Terry Patton

Research Student

Whilst working as a full time contracting engineer I have studied history on a part time basis with the OU for the last ten years. I was awarded my BA (Hons.) in history in 2005 and MA in 2008 at which point I decided I would like to complete the process and study for a PhD. My MA dissertation was concerned with the Royal Commission on capital punishment of 1864-66 and that of 1949-53 in which I attempted to measure modifications to the civil penal code over the period, in order to understand how elite opinion fluctuated and how newspaper reporting of the use of capital punishment dealt with these changes.

Whilst I have a general interest in most social, cultural and political history, my curiosity lies in the evolution of crime and its punishment and the nature of change over time in these activities. I now work part-time and so have more opportunity to commit serious effort to my studies.

Research

My current research is generally focussed on comparison of the military and civil penal codes of Britain since 1750. As the codes were not synchronised in their development, my proposal is to compare changes in legislation that may reflect changes in attitudes towards punishment over long periods of time and in each sphere of interest. The driving force for change in the employment of capital and corporal punishment is likely to be associated with moderation in elite attitudes. For this reason I intend to employ the theory put forward by Norbert Elias that a ‘civilizing process’ is evident in the emerging nation state and can be seen over long periods through marked changes in behaviour. The work of Michel Foucault on the development of modern societies and of the relationship of the individual with the state is also likely to be pertinent. The broad scope of this study, I anticipate, will be better focussed as research progresses and evidence of cause and effect emerges.