ABSTRACT
Introduction There are numerous reasons why we should study the history of crime, but here we will stick with two of the more important. First, it is hard to understand contemporary systems and trends without some grasp of how things were organised in previous eras. Thus, an appreciation of systems of punishment in previous periods may help provide a better understanding of how we organise our contemporary penal system. A study of the history of crime can do this through the simple process of providing a contrast. By examining systems that are different from those we are used to, we may be encouraged to look at our current practices in a new light. Comparative research across differing jurisdictions, but within the same historical period, involves a very similar process. Furthermore, unless we have some grasp of history, we are unlikely to be able to understand the aetiology – the origins – of current practices. For example, why are our policing systems organised in the way they are? When and why did we come to use imprisonment as a punishment for serious crime? Asking such questions and seeking answers to them also potentially reveal important things about the nature of society more generally, and how society has changed.
