What Was The Role Of Punishment In The 1800's
Today’s Youth Justice Board came after the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act which passed to prevent young people from offending and re-offending (Home Office 2009). In the 1800’s when it came to punishment for crimes, there was no distinction between adults and children. People thought that the old forms of punishment, such as transportation and overall humiliation, were too severe for children. Mary Carpenter advocated for education rather than prison which introduced the battle between welfare and justice. After the Second World War, the 1969 Children and Young Persons Act, enhanced the importance of the welfare of children and the legal system began to consider both justice and welfare when sentencing a child.
Soon after, the UK was run by a Conservative Government and experienced a major shift in the economic and political debate. The new Government chose to make public …show more content…
expenditure cuts, placing public services in the spotlight which had an impact on crime control strategies (Walklate, 2007). Right realists began to argue that crime was an act of free will and that offenders deserved harsher punishments for their actions rather than being offered forms of rehabilitation (Wilson & Herrnstein, 1985). Subsequently, the government going from Labour to Conservative, brought change in the way the government was going to deal with youth crime.
Margaret Thatcher was criticised hugely for the decisions she made throughout her time as Prime Minister.
She wanted to bring back corporal punishment and hanging, which seemed like a step back in history, especially after the liberal changes under Wilson. Her decision to implement the police and criminal evidence act in 1984 was partly in response to the 1981 Brixton riots. Thatcher wanted to introduce an act that restored Britain's faith and trust in the police and give the police a clear idea of what was within the law and what was not. This seemed as an improvement in the discriminatory nature of the stop and search method used by the police, nevertheless crime still rose dramatically in the 80's and on average, 3,5 million crimes were reported in that decade, mostly because of the huge unemployment rates. Thatcher made huge cuts on welfare recipients, so people who were not earning enough money, were even in a worse position, thus leading to even more crime. The changes Thatcher made to the Criminal Justice System undid the positive changes that were made under Wilson (Brake & Hale
1992).
Left realism emerged later in the mid-1980's. During the 1990’s and the start of the 21st century, various factors added up which resulted in a huge increase in prisoners. This had a severe effect on the prisons all over the country, causing problems of containment. Firstly, the first school league table in 1992, which listed the schools all over the country based on how good and well they were run. Some head teachers that wanted to get at the top of the table, expelled naughty students causing these kids having problems getting into other schools or getting jobs. The majority of them had a lot of free time and turned to crime because of boredom and exclusion from society. The prison population increased by 91% between the years 1993 to 2014. More offenders were being sentenced over these years and for a longer period of time. No progress was made. The 1989 Children’s Act held that a child’s welfare should be paramount (Muncie 2002). In 1993 the two murders of Jamie Bulger and Stephen Lawrence caused great debate leading to the age of criminal responsibility becoming 8 and the legal system tackling hate crime even more.
The Misspent Youth (Audit Commission 1996) report found that the Youth Justice System was inefficient and not cost effective and also showed that not much was being to done to prevent offending and re-offending, as well as government agencies not working together (Brake & Hale 1992).
Throughout the years in which labour was not in power, the labour party held that youth crime would be a priority for their party. They even produced a white paper titled “No More Excuses” (Home Office, 1997d). The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 appeared to favour punishment (Dignan and Marsh, 2001).
The Crime & Disorder Act 1998 introduced the current Youth Justice Board with the primary aim of all interventions in Youth Justice being to prevent offending and re-offending by children and Young People (CDA 1998). Section 39 of the Act introduced Youth Offending Teams, encouraged professional bodies to start working together and to share information about offenders (Copeland 2006)
David Cameron decided to try and privatise probation services, giving the power and money over to big corporate companies. Since 2009 the prison population growth rate has decreased from 4% to 1 % which is very positive. However the 2011 London riots had a big impact on the prison population as more people were being sent to prison, and the people involved in the riots were given much longer and harsher sentences compared to the usual sentences prior to this event.
Various politicians over the course of these years have made significant changes to the Criminal Justice System, however many of these have not been exactly positive. I think the problem may not be solely the prime ministers and their ideologies but the fact that there are only 4 years to make changes. Right realists, as opposed to left realists, take a more punitive standpoint when dealing with crime, believing that if a person makes the choice to commit a criminal act, then they should be punished. Right realism focuses on the need for more prisons and increasing the duration of sentences (Wilson & Herrnstein, 1985). Moreover, right realists do not consider the degree of effectiveness of prison sentences and ignore alternative punishments. I find myself in supporting both sides to certain extents.
