L1 1900s

Starter: a moment in crime

• In pairs, study the image of Worcester in front of you.

• Label, add arrows and pictures to show what is happening in crime, punishment and policing in your city.  Pose three questions about modern day crime, punishment and policing.

 Key words: Technology / Terrorism / contentious objection

What was new about 20th/21st century crime?

LO’s: • To identify and explain the significance of major religious, political and social changes on people’s lives and crime/punishment/policing

What was new about 20th/21st century crime?

• The 20th century saw dramatic change in almost all aspects of the lives of the people of Britain. Watch the clip and make a list of events/changes that have occurred in Britain since 1900.

• What about crime? Did that change too?  Your task: create a spider diagram on the Five Factors below. In pairs, see if you can add any information from your own knowledge/experience.

Belief, attitudes and values

Urbanisation

What was life like in industrial Britain?

Wealth and poverty

Government Communications

 Your task: Use the information on the next few slides to add notes to the appropriate section.

The economy (wealth and poverty) • Standards of living improved – people were better housed/fed/healthier in 2000 than they were in 1900.

• Britain was still a divided society – some people very rich and many struggling to make ends meet.

• In the 1930s depression they were hit hard: national unemployment in 1933 was 22% (in some areas it was higher).

• Some people did not have a job for 20 years.

• In the search for work, people increasingly moved around the country, making communities less stable and people more unknown to each other (similar to Early Modern concerns over vagrancy).

Technology (communications) • Several new inventions had effects on crime, but the greatest of these by far was the motorcar.

• Aeroplanes made international transport and smuggling easier.

• Telephones, mobile phones and computers allowed people to communicate more than ever before.

• The impact of new forms of entertainment, particularly the cinema and TV, worried many people.

The government • In the 20th century governments took on new roles: • the "Welfare State" (begun by the Liberals 1906-14), gave greater security to all citizens.

• For the first time in History, there was no danger of starving to death, or dying in total poverty.

• There was free medical care on the National Health Service and universal, free education to 16.

• The government also created laws intended to change attitudes, such as outlawing sex and race discrimination.

• The government also gained powers over the public in times of war (e.g. DORA – Defence of the Realm Act)

Beliefs, attitudes and values • The two World Wars brought all kinds of changes. Apart from the destruction of homes and towns, family life was disrupted by conscription and evacuation.

• At the same time, religious belief declined. Attitudes were shaped more by TV and newspapers than by the churches.

• In more recent times (perhaps as backlash to the decline of religious beliefs), religious extremism has become more common / more public.

Pit stop: Think-Pair-Share – what impact might these changes have on the amount / types of crime?  Write down 3 trends (patterns) that you notice from source 1.

1. There was very little change in the crime rate between 1870-1930.

2. The crime rate has dramatically increased from 1960.

3. The crime rate declined after 1992.

Source 2 shows the types of crime in the last few years.  Make a note of at least three examples (2 down, 1 up)

Changing attitudes towards crime Since 1900 a number of new definitions of crime have led to the punishment of different groups of people who would not have been punished before.  Using the cards, complete the table describing ‘new crimes’ since 1900.  Can you link any of these to an ‘old’ crime? E.g.: New Crime

Description

 Can you link it to an ‘old’ crime?

Computer crime

Often used to commit theft or fraud online.

Impersonating another person to steal money is an old crime, as is tricking money out of a person.

Plenary: discuss – how ‘new’ were century crimes?

th 20

Homework • Produce a ‘police gazette’ report on the most significant crime since 1900.

• Worksheet on tgispace.

New Crime

Description

 Can you link it to an ‘old’ crime?

Traffic Crime. Speeding, dangerous driving and using your mobile phone while driving are all crimes today were not before the 20th century.

By 2000, increased drug use in Britain meant that drug smuggling became a multi-million pound industry. Restrictions on immigration has led to a rise in people smuggling.

Race crime. Race relations act (1968) made it illegal to refuse housing and employment to a person on the grounds of race. Before this, racist motivation of crimes would not have been considered seriously.

Terrorism. Extreme political and religious groups began to carry out random killings of ordinary members of the public in order to put pressure on the government. E.g. the IRA (Irish Republican Army) bombed British buildings between 1970s-90s.

Street crime and anti-social behaviour causes great concern in many towns and cities.

Cowardice in the face of the enemy has always been crime. Yet modern war meant you were executed.

Computer crime is mostly theft or fraud. It can mean breaking into bank accounts or hacking into confidential records and selling the information.

Conscientious objection. People who refused to go to war could be court-martialled and receive sentences up to 2 years imprisonment.

Theft, burglary and shoplifting. The rise in drug addiction fuelled the rise in thefts.

Car theft now makes up half of all thefts and 20th century supermarkets contributed to making shoplifting easier.

Domestic violence. Violence in the home has often been ignored unless the crime involved murder or serious assault. Police were often lax in taking rape cases seriously which has changed over the last decade or so.

People trafficking. Many people from less economically developed countries are illegally bought to the UK and work in prostitution or for low wages.