Introduction: Histories of Punishment and Control

Abstract

Recent commentators, in a book series examining the interdisciplinary nature of criminology, and specifically looking at ‘history’ and ‘crime’, have discussed the development of historical approaches in criminology and interest in crime history and what might be interpreted as convergence between academic disciplines in this area in recent years (Godfrey et al., 2008). This field has been noted as a particularly buoyant area, and crime history and criminology have ‘intertwined’ recently, ‘come to terms with each other and are now creating their own history of interaction’ (Godfrey et al., 2008: 19). Whilst the contributors to this collection have not been questioned as to how they perceive themselves within this debate, it is hoped that this collection also goes some way towards elaborating and demonstrating this ‘convergence’. This collection brings together new and established scholars to offer research which takes forward, challenges or develops the existing theoretical perspectives, as well as exploring new territory in historical research, on punishment and social control. This collection is concerned with the delivery of punishment, the experiences of various forms of incarceration, and punishment and control within institutional settings and in wider society between the early nineteenth and the mid twentieth century.