'The Victorian prison was a more 'civilized' method of punishment than hanging'

In this essay, an argument will be shown that will make it apparent that Victorian prisons were indeed a more civilized way of dealing with criminals, as opposed to subjecting them to a public hanging. There could have been better ways of dealing with Victorian prisoners, such as rehabilitation schemes and re-education schools, however a prison sentence was still a more humane option than the alternative of being publicly hanged and up to 1793 burned afterwards. …

…Phillip, Victorian prison lives 1830-1914 (London and New York: Methuen, 1985) Royle, Edward, Modern Britain, a social history 1750-1985 (London and New York: Arnold, 1987) Thomas, Donald, The Victorian underworld, (London, John Murray,1998) Websites Roberts, Andrew 7.3.2000/crimeline - Crimtim: A criminology and deviancy theory history timeline <http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/crimtim.htm> Middlesex University http://cartome.org/panopticon2.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/LONnewgate.htm www.victorianlondon.org