Crime and Authority in Victorian England
The Black Country 1835-1860
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 1. September 2026
324 pages
E-Book
978-1-040-99757-4 (ISBN)
Description
The Industrial Revolution seemed, to contemporary eyes, to produce an upsurge of crime threatening a complete breakdown of social order. Focusing on one industrial area - the Black Country for 1835-60 - Crime and Authority in Victorian England, originally published in 1977 tests the validity of those contemporary fears.
It examines what sources can be used for studying crime and what can be deduced from them and also considers the change in policing from parish constable to police force, analysing their methods and efficiency. There is also a study of the criminal process, bringing out the great importance of its reliance on private prosecution.
Figures of committals to trial, compiled from over 20,000 cases, are analysed in order to show the relationship between crime and economic circumstances, and provides material on the offenders themselves and on the trends in punishment. The author looks in detail at property offenders and violent offenders and the circumstances surrounding the offences. Property offences made up the vast majority of offences and were mostly relatively trivial thefts. Examination of violent offences reveals a rough, but not notably homicidal society.
Throughout, emphasis is placed on the importance of the interaction between those who broke the law and those who enforced it.
It examines what sources can be used for studying crime and what can be deduced from them and also considers the change in policing from parish constable to police force, analysing their methods and efficiency. There is also a study of the criminal process, bringing out the great importance of its reliance on private prosecution.
Figures of committals to trial, compiled from over 20,000 cases, are analysed in order to show the relationship between crime and economic circumstances, and provides material on the offenders themselves and on the trends in punishment. The author looks in detail at property offenders and violent offenders and the circumstances surrounding the offences. Property offences made up the vast majority of offences and were mostly relatively trivial thefts. Examination of violent offences reveals a rough, but not notably homicidal society.
Throughout, emphasis is placed on the importance of the interaction between those who broke the law and those who enforced it.
Reviews / Votes
Comment on the first edition, written in 2009:'Crime and Authority was, in this writer's opinion, one of the founding texts of criminal justice history in the English-speaking world. Anyone doing research in the field or contemplating entering it had a copy on his or her bookshelf.' - Robert D. Storch, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of Wisconsin Colleges, USA
More details
Series
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Reflowable
ISBN-13
978-1-040-99757-4 (9781040997574)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 09/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€156.24
Not yet published
Person
David Philips (1946-2008) was, at the time of original publication, a Lecturer in History at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
Content
Tables. Graphs and Map. Abbreviations. Preface. 1. Introduction 2. Crime and the Crime Figures 3. Thel Old and New Police 4. The System of Prosecution and the Prosecutors 5. The Offenders - Numbers, Trends and Characteristics 6. Property Offenders (1) - Larcenies 7. Property Offenders (2) - Receiving, Embezzlement, Fraud and Currency Offences 8. Violent Offenders 9. Conclusions. Appendices: I. Sources and Complication of the Committals Figures II. Legal Distinctions III. Population of the Black Country Towns and Parishes, 1831-61. Bibliography. Index.
