History of Crime and Criminality
Scope
This Subject Guide focuses on the
interdisciplinary field of the history of crime and criminality. The study of
crime and criminality is a fairly wide field covering a variety of periods,
geographical regions, and subject/discipline specific focuses such as penal
reform, the law, and
violence. The following resources
concentrate on the study of 18th
and 19th century Britain
with a particular emphasis on the history of policing in London.
Introduction to Subject
The history of crime and criminality is an
interdisciplinary field whose scholars tend to share a historical research
culture and perspective but who are also concerned with the fields of law, social
behaviour, demographics, health and health care, and government policy and
culture. Scholars in this field typically refer to sources on legislation,
government documents, geography or mapping, news sources, popular works, and
archival records. The topic matter and general sources of information tend to
be interdisciplinary, with a strong connection to social science subject areas
but the approach is largely historical with a significant number of scholars
working in periods spanning the middle ages up to the 19th century. Many
of these scholars also have connections to related field such as law and
justice.[1]
Popular subtopics include the courts, policing, coroners, violence, hospitals
and asylums, punishment and prisons, and poverty and social stability.
The typical research culture in this field includes
a heavy reliance on archival materials, including maps and judicial records, as
well as popular contemporary sources such as ephemera and newspapers or
periodicals. There is also a strong focus on scholarly, secondary works
published in history journals or in the form of monographs. Most bibliographies
in this field list a significant number of ‘core’ monographs and articles by
prominent historians and tracking the work of important scholars is a common
activity.[2]
Resources
Subject Headings
Crime
Crime-Great Britain-History.
Crime-Great Britain-Early works to 1800.
Crime-Great Britain-History-19th century.
Crime-England-History-18th century.
Crime-England-History-19th century.
Crime-England-London-History.
Policing
Law enforcement-England-History-18th century.
Law enforcement-England-History-19th century.
Criminal Justice and Penal System
Criminal justice, Administration of-England-History-18th century.
Criminal justice, Administration of-England-History-19th century.
Punishment-England-History-18th century.
Punishment-England-History-19th century.
Browsing By Call Number
HV6001-7220.5 Criminology
HV6774-7220.5 Crimes and criminal classes
HV7231-9960 Criminal justice administration
HV7551-8280.7 Police. Detectives. Constabulary
HV7935-8025 Administration and organization
HV8130-8280.7 By region or country
Dictionaries
Historical dictionary of law enforcement by Mitchel P. Roth.
This dictionary covers law enforcement history from Roman times until the late 20th century. It includes a large number of American examples, but it also covers early policing in Britain. It blends the fields of criminology and history in a way that will be particularly useful for history of crime researchers, especially those looking for background information.
The Canting Academy; or, Villanies Discovered… by Richard Head
Published in 1673 or 1674, The Canting Academy by Richard Head is an early canting dictionary which provided the basis for popular conceptions of slang in later periods. During the 18th century in particular, canting became commonly associated with the idea of a criminal class and this association fed off of popular associations between class, ethnicity, and criminality. Early canting dictionaries provide insight into London society, popular conceptions of criminality, and the notion of a ‘criminal class.’
A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
Originally published in 1785, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue is a contemporary compilation of slang and canting terms. Canting dictionaries remained popular throughout the18th century and they were potentially an important way for magistrates and early police to understand and perhaps interact with the public and the so called ‘criminal class.’
Handbooks
The Oxford Handbook of Criminology editedby Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan and Robert Reiner.
The Oxford Handbook of Criminology provides an overview of the field of criminology and theories about crime, policing, statistics, popular conceptions of criminality, and many other subjects. While it does not deal with the historical study of crime and criminality in Britain, it does provide a general basis for understanding related social sciences. It may also inspire new ways of interpreting both current works on the subject and historical evidence.
Biographies
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is an extensive compilation of biographies of figures related to British history from Roman times until the present. It currently includes approximately 58 000 biographies. It is particularly useful for the study of the history of crime and policing in 18th and 19th century Britain because much of this history concerns the activities of individual magistrates, criminals, and reformers, such as John Fielding, Jonathan Wild, and Jeremy Bentham.
Electronic Collections / Databases
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) is an extensive collection of 136 000–182 000 works (depending on subscription) published in Britain during the 18th century. It covers a wide variety of different subjects, writers, and formats and provides full text searching. ECCO is an excellent source for primary materials on 18th century history and society and as is an ideal collection for researchers focusing on that period of English social and legal history.
