The Purpose of Public Punishment (WJEC Eduqas GCSE History): Revision Note

Timeline

How did Attitudes Towards Public Punishment Change Over Time? - Summary

For centuries, punishment was a public event. Crowds gathered to watch criminals flogged, humiliated, or executed as a warning to others. Public punishment was believed to deter crime and teach people moral lessons, especially during periods of unrest. 

The ‘Bloody Code’ expanded capital punishment to protect society and property, but over time, these events became sources of entertainment rather than deterrence. By the 1800s, newspapers and campaigners began questioning the morality and effectiveness of such cruelty. Gradually, society moved towards private punishments and reform, ending public whippings, stocks, and executions. This change reflected a shift in thinking, from using fear to maintain control to believing in justice and rehabilitation.

Humiliation Punishments

Corporal punishment 

• Corporal punishment was used since the medieval period and continued into the 19th century

  • This form of punishment was usually in a public open area, such as a market

    • To publicly humiliate the criminal  

• Criminals would be publicly 

  • Whipped 

  • Flogged 

• Corporal punishment was given for the crimes of 

  • Petty theft 

  • Begging 

  • Vagrancy 

  • Drunkeness 

• Corporal punishment was a punishment intended to

  • Inflict pain on the criminal 

  • Teach offenders that they were wrong 

  • Discourage others from committing the same crime 

• In 1820, whipping as a punishment was abolished for women

• The Act of 1948 ended corporal punishment 

The Stocks and Pillory 

• Although the stocks and pillory were used in the medieval period as a punishment, they were more commonly used in the 16th and 17th centuries 

• Much like corporal punishment, they aimed to humiliate the criminal to ensure that publicly

  • Others would not commit the same crime 

  • The offender had learnt that their actions were wrong

• The stocks and pillory continued to be used until the 19th century 

  • The use of pillories was abolished in 1837 

  • The use of stocks was abolished in 1872 

Public Execution

• Public executions were a form of capital punishment 

• These punishments aimed to deter others from committing the same crimes 

• Between 1688 and 1815, the Criminal Code, or ‘Bloody Code’, saw an increase in the use of the death penalty for a range of crimes 

  • Public executions were carried out in public places like Tyburn in London 

• There were over 200 crimes punishable by death, including 

  • Pickpocketing goods worth one shilling (5p) or more 

  • Stealing 

    • Horses 

    • Sheep  

    • From a rabbit warren 

    • Goods worth five shillings (25p) 

  • Sending threatening letters 

• The ‘Bloody Code’ was established to 

  • Deal with the increase in protests and social unrest 

    • The social structure of England and Wales was changing due to urbanisation and the Industrial Revolution 

    • Enforcing law and order became harder 

  • Deter others from crime 

  • Reduce crime 

    • In the late 17th century, there was a sharp increase in crime 

    • Including new crimes such as highway robbery, poaching and smuggling 

  • Protect the interests of landowners 

    • After the 1688 Glorious Revolution, landowners gained more power and could pass laws in Parliament 

    • They protected their own land, property and wealth by introducing acts such as the 1723 Black Act, which made the hunting of rabbits, hares and deer illegal 

  • Reduce growing pressure from the media 

    • Newspapers reported crime 

    • They reported how crime had increased 

• By the middle of the 19th century, attitudes towards executions began to change 

• The Capital Punishment Amendment Act of 1868 abolished public executions 

  • Vivian Teed was the last person to be publicly executed in Wales

    • At Swansea Prison in 1958

  • Whereas Michael Barrett was the last person to be publicly executed in England in 1868 

• By 1965, capital punishment was abolished under the Murder Act, as the Bloody Code was not working 

  • Juries had become increasingly unwilling to convict criminals of crimes that carried the death penalty 

  • Members of Parliament (MPs) questioned the effectiveness of the Bloody Code 

    • Including MP Sir Samuel Romilly

  • Some believed it was too extreme 

    • These individuals pushed for reform rather than humiliation 

  • Public executions were becoming unruly and hard to keep order 

    • This increased the likelihood of riots

  • There were more effective forms of punishment 

    • Such as transportation