Modern punishment

In the 20th century, people became increasingly uneasy about hanging, especially after cases in which people may have been wrongly executed, such as Timothy Evans (hanged in 1950, pardoned in 1966) and Derek Bentley (hanged in 1953).

• 1957: the Homicide Act limited the death penalty to certain kinds of murder.
• 1964: the last executions in Britain.
• 1965: the death penalty for murder was suspended for five years.
• 1969: the abolition was made permanent.

Significance: this was a turning point. For the first time, the state no longer took the lives of murderers.

Change: prisons today aim to reform prisoners as well as punish them. Many offer education, training and work, to help prisoners find a job when they are released.

Open prisons were introduced from the 1930s. Prisoners who are judged to be a low risk live with fewer restrictions, and some work outside the prison during the day, to prepare them for release.

Continuity: prisons still exist to punish, to protect the public, and to deter. Many people argue about whether prison works, as many prisoners reoffend after release.

Change: young offenders are now treated differently from adults:

• Borstals (from 1902): institutions for young offenders, focusing on education, training and discipline rather than just punishment.
• Juvenile courts (1908): separate courts for children.
• Borstals were replaced in the 1980s by youth custody centres, and later young offender institutions.
• Youth offending teams (from 1998) work with young people to stop them reoffending.

Cause: changing attitudes: young people were seen as more able to change, and as needing help as well as punishment.

Many offenders now receive non-custodial sentences, which do not involve prison:

• Probation (from 1907): offenders are supervised by a probation officer instead of going to prison.
• Community service (from the 1970s): unpaid work in the community, such as cleaning up graffiti.
• Electronic tagging: offenders must stay at home at certain times, checked by a tag.
• Restorative justice: offenders meet their victims, to understand the harm they have caused, and sometimes to make amends.
• Fines, as throughout history.

Causes: prisons are expensive and overcrowded, and many people believe these alternatives are better at stopping reoffending.