The Act stated that "vagabonds, idle and suspected persons shall be set in the stocks for three