Abstract
The shaping of crime, police, and penal policy has an extensive historical backdrop related to European Experiences between 1750 and 1940. Written in a concise and well-organized manner, the book sheds light on the relationship between significant historical events and their impact on crime commission, policy, scientific inquiry, and policing. Emsley begins with a clear discussion of the book’s purpose which is stimulated by the need for exploration and comparison of interrelated, albeit varied, national contexts existing within Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. Within five major themes, the book chapters provide a thorough historical examination of the rise and fall of crime policy, policing strategies, theoretical explanations, and a discussion about the origins and application of statistics to address crime.
In Chapter 1, Emsley provides a comprehensive and detailed historical foundation of varied penal policies and police practices defined by cultural, political, and social variables. In an attempt to explain major social changes, theories, punishment, and perceptions of crime are effectively linked to geography, economics, population density, and social structures. Over the next couple of chapters, the focus is on European nations’ ability to understand and cope with the changing nature of crime in the 18th-century Europe. In Chapter 2, the author presents the development of a period of reform surrounding laws and punishment in Europe. The inclusion of the works of Foucalt, Beccaria, and Bentham provides a thorough portrayal of crime typologies, origins of criminal law, and social unrest explaining increased use of “houses of corrections” to address crime across Europe. In Chapter 3, attention is placed on crime categorization and severity that also sparks interest and debate about rising crime rates and their relationship to poverty, societal perceptions, and punishment of criminal offenders. Chapter 4 goes on to describe in detail an 18th-century Europe marked by extreme poverty, wherein an early concept of victimization and the role it played in supporting an organized court and police force throughout European Nation States is realized.
Turning attention to the Revolutionary Era, Chapters 5 and 6 provide a historical timeline that introduces correlations between the French Revolution and opportunities to build new structures based on Enlightenment ideologies. Focus is placed on perceptions of increased liberal reform based on uniform, rational, and equal systems of criminal law. Thorough and complete examination and discussion of the origins and establishments of laws ensuring equal rights are presented, which include the 1789 Declaration of Rights of Man and 1808 Code of Criminal Procedure. Crime prevention, punishment, and policing challenges are discussed in relation to the rise and fall of French systems and wars, which support earlier perspectives suggesting the need for improved policing models and court systems. In Chapter 6, discussion continues on the need for a uniform and centralized police to address growing incidents of trafficking and issues related to border crossings emerge.
The next three chapters of the book focus on measuring crime, migration patterns, and evolving police and court structures toward reform. In Chapter 7, Emsley presents a detailed discussion of the varied roles statistics played in the identification and comparative nature of crime, explaining also that statistics was a useful tool that allowed for the identification and definition of crime trends on a broader scale. Within Chapter 7, there is also discussion providing increasing support for the need for aftercare for newly released offenders. The impact of industrialization in the 19th century and changing migration patterns that resulted in increased fears of poor, blurred class structures, and need for increased social control are discussed in Chapter 8. The author takes the reader on an exploration into the examination of social, physical, and moral behavior that account for variations in crime commission and social changes experienced across gender and class structures, which resulted in the creation of laws that disproportionately affected the poor. Likewise, Chapter 9 appropriately solidifies the need for penal and law reform while also offering attention to historical pathways toward progress in policing and court structures that resemble equality in the application of laws and punishment. The author further discusses the impact of equality in justice had on penal reform, offender reentry, and emerging medically scientific approaches as explanations of crime.
Further demonstrating the need for penal reform across Europe, a thorough examination of the application of science is introduced in Chapters 10 and 11. In Chapter 10, Emsley presents a discussion on emerging criminological explanations of crime as well as introduce movements toward therapeutic interventions in offender punishment and reform. The works of Lombroso, Ferri, and Durkheim provide a rich historical context on the classification criminals, the beginning use of photography to identify, record, and detect criminals as well as the origins of support for the use of sterilization. Chapter 11 provides an in-depth look at the relationship between the old and the persistent problems of violence, gangs, and assaults and the creation of new policing structures, which set the tone for the development of state police institutions throughout Europe.
The last major section of this book, which includes Chapters 12, 13, and 14, ties together the faces of penal welfare and the impact wars have had on crime rates throughout Europe. Discussed through the lens of scientific and practical application, focus is on the significant effects of war on crime and social strain, which led to the development of new penal practices and policies. Chapter 13 is heavily focused on policing challenges in the aftermath of war, whereby the importance of a centralized police force, the use of fingerprinting, and the need for cooperative national police institutions across nation states in Europe are highlighted. To sum, Emsley ends with Chapter 14, which offers a well put together review of key historical events that shaped periods of social reform in laws, crime policies, and police practices in Europe between 1750 and 1940. Emsley’s work produces a comprehensive examination of historical evidence, theoretical explanations, and the use of statistics to address social change and crime in Europe.