How have crime, policing and punishment changed in modern Britain, c.1900 to present?
New and changing crimes in the modern period, the use of science and technology in policing, the abolition of the death penalty in 1965, the development of prisons and alternatives to custody, and changing aims of punishment from deterrence towards rehabilitation.
A focused answer to the modern section of OCR's Crime and Punishment thematic study, covering new and changing crimes (cybercrime, hate crime, terrorism, motoring), science and technology in policing, the 1965 abolition of the death penalty, prisons and alternatives to custody, and the shift in the aims of punishment towards rehabilitation.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
This is the final period of the Crime and Punishment thematic study. You need to explain how crime, policing and punishment have changed since around 1900, and to set those changes against the long view of the whole 750 years. The big themes are new types of crime, the rise of science and technology in catching criminals, the abolition of the death penalty in 1965, and a shift in the aims of punishment from deterrence and retribution towards rehabilitation.
New and changing crimes
Science, technology and modern policing
The abolition of the death penalty
Prisons and alternatives to custody
The long view: change and continuity
For the 16-mark essay it helps to track the factors across all 750 years:
- Attitudes and religion drove witchcraft laws, then the abolition of harsh punishments.
- Government grew steadily more powerful and willing to act, from the medieval King to the modern state that runs police and prisons.
- The individual mattered at key moments (Peel, Howard, Fry, Silverman).
- Science and technology reshaped detection in the modern era.
Try this
Q1. In what year was the death penalty suspended for murder in Britain? [Knowledge recall]
- Cue. 1965 (suspended), with permanent abolition for murder in 1969.
Q2. Explain how DNA profiling changed policing. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Developed in 1984 and first used to convict in 1988, DNA profiling lets police identify or eliminate suspects from tiny biological traces, making detection far more reliable and helping to overturn wrongful convictions.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR SHP 20184 marksDescribe two ways science and technology have changed policing since 1900.Show worked answer →
The thematic study opener (4 marks, two features, 2 marks each). Reward two distinct, developed examples.
Way one. Forensic science: fingerprinting was adopted by Scotland Yard from 1901, and DNA profiling (developed in 1984 and first used to convict in 1988) lets police identify suspects from tiny biological traces.
Way two. Communications and surveillance: police use radios, computers (the Police National Computer from 1974) and CCTV to track suspects and share information rapidly, and cars and helicopters give far greater mobility.
Top marks. Two separate developments, each with a precise detail or date.
OCR SHP 20218 marksExplain why the death penalty was abolished in Britain in 1965.Show worked answer →
The thematic study "Explain why" question (8 marks). Reward two or three developed reasons.
Reason one. High-profile miscarriages of justice: the executions of Timothy Evans (1950, later pardoned) and Derek Bentley (1953), and the case of Ruth Ellis (1955), convinced many that an irreversible punishment risked killing the innocent.
Reason two. Changing attitudes: a growing belief that punishment should aim to reform rather than take life, and doubts that execution actually deterred murder, shifted public and political opinion.
Reason three. The work of campaigners and politicians, such as Sydney Silverman, who pushed the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act through Parliament, suspending and then ending hanging for murder.
Top band. Connect each reason to abolition and judge which was decisive.
Related dot points
- Crime in an industrialising society, the Bloody Code and its decline, the founding of the Metropolitan Police in 1829, the move from public execution and transportation towards imprisonment, and the influence of reformers such as Peel, Howard and Fry.
A focused answer to the industrial section of OCR's Crime and Punishment thematic study, covering crime in a fast-growing urban society, the Bloody Code and its repeal, the creation of the Metropolitan Police in 1829, the shift from public execution and transportation to imprisonment, and reformers including Robert Peel, John Howard and Elizabeth Fry.
- New crimes of the early modern period (vagabondage, witchcraft, smuggling, heresy), the work of constables, watchmen and thief-takers, the growth of harsher and more public punishment, and the role of religion and fear in shaping the law.
A focused answer to the early modern section of OCR's Crime and Punishment thematic study, covering new crimes such as vagabondage, witchcraft, smuggling and heresy, the continuing role of constables, watchmen and thief-takers, the rise of harsher public punishment, and how religious change and fear drove the law between 1500 and 1700.
- Medieval definitions of crime, the role of the Church and the King in the law, community policing through the hue and cry and tithings, trial by ordinary and trial by jury, and the use of fines, corporal and capital punishment.
A focused answer to the medieval section of OCR's Crime and Punishment thematic study, covering how crime was defined, the role of the Church and Crown, community law enforcement through tithings and the hue and cry, trial by ordeal and jury, and the use of fines, mutilation and execution c.1250 to 1500.
- The Bloody Code as a system of deterrence by terror, why so many capital offences were added in the eighteenth century, transportation to America and then Australia, the experience of convicts, and why both were abandoned by the mid-nineteenth century.
A focused case study within OCR's Crime and Punishment thematic study, examining the Bloody Code as deterrence by terror, why over 200 capital offences were created in the eighteenth century, transportation to America and Australia, the convict experience, and why both punishments were abandoned by the mid-nineteenth century.
- The condition of eighteenth-century jails, the reforming work of John Howard and Elizabeth Fry, the separate and silent systems, Pentonville prison (1842) as a model, and the long debate between reform and punishment in prisons.
A focused case study within OCR's Crime and Punishment thematic study, examining the squalid eighteenth-century jails, the reforming work of John Howard and Elizabeth Fry, the separate and silent systems, Pentonville prison of 1842 as a model, and the enduring tension between reform and punishment.