving people illegally, often forcing them to work.
- DNA profiling
- Identifying people from their genetic code.
- CCTV
- Closed-circuit television cameras used to monitor public places.
- Neighbourhood Watch
- A scheme in which local people help police watch for crime.
- PCSO
- Police Community Support Officer, introduced in 2002.
- Rehabilitation
- Helping an offender change so they do not reoffend.
- Probation
- Supervision of an offender in the community instead of prison.
- Borstal
- An institution for young offenders, 1908-1982.
- Open prison
- A prison with few locks for low-risk prisoners.
- Community service
- Unpaid work in the community as a punishment.
- Restorative justice
- Offenders meet victims to understand the harm and make amends.
- Electronic tagging
- A device worn by offenders to track their location.
- Capital punishment
- Execution as a punishment for crime.
- Abolition
- Ending something completely, such as the death penalty.
- Miscarriage of justice
- When an innocent person is convicted of a crime.
- Pardon
- Official forgiveness, which can be given after death.
- Homicide Act
- The 1957 law limiting the death penalty to certain types of murder.
- Retribution
- Punishment as revenge for the harm done.