In this paper Peter King explores the link between urbanisation and murder rates in England and Wales 1780-1850 and the debate surrounding it. The traditional view, made by sociologists, links large cities with lethal violence, though this has been challenged by historians claim murder rates have been negatively correlated with urbanisation. King makes his view clear throughout, that homicide rates are higher in cities on a whole.
The article questions this “new consensus” by re-examining the evidence. One statistic brought in here is that London’s homicide rate was 60% higher than England’s, this is one reason why this popular argument formed. However, since this, a new consensus has formed- that industrialisation has lessened homicide rates, …show more content…
The first being Old Bailey data from 11-1804, which shows the ages of those accused of murder and those accused of other crimes where it comes to the conclusion that the average age of someone accused of murder was higher than that of someone accused of property crime; this data may indicate the murder rates in industrial areas reflect the age of their population. Urban areas have a higher young male population, and around 70% of all murders were male on male, this explains why cities may be linked to high murder rates. King states that Irish immigrants during the 1834-1848 famine are also considered via statistics from the Old Bailey, which state 14-20% of murder accusations involved Irish people, although they only made up 2-3% of London. Carolyn Conley, identified the Irish made up 23% of murder defendants in Glasgow between 1867 and 1892. King explains that there is a debate over the reason for this, ranging from prejudice against the Irish, to the Irish culture being accustomed to violence. King gives an example from 1799, involving ten Irish men and women murdering a policeman who attempted to arrest them-king goes on to add that this doubled the murder rate in London that year, showing a direct concrete link between Irish violence and higher murder rates.
In his conclusion, King states that it is important to look into other areas to see if these patterns are repeated, where he brings up the fact Scotland showed very similar results, their homicide rates were lowest in the highlands and highest in urban centres like Glasgow. Here King brings in another researcher, Louise Shelley, who came to the conclusion violent crime rose in times of industrialising transition periods, and she created a term, “mature years” for the period of homicide decline
The article questions this “new consensus” by re-examining the evidence. One statistic brought in here is that London’s homicide rate was 60% higher than England’s, this is one reason why this popular argument formed. However, since this, a new consensus has formed- that industrialisation has lessened homicide rates, …show more content…
The first being Old Bailey data from 11-1804, which shows the ages of those accused of murder and those accused of other crimes where it comes to the conclusion that the average age of someone accused of murder was higher than that of someone accused of property crime; this data may indicate the murder rates in industrial areas reflect the age of their population. Urban areas have a higher young male population, and around 70% of all murders were male on male, this explains why cities may be linked to high murder rates. King states that Irish immigrants during the 1834-1848 famine are also considered via statistics from the Old Bailey, which state 14-20% of murder accusations involved Irish people, although they only made up 2-3% of London. Carolyn Conley, identified the Irish made up 23% of murder defendants in Glasgow between 1867 and 1892. King explains that there is a debate over the reason for this, ranging from prejudice against the Irish, to the Irish culture being accustomed to violence. King gives an example from 1799, involving ten Irish men and women murdering a policeman who attempted to arrest them-king goes on to add that this doubled the murder rate in London that year, showing a direct concrete link between Irish violence and higher murder rates.
In his conclusion, King states that it is important to look into other areas to see if these patterns are repeated, where he brings up the fact Scotland showed very similar results, their homicide rates were lowest in the highlands and highest in urban centres like Glasgow. Here King brings in another researcher, Louise Shelley, who came to the conclusion violent crime rose in times of industrialising transition periods, and she created a term, “mature years” for the period of homicide decline