EDEXCEL GCSE HISTORY · PAPER 1 · CRIME & PUNISHMENT
Exam Practice - Prisons and Prison Reform
Prisons and Prison Reform · Chapter 3: Crime and punishment in Britain, c1700-c1900, c1700-c1900 · Lesson 3 of 4 · 32 marks · 35 minutes
Name Date
Answer all questions. Use specific names, dates and examples in every answer.
Question 1 EXPLAIN ONE WAY [4 marks]
Explain one way in which prisons in the eighteenth century were different from prisons in the late nineteenth century.
Question 2 EXPLAIN WHY [12 marks]
Explain why there were changes to prisons in the period c1700-c1900. You may use the following in your answer: John Howard; the end of transportation. You must also use information of your own.
Question 3 HOW FAR DO YOU AGREE? [16 marks]
"The separate system at Pentonville was a failure." How far do you agree? Explain your answer. You may use the following in your answer: prisoners' cells; mental illness. You must also use information of your own. (16 marks, plus 4 for spelling, punctuation, grammar and specialist terminology)
Answers
Check your answer only once you have written one.
Question 1 [4 marks]
In the eighteenth century prisons were run for profit by gaolers who charged prisoners fees for food and bedding, and men, women, children and debtors were often mixed together in filthy conditions. By the late nineteenth century prisons were run by the government - which took control of all prisons in 1877 - with paid staff, and prisoners were kept apart, as in the separate system at Pentonville. So the difference is that prisons changed from private, corrupt gaols to state-run institutions.
▸ A valid difference identified 1-2 marks
▸ Supported with specific knowledge of both periods 3-4 marks
Question 2 [12 marks]
One reason was the work of reformers. John Howard, a sheriff in Bedfordshire, inspected prisons across the country and published The State of the Prisons in 1777, exposing corruption, disease and the fees charged by gaolers. Elizabeth Fry worked with women prisoners at Newgate from 1813 and showed that education and work could improve them. Their campaigns made the public and politicians aware that prisons needed to change. A second reason was that prison became the main punishment. As the Bloody Code was dismantled in the 1820s and transportation declined before finally ending in 1868, judges needed somewhere to send serious criminals. This meant many more prisons were needed, and new prisons such as Pentonville in 1842 were built for the purpose. A third reason, beyond the stimulus, was government action and new ideas about punishment. Robert Peel's Gaols Act of 1823 introduced paid gaolers, chaplains and women warders, and the government took control of all prisons in 1877. New ideas that prisoners could be reformed, through the separate and silent systems, shaped how the new prisons were designed.
▸ Level 1 (1-3) A simple or general answer
▸ Level 2 (4-6) Some explanation of one or more reasons, with some knowledge
▸ Level 3 (7-9) A developed explanation linked to the question, with accurate knowledge
▸ Level 4 (10-12) An analytical explanation of several reasons, with knowledge that goes beyond the stimulus points
Question 3 [16 marks]
On the one hand, there is strong evidence it failed. Prisoners at Pentonville spent almost all their time alone in their cells, and even wore masks outside them and sat in separate cubicles in chapel. This long isolation caused mental illness, and there were suicides. It did not clearly reduce reoffending, it was expensive to build and run, and the separate system was gradually abandoned later in the century as it was seen as too harsh and too costly. On the other hand, it had real successes. Each prisoner had a clean cell with a toilet, which made Pentonville far healthier than eighteenth-century gaols where gaol fever spread. Keeping prisoners apart stopped first-time offenders learning from hardened criminals, and prisoners were given work and religious teaching. Pentonville became a model, and dozens of new prisons were built on its design, showing that the authorities saw it as an improvement. Overall, Pentonville succeeded in making prisons cleaner, more orderly and less corrupt, but it failed in its main aim of reforming prisoners, and its isolation did serious harm. So the statement is largely true in terms of reform, but not in terms of prison conditions.
▸ Level 1 (1-4) A simple or generalised answer
▸ Level 2 (5-8) Some analysis, with a judgement that is asserted
▸ Level 3 (9-12) Analysis of both sides with accurate knowledge and a supported judgement
▸ Level 4 (13-16) Sustained analysis, knowledge beyond the stimulus, and a clear, justified judgement
▸ SPaG (4) Accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar, with specialist terms such as separate system and hard labour