England, Criminal Law, Legal History, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Administration, Middlesex, History, Criminal statistics, Prosecution, Social conditions, United Kingdom, 1660-1725, United Kingdom Crime and Punishment, Crime and punishment, Petty crime 

Cambridge studies in early modern British history 

The law was one of the most potent sources of authority and stability in early modern England. Historians, however, have argued over whether the discretion and flexibility embodied in the judicial system was used as a method of social control, and by focusing their attention on felonies and on the action of the protagonists in judicial decisions they have tended to ignore rich sources of information concerning attitudes towards and experiences of the law. Misdemeanor prosecutions affected many more people (and a broader social variety of participants) than felony prosecutions, and in their choice of methods of prosecution both victims and Justices of the Peace exercised considerably greater flexibility in responding to petty crimes than they did with felonies. This book examines the day-to-day operation of the criminal justice system in Middlesex from the point of view of plaintiffs and defendants, and offers an assessment of the social significance of the law in pre-industrial England.  

Contents:
pt. I. Background: 1. Introduction. Misdemeanors and society in preindustrial England -- The contexts : city and country in Middlesex, 1660-1725 -- The contours of this study -- 2. Options for prosecution. Informal mediation by justices -- Recognizances -- Indictments -- The relationship between recognizances and indictments -- Summary conviction -- Flexibility in the choice of a procedure -- 3. Patterns of prosecutions. The choice of a procedure -- Types of crime -- Year-to-year fluctuations -- pt. II. Procedures for prosecution: 4. Informal mediation by justices of the peace. Types of settlements -- Limits of mediation -- Informal mediation in an urban setting -- 5. Binding over by recognizance. Offences -- Informal settlements -- Unsuccessful recognizances -- Other limitations -- 6. Indictment at quarter sessions. Offences -- Dropped prosecutions -- Obstacles to prosecution -- Verdicts -- Punishments -- 7. Houses of correction. "Loose, idle and disorderly" : offences punished in houses of correction -- Summary justice? -- Punishments -- Limitations -- pt. III. The contexts of misdemeanor prosecutions: 8. The participants : plaintiffs, defendants, and justices of the peace. Social status -- Gender -- Official plaintiffs -- Justices of the peace -- 9. The reformation of manners campaign. Strategies for prosecution -- Judicial attitudes to the campaign -- 10. Geographical contexts. Explaining the geographical distribution of prosecutions -- Urban-rural differences -- London : "an aggregate of various nations" -- 11. Conclusion: Law and society in preindustrial England.  

Includes bibliographical references (pages 333-341) and index.
Revision of the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford, 1986 under title: Crime, courts, and community.

Item has been generously donated by Louis A. Knafla.