The Role Of Punishment In The Victorian Era

The Victorian era was a time of great cultural upheaval in Britain. There were new clothes, new music, new breeds of dogs, and most importantly, new forms of punishment for crimes. This cultural metamorphosis was mostly harmless, but it also gave birth to some horrific crimes as well. This fact is what makes those punishments so important. As evils both great and small were rising up, there had to be punishments to meet them at the pass. The Victorian era implemented punishments that not only benefitted London, but would be very influential to the American Justice system and systems like it. The Victorian Era was a departure from the more barbaric practices of the eras it followed. Police became a more common occurrence in the streets, and trials were used more often as well. To be fair, trials were still in a very primitive state and were often long, grueling processes that didn’t amount to much. Most accused people were convicted regardless of the evidence presented, unless it was a really big piece of evidence. In which case, they would be let go. Although, they were heavily profiled by police in the wake of the trial (Gooii). If convicted, a number of different things could take place. The first was a hanging. The Victorian era marked the decline of …show more content…
It involved stealing a small object, article of clothing or food. This crime’s frequency was increased due to the booming population of London during this time (Crime in Victorian England). The large population left jobs scarce and low paying, meaning that most people would have to steal to keep their families alive. Most of the time, kids carried out the crime, as they were smaller and could go undetected while stealing the goods. It was practically a career for some kids. And these kids could receive the full extent of the punishment as well. Although, they would scarcely receive the death punishment, mostly due to public