Handbook

This course examines the history of criminal justice systems from the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Using case studies drawn from America, Europe, Australia and elsewhere, this course examines the development of the major institutions of criminal justice, including police, courts, and prison systems, and scholarly and historical debates about the approaches of the state in dealing with crime. It examines system changes such as the origins of the police force, the introduction of the adversarial criminal trial, the decline of capital punishment, and the increasing influence of the psychological sciences. The course asks you to reflect on the different outcomes of these global developments for diverse populations and in different national contexts.