There was an increase in crime in the periods about 1780 to the mid-nineteenth century
Governments passed many laws to deal with crime
Reasons
A rampant growth in population, along with both the agricultural and industrial revolutions, resulted in an enormous increase in crime.
• Most criminals were poor, unskilled and uneducated people from overcrowded cities and/or rural villages.
• The movement of people from villages to cities represented great pressure on the existing lower classes of the cities.
• For some, crime was an easy way out, while for others, it was a necessity, in other words, if they did not steal, they would starve.
Many people found themselves unemployed or homeless, as a result of the sudden increase in population.
• The authorities found this sudden increase in crime rather surprising and hard to control
• Children also contributed to the growth of crime, because they were easier to direct, and didn't have many rights.
• Drunkenness also played a key role in educing people to turn to crime
The sudden industrialization of many jobs also meant that raw materials, like cotton, wool, wheat and other plants became harder to come by, because all the materials were being sold to factories. As a result, those who were not working in a factory had to pay more to get these necessary materials, and since the lower-class couldn't afford them, the only way they could get raw materials was through stealing them.