Regardless of right and left realism having different political stances, both believe that crime needs to be taken seriously. As for the youth, intervention is more effective when based on the assessment of the likelihood of a young person to offend. The Youth Offending Service is doing well and looks like it will continue to improve.
Soon after, the UK was run by a Conservative Government and experienced a major shift in the economic and political debate. The new Government chose to make public …show more content…
expenditure cuts, placing public services in the spotlight which had an impact on crime control strategies (Walklate, 2007). Right realists began to argue that crime was an act of free will and that offenders deserved harsher punishments for their actions rather than being offered forms of rehabilitation (Wilson & Herrnstein, 1985). Subsequently, the government going from Labour to Conservative, brought change in the way the government was going to deal with youth crime.
Margaret Thatcher was criticised hugely for the decisions she made throughout her time as Prime Minister.
She wanted to bring back corporal punishment and hanging, which seemed like a step back in history, especially after the liberal changes under Wilson. Her decision to implement the police and criminal evidence act in 1984 was partly in response to the 1981 Brixton riots. Thatcher wanted to introduce an act that restored Britain's faith and trust in the police and give the police a clear idea of what was within the law and what was not. This seemed as an improvement in the discriminatory nature of the stop and search method used by the police, nevertheless crime still rose dramatically in the 80's and on average, 3,5 million crimes were reported in that decade, mostly because of the huge unemployment rates. Thatcher made huge cuts on welfare recipients, so people who were not earning enough money, were even in a worse position, thus leading to even more crime. The changes Thatcher made to the Criminal Justice System undid the positive changes that were made under Wilson (Brake & Hale
1992).
Left realism emerged later in the mid-1980's. During the 1990’s and the start of the 21st century, various factors added up which resulted in a huge increase in prisoners. This had a severe effect on the prisons all over the country, causing problems of containment. Firstly, the first school league table in 1992, which listed the schools all over the country based on how good and well they were run. Some head teachers that wanted to get at the top of the table, expelled naughty students causing these kids having problems getting into other schools or getting jobs. The majority of them had a lot of free time and turned to crime because of boredom and exclusion from society. The prison population increased by 91% between the years 1993 to 2014. More offenders were being sentenced over these years and for a longer period of time. No progress was made. The 1989 Children’s Act held that a child’s welfare should be paramount (Muncie 2002). In 1993 the two murders of Jamie Bulger and Stephen Lawrence caused great debate leading to the age of criminal responsibility becoming 8 and the legal system tackling hate crime even more.
The Misspent Youth (Audit Commission 1996) report found that the Youth Justice System was inefficient and not cost effective and also showed that not much was being to done to prevent offending and re-offending, as well as government agencies not working together (Brake & Hale 1992).
Throughout the years in which labour was not in power, the labour party held that youth crime would be a priority for their party. They even produced a white paper titled “No More Excuses” (Home Office, 1997d). The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 appeared to favour punishment (Dignan and Marsh, 2001).
The Crime & Disorder Act 1998 introduced the current Youth Justice Board with the primary aim of all interventions in Youth Justice being to prevent offending and re-offending by children and Young People (CDA 1998). Section 39 of the Act introduced Youth Offending Teams, encouraged professional bodies to start working together and to share information about offenders (Copeland 2006)
David Cameron decided to try and privatise probation services, giving the power and money over to big corporate companies. Since 2009 the prison population growth rate has decreased from 4% to 1 % which is very positive. However the 2011 London riots had a big impact on the prison population as more people were being sent to prison, and the people involved in the riots were given much longer and harsher sentences compared to the usual sentences prior to this event.
Various politicians over the course of these years have made significant changes to the Criminal Justice System, however many of these have not been exactly positive. I think the problem may not be solely the prime ministers and their ideologies but the fact that there are only 4 years to make changes. Right realists, as opposed to left realists, take a more punitive standpoint when dealing with crime, believing that if a person makes the choice to commit a criminal act, then they should be punished. Right realism focuses on the need for more prisons and increasing the duration of sentences (Wilson & Herrnstein, 1985). Moreover, right realists do not consider the degree of effectiveness of prison sentences and ignore alternative punishments. I find myself in supporting both sides to certain extents.
Regardless of right and left realism having different political stances, both believe that crime needs to be taken seriously. As for the youth, intervention is more effective when based on the assessment of the likelihood of a young person to offend. The Youth Offending Service is doing well and looks like it will continue to improve.