Course Content - GCSE Edexcel Syllabus C - Schools History Project

Crime and Punishment - a study in development.

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Please note: This is the content for students in Stanley Tech Year 11. For other schools please visit the exam board's site at www.edexcel.org.uk

Crime and Punishment – What will I study?

The Core

c1450–c1750

• Crime and punishment in the late Middle Ages.

• The nature of criminal activity: crimes against the individual and property; violent crime; the nature of theft: highwaymen.

• Law enforcement and punishment: local law enforcement; the treatment of vagabonds and sturdy beggars; capital punishment, imprisonment and other punishments.

• Attitudes to crime and punishment: poaching and smuggling; corporal punishment

c1750–c1900

• The nature of criminal activity: crimes against the individual and property: violent crime: the nature of theft: pickpockets and ‘artful dodgers’.

• Law enforcement and punishment: imprisonment, transportation and other punishments; the development of professional police.

• Prison reforms: the roles of John Howard and Elizabeth Fry.

• Attitudes to crime and punishment: poaching and smuggling; Bloody Code; public execution.

c1900 – the present day

• The nature of criminal activity: crimes against the individual and property; violent crime; the nature of theft: shoplifting; car theft; computer crimes.

• Law enforcement and punishment: imprisonment and other punishments; probation; community service; the changing role of the police; crime prevention.

• The debate on law and order in the last thirty years; the role of governments in defining crime; race relations

• Attitudes to crime and punishment: smuggling; tax evasion; capital punishment; rehabilitation.

Extension units  Students should study at least one Extension unit. In the examination, each structured question will address one Extension unit and will also require students to have knowledge of the Core content.

2 The nature of protest and government response

This, together with the Core, will comprise a study of crime, punishment and protest from c1450 to the present day.

• Social and economic protest: the Kett rebellion.

• Demands for political reform: suffragettes.

• Response to industrial change: the General Strike.

• The response of authority and the use of the law and methods of law enforcement.

3 Changing views of the nature of criminal activity

This, together with the Core, will comprise a study of crime and punishment and changing definitions of criminal activity c1450 to the present.

• Witchcraft in the seventeenth century.

• The Tolpuddle martyrs.

• Conscientious objection in the twentieth century.

• The response of authority and the use of the law.

Nominated topic

The Nominated topic will be examined in Paper 2.

2004: Punishment and protest c1770–c1900

• Approaches to punishment: prisons and transportation.

• Reform of prisons: John Howard; Sir George Paul.

• Dealing with protest: The Chartists.