HIST 2092 - History of Crime and Punishment in England and Europe

North Terrace Campus - Semester 2 - 2017

This course has three principal strands for study: the meaning and incidence of 'crime'; the administration of justice via courts and trial procedures; and penal policy. These areas will be studied over several centuries, and particularly 1500-1900, a crucial period in British and European history because it encompassed the Protestant Reformation, several bursts of state formation, the transformation of the 'public sphere', and the development of urban-industrial societies. All these 'events' had a considerable impact on mentalities, communities, and cultures, with their corresponding determinations as to desirable social norms and the prosecution and punishment of deviance. They were also informed by the principal legal cultures in Europe: Roman or 'civil law', church law, and common law. Students will be encouraged to consider all these factors against two prevailing historiographical issues. First, what were the social agencies for change in labelling crime and dealing with criminals? And second, how should we interpret the transformation in criminal law and its enforcement which took place over the period: was it 'civilising reform' or 'an economy of industrial discipline'?

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