A Sociological Analysis of the Law of Vagrancy

Abstract

This chapter aims to provide an analysis of the law of vagrancy in Anglo-American Law. The innovation in the law was a direct result of the aforementioned changes which had occurred in the social setting. There is general agreement among legal scholars that the first full fledged vagrancy statute was passed in England in 1349. The commercial emphasis in England at the turn of the sixteenth century is of particular importance in the development of vagrancy laws. The possibility of criminal activities resulting from persons who refuse to labour was recognized even in the earliest statute. It is significant that the statute now makes persons who repeat the crime of vagrancy a felon. The focal concern of the vagrancy statutes becomes a concern for the control of felons and is no longer primarily concerned with the movement of labourers.

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