Challenges Faced in the search for the History of crime and punishment Essay

Challenges Faced in the search for the History of crime and punishment in England and Wales - Essay Example To understand this, they have to deal with a great deal of criminal records. These criminal records vary in the nature of punishment administered for various crimes during different times in history. Another problem experienced by these researcher is that there is a lot of information on paper records about the nature of crime and punishment in England and Wales more than information in the internet. They have to scrutinise large records of information about crime administered for various cases. These records may include prison registers, petitions for clemency, judges report and other report from criminal justice agents. Researchers have to understand various circumstances that led to change in the history of these societies. They have to pay attention to civilisation, industrialisation and the growth of population. Also, some cases that form precedents are unique in their own way. The decision by a judge is sometimes influenced by circumstances that were only relevant during that time. Therefore, these individuals have to understand this aspect as they were in history. For example, the criminal responsibility age in both Wales and England is 10 years. However, the 1993 case of Jamie Bulger entailed a child being taken to an adult court in Liverpool. Criminological theories help researchers to understand various change in the perception of crime and punishment by the criminal Justice system in both England and Wales. For example the social learning theory helps to understand the history of crime in both jurisdictions since criminal records have shown that individuals brought up in environments prone to crime have a higher tendency of committing crime. In both areas, criminal activities that have been reinforced frequently and punished infrequently have been found to occur again and again. For example, alcohol abuse among minors, school truancy and gambling are more often since they have been found to be infrequently punished(Hostettler p. 100). The proponents of radical criminology argue that criminal act are socially constructed and there is not act which is immoral or criminal without being defined by the society. This theory proposes that wealth should also be distributed equally in the society to eradicate crime. It may be used to help understand why crime in both England and Wales is by both the rich and the poor. The nature of punishment varies depending on the circumstances surrounding the crime. Foucault’ opinion and crime and punishment were passionate and placed a lot of emphasis on punishing people less and doing it better. Foucault’s opinions on crime and punishment assist learners to understand the evolution of crime and punishment and the evolution of prisons. His theoretical position has enabled people to understand the history of crime and punishment in England and Wales in the sense that prisons from the past in both England and Wales have not reduced crime in the society. To understand the history of crime and punishment, the element of repeat offending ( recidivism) that was coined by this scholar as a consequence of Imprisonment has to be taken into consideration. There may be minimal records to how this element of crimes that have occurred in both England and Wales. The survival of records about crimes of the past in both England and Wales is also a challenge for individuals intending to unearth history of crime in these two places. Record keeping of the criminal Justice agents was not as good as it is today since technology has made things easier and information more accessible to researchers . Also,