Crime and consensus : elite perceptions of crime in Sheffield: 1919-1929.

This is a study of prevailing perceptions of crime during the 1920s. By focussing on the
enunciations of the Sheffield elite some of the key factors shaping dominant attitudes to
crime throughout Britain during this period are identified. Emphasis is placed on the
necessity of a historically specific approach. A detailed analysis of contemporary
newspaper coverage and other literary sources reveals such perceptions to be shaped by
the complex interplay of broad social currents and more immediate concerns. It is argued
that in the decade following the Great War crime formed a relatively minor topic of
debate. There also prevailed a low-key response to offending and a markedly progressive
view about crime. This optimistic conception of crime owed much to the apparent
rehabilitative capacity of the offender and the perceived successes in reducing illegality
through positive measures of state welfare. Yet, emphasis upon the specificities of the
period reveals the primacy of contemporary political urgencies in shaping attitudes to
crime. Though crime was an infrequent focus of discussion the discourse of progressive
criminal reform offered one of the few areas of consensus in a society characterised by
conflict. Elite enunciations about crime were intimately related to their mission of
forging social consensus. Key individuals in the city repeatedly played down the extent
of crime and praised the law-abiding character of ordinary people. Here is rejected the
conviction that crime panics are an inevitable concomitant of economic and social crisis.
Despite the profound anxiety that gripped the middle classes during this turbulent period,
there prevailed amongst the Sheffield elite a markedly relaxed view of crime and
criminals. Criminal and penal policy offered an exemplary model for broader welfare
intervention and constructive political engagement between contending classes.