Week 4 - Crime and Punishment in the Modern Day

LO: To explore how crime, punishment, and methods of preventing and detecting crime have changed over the last 100 years, and to consider whether these changes have improved how we deal with crime today

Crime and punishment in modern Britain - Crime and Punishment: Video playlist - BBC Bitesize

Lesson 1: How have punishments for crime changed over time?

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• Show pupils two scenarios:

  • Scenario 1: A person being punished for theft in the Victorian era (e.g., public execution, transportation).

  • Scenario 2: A person being punished for cybercrime today (e.g., hacking, identity theft).

  Ask: What’s the difference? Which seems fairer?

  • Add a prompt: How might these types of crime be punished differently today compared to the past?

Main Activity (20 mins):

• Timeline matching task: Pupils place key punishment types on a timeline from 1900 to today, e.g.:

  • Public hanging banned (1965)

  • Rise of prison rehabilitation programmes

  • Introduction of community service

  • Youth justice system introduced

  • Introduction of electronic monitoring (e.g. for cybercrime or home detention)

  New Types of Crime:

  • Cybercrime: Such as online fraud, hacking, identity theft, and cyberbullying.

  • Drug-related Crime: Rise of drug trafficking and addiction issues in the 20th century.
  • Environmental Crime: Illegal dumping, poaching, and pollution (increased awareness in the late 20th and early 21st centuries).

  • Human Trafficking: The illegal trade of people for exploitation, especially rising as an international concern in the 21st century.

• Discussion Prompt: How do you think these new types of crime would be punished compared to older crimes like theft or assault?

• Pupils annotate the timeline with why the changes happened (e.g. fairer laws, human rights, modern values, rise of digital crimes).

• Whole-class discussion: Do you think punishments today are more effective or fairer than in the past?

  • Ask: What do you think would happen if someone committed a crime like hacking or identity theft today?

Lesson 2: How has crime prevention and detection changed over time?

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• Play a short clip or slideshow showing modern crime detection tools: security cameras, fingerprinting, cyber security, etc.

• Ask: Which do you recognise? How do these help catch criminals?

Main Activity (20 mins):

• Group carousel activity: Each station focuses on one method (e.g. fingerprinting, CCTV, police database, cybercrime units).

• Include cybercrime as a station where pupils can explore how crimes like identity theft, hacking, and online fraud are prevented and solved with modern technology.

• Pupils complete a “Crime Solver’s Logbook” as they move around, recording:

  • What the method is

  • How it works

  • How it has changed crime detection

  • Add a modern-day crime like cybercrime to the discussion at each station.

Plenary (10 mins):

• Pupils vote: Which method do you think has made the biggest difference?

• Brief explanation: How has this helped make society safer?

Lesson 3: Has the way we catch and punish criminals improved in the last 100 years?

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• Recap quiz: “Then or Now?” Pupils guess whether each statement is from the past or present (e.g. “Punishment by public hanging” → past, “Cybercrime investigation” → present).

Main Activity (20 mins):

• Pupils complete a comparison chart:

  • Past: punishments, detection, fairness, technology

  • Present: same categories, adding modern crimes like cybercrime and online safety.

• In pairs, they answer the key question: Has it improved? Why or why not?

• Pupils create a mini-presentation, drawing or written response with their verdict, using examples of new crimes like hacking or online fraud.

Plenary (10 mins):

• Whole-class discussion: Is modern justice perfect? What could still be improved?

• Pupils stick a green (yes), yellow (somewhat), or red (no) dot on a board to show their opinion and explain why.