Exam skills: the thematic study

Crime and Punishment is Paper 1, Section B. It's worth 36 marks, including 4 for SPaG.

Questions normally cover at least a century, and the 'how far' questions a whole period or two centuries.

Method: identify one similarity or difference, then support it with a specific detail from each period.

Question: Explain one way in which law enforcement in the years c1500–c1700 was different from law enforcement in the years c1900–present.

Model answer: One difference was who enforced the law. In c1500–c1700, law enforcement relied on unpaid local people, such as parish constables and town watchmen, and the hue and cry. By contrast, since 1900 law enforcement has been carried out by professional, paid police forces, with specialist units, such as detectives in the CID.

Method: write two or three paragraphs, each with one reason, supported by specific details, and explain how it caused the change. Use at least one reason that is not a stimulus point.

Question: Explain why there were changes in policing in the years c1700–c1900. (Stimulus: the Bow Street Runners; the Metropolitan Police Act 1829.)

Model paragraph, going beyond the stimulus: One reason was the growth of towns. As industry grew, cities such as London became huge and full of strangers. This meant the old system, which relied on neighbours knowing each other and raising the hue and cry, no longer worked. So the authorities needed full-time, organised police.

Method: explain the factor in the statement, then others, and end with a justified judgement.

Question: 'Individuals were the most important factor in changing punishment in the years c1700–c1900.' How far do you agree?

Model judgement: Individuals mattered: Howard and Fry exposed prison conditions, and Peel reformed the Bloody Code. However, they succeeded because attitudes were already changing, as more people came to believe punishment should reform criminals. Juries' refusal to convict under the Bloody Code shows this. So I partly agree: individuals led the change, but changing attitudes were more important, because without them the reformers would not have been listened to.

To reach the top levels in the 12- and 16-mark questions:

• Analyse: explain how each factor caused change, and link factors together.
• Go beyond the stimulus points with your own knowledge.
• Cover the whole period in the question, not just one part of it.
• Be precise: use specific dates, names and examples.
• For 16 marks, give a justified judgement, and explain your criteria.