The major thrust of the studies of this period has been to place crime, policing, and punishment in institutional contexts; they are examined in relation to social, economic, political, and cultural (ideological) structures. This focus has led historians beyond sources internal to the criminal justice system (e.g., court records) to literary sources, parliamentary debates, and the popular media. Such research has enhanced understanding of the variable nature and social function of criminal law and justice, particularly its function as an ideological system. The research has also addressed how crime and criminals were a product of institutional decisionmaking processes, notably the decision to prosecute, which varied across jurisdictions according to local institutional arrangements, resources, and contexts. Changes in the administration of criminal justice have been well documented with attention to local variations, resistances, and unevenness in acceptance by time and place. The research indicates that in the late 18th century there was not a sharp break of old-regime institutions under the impact of the Industrial Revolution and the rationalism of the Enlightenment. Rather, changes in crime, policing, and punishment were long-term, continuous, and piecemeal. 312-item reading list