The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926
The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926 is a collection of digitized works related to the law created in America and Britain during the period 1800-1926. It contains approximately 22 000 works such as speeches, pamphlets, and letters by writers such as Jeremy Bentham and William Blackstone. It contains treatises and accounts related to 19th century policing as well as London’s magistrates and courts and you can easily limit your search to only British works. It provides easy access to primary British sources.
C19:The Nineteenth Century Index
C19: The Nineteenth Century Index includes approximately 22.7 million articles, 1.7 million books and other published documents, and 70 000 archives from the 19th century. It is the foremost resource for searching periodical literature from this period. Most importantly for the study of crime and criminology, it contains a large selection of 19th century British sources including periodicals, newspapers, papers from the House of Commons, proceedings of the Old Bailey, and books such as those indexed in the Nineteenth-Century Short Title Catalogue (NSTC).
Websites
The Old Bailey Online
The Old Bailey Online contains a comprehensive digital collection of the proceedings of the Old Bailey, the central criminal court of England and Wales, covering the period 1674-1913. It also includes a substantial amount of reliable background information on crime, the courts, and society during this period, as well as specialized, high quality bibliographies, and study and research guides which instructors can use to teach this subject at the university level. The Old Bailey Online is one of the best sources of information regarding core background information and seminal texts in the field. It is also an excellent source of primary source materials related to London’s largest court and all of those people who came in contact with the Old Bailey.
London Lives
London Lives is primarily a searchable database of digitized primary resources on 18th century London and includes 240 000 manuscripts and records and 15 datasets, including datasets on parish registers, taxation, and workhouse records. It was created by the same scholars who created The Old Bailey Online, Tim Hitchcock and Robert Shoemaker, and it is a complimentary resource. It is one of the best sources of primary materials related to crime, criminality, and law during the 18th century.
Locating London's Past
Locating London's Past is a GIS tool which maps data from London Lives and other data sets related to the study of the history of crime and criminology onto John Rocque's 1746 map of London. The user can select a data set, search within the data and map the results. This resource would beparticularly useful for anyone who wanted to see the placement of specific incidents or who wanted to gain a more visual sense of the records.
Archives
The National Archives
The National Archives of the United Kingdom provides multiple search tools and databases on their website where you can search for government records, records from the law courts of England and Wales, and digitized newspapers. They also host union databases of records from a large number of contributing archives such as Access to Archives as well as the ARCHON directory of archives in the United Kingdom. They offer 14 guides to searching for archival materials on the subject of crime and criminals as well as other related guides. The National Archives website is a good source for both digitized archival documents on crime and policing and information about archival institutions and holdings.
Crime
Crime-Great Britain-History.
Crime-Great Britain-Early works to 1800.
Crime-Great Britain-History-19th century.
Crime-England-History-18th century.
Crime-England-History-19th century.
Crime-England-London-History.
Policing
Law enforcement-England-History-18th century.
Law enforcement-England-History-19th century.
Criminal Justice and Penal System
Criminal justice, Administration of-England-History-18th century.
Criminal justice, Administration of-England-History-19th century.
Punishment-England-History-18th century.
Punishment-England-History-19th century.
Browsing By Call Number
HV6001-7220.5 Criminology
HV6774-7220.5 Crimes and criminal classes
HV7231-9960 Criminal justice administration
HV7551-8280.7 Police. Detectives. Constabulary
HV7935-8025 Administration and organization
HV8130-8280.7 By region or country
Dictionaries
Historical dictionary of law enforcement by Mitchel P. Roth.
This dictionary covers law enforcement history from Roman times until the late 20th century. It includes a large number of American examples, but it also covers early policing in Britain. It blends the fields of criminology and history in a way that will be particularly useful for history of crime researchers, especially those looking for background information.
The Canting Academy; or, Villanies Discovered… by Richard Head
Published in 1673 or 1674, The Canting Academy by Richard Head is an early canting dictionary which provided the basis for popular conceptions of slang in later periods. During the 18th century in particular, canting became commonly associated with the idea of a criminal class and this association fed off of popular associations between class, ethnicity, and criminality. Early canting dictionaries provide insight into London society, popular conceptions of criminality, and the notion of a ‘criminal class.’
A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
Originally published in 1785, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue is a contemporary compilation of slang and canting terms. Canting dictionaries remained popular throughout the18th century and they were potentially an important way for magistrates and early police to understand and perhaps interact with the public and the so called ‘criminal class.’
