To further this hypothesis, we show a 7 percentile arrest rate for begging, an additional sign of poverty. There are details missing from the data, however. We do not know the quality or robustness of some of the offenses; stealing lumped together, etc. Further examination might tell us more about demographic (age, ethnicity, education) in relation to a particular crime or punishment, and certainly if we knew more about the geographic universe (location) of arrest or crime, we could draw additional conclusions. For instance, were most sex crimes, assaults, and thefts committed in poorer locations (Whitechapel, for instance)?

What the data does tell us, from our brief analysis, is that we have a very stratified society in which there are three major crimes that the middle and upper classes simply cannot tolerate: breaking the peace, theft, and overt begging. We find that punishment for these crimes is swift, with the majority of sentences handed down focusing on hard labor. This tells us that Victorian society was likely less interested in rehabilitation that punishment -- deterrence perhaps, but how would hard labor reform a thief, especially a poor thief? We do not see a plethora of social programs in place during the early part of the 1800s, but instead a burgeoning industrial giant with an evolving and growing middle class who wanted the poor and their crimes "put away" from society. This interpretation...

Coming out of this era into the latter part of the 18th century, then, colonialization and militarization increased, as did the need for a more educated working class. Thanks to the tireless work of Dickens and others, many social programs were put in place that would help the disaffected poor. An interesting extension of this research, then, might be to compare even similar data for the rest of the century; particularly that of punishment type and the typical nature of individual crime.
REFERENCES

Prisoner Data from 1835-1851. From: Victorian Crime and Punishment. (2006). Legend for prisoners 323 cs.pdf

Victorian Crime and Punishment. (2006). E2BN. Cited in: http://vcp.e2bn.org/

O'Connor, E. (2000). Raw material: Producing Pathology in Victorian Culture. Duke Mitchell, S. (1996). Daily Life in Victorian England. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.

Quinney, R. (1966). Structural Characteristics, Population Areas and Crime Rates. The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science. 57 (1): 45-52.

Speed, P. (1975). Social Problems of the Industrial Revolution. New York: Pergammon Press.

Whitlock, T.C. (2005). Crime, Gender, and Consumer Culture in Nineteenth Century England. Burlington, VT: Ashgate…