Handbooks
The Oxford Handbook of Criminology editedby Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan and Robert Reiner.
The Oxford Handbook of Criminology provides an overview of the field of criminology and theories about crime, policing, statistics, popular conceptions of criminality, and many other subjects. While it does not deal with the historical study of crime and criminality in Britain, it does provide a general basis for understanding related social sciences. It may also inspire new ways of interpreting both current works on the subject and historical evidence.
Biographies
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is an extensive compilation of biographies of figures related to British history from Roman times until the present. It currently includes approximately 58 000 biographies. It is particularly useful for the study of the history of crime and policing in 18th and 19th century Britain because much of this history concerns the activities of individual magistrates, criminals, and reformers, such as John Fielding, Jonathan Wild, and Jeremy Bentham.
Electronic Collections / Databases
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) is an extensive collection of 136 000–182 000 works (depending on subscription) published in Britain during the 18th century. It covers a wide variety of different subjects, writers, and formats and provides full text searching. ECCO is an excellent source for primary materials on 18th century history and society and as is an ideal collection for researchers focusing on that period of English social and legal history.
The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926
The Making of Modern Law: Legal Treatises 1800-1926 is a collection of digitized works related to the law created in America and Britain during the period 1800-1926. It contains approximately 22 000 works such as speeches, pamphlets, and letters by writers such as Jeremy Bentham and William Blackstone. It contains treatises and accounts related to 19th century policing as well as London’s magistrates and courts and you can easily limit your search to only British works. It provides easy access to primary British sources.
C19:The Nineteenth Century Index
C19: The Nineteenth Century Index includes approximately 22.7 million articles, 1.7 million books and other published documents, and 70 000 archives from the 19th century. It is the foremost resource for searching periodical literature from this period. Most importantly for the study of crime and criminology, it contains a large selection of 19th century British sources including periodicals, newspapers, papers from the House of Commons, proceedings of the Old Bailey, and books such as those indexed in the Nineteenth-Century Short Title Catalogue (NSTC).
Websites
The Old Bailey Online
The Old Bailey Online contains a comprehensive digital collection of the proceedings of the Old Bailey, the central criminal court of England and Wales, covering the period 1674-1913. It also includes a substantial amount of reliable background information on crime, the courts, and society during this period, as well as specialized, high quality bibliographies, and study and research guides which instructors can use to teach this subject at the university level. The Old Bailey Online is one of the best sources of information regarding core background information and seminal texts in the field. It is also an excellent source of primary source materials related to London’s largest court and all of those people who came in contact with the Old Bailey.
London Lives
London Lives is primarily a searchable database of digitized primary resources on 18th century London and includes 240 000 manuscripts and records and 15 datasets, including datasets on parish registers, taxation, and workhouse records. It was created by the same scholars who created The Old Bailey Online, Tim Hitchcock and Robert Shoemaker, and it is a complimentary resource. It is one of the best sources of primary materials related to crime, criminality, and law during the 18th century.
Locating London's Past
Locating London's Past is a GIS tool which maps data from London Lives and other data sets related to the study of the history of crime and criminology onto John Rocque's 1746 map of London. The user can select a data set, search within the data and map the results. This resource would beparticularly useful for anyone who wanted to see the placement of specific incidents or who wanted to gain a more visual sense of the records.
Archives
The National Archives
The National Archives of the United Kingdom provides multiple search tools and databases on their website where you can search for government records, records from the law courts of England and Wales, and digitized newspapers. They also host union databases of records from a large number of contributing archives such as Access to Archives as well as the ARCHON directory of archives in the United Kingdom. They offer 14 guides to searching for archival materials on the subject of crime and criminals as well as other related guides. The National Archives website is a good source for both digitized archival documents on crime and policing and information about archival institutions and holdings.
[1] Douglas Hay for example:
Douglas
Hay, Douglas Hay: Short Curriculum Vitae,
Department of History, York University, http://www.yorku. ca/uhistory/faculty/cv/hay.htm
[accessed November 29, 2012].
“Faculty Directory,” Osgood Hall Law School, http://www.osgoode.yorku.ca/faculty-directory
(accessed November 29, 2012].
[2] The bibliographies available on the Old Bailey Online provide good
examples of the importance of monographs and core resources. For example,
“Bibliography: Crime,” The
Proceedings of the Old Bailey, http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/CrimeBibliography.jsp
[accessed November 29, 2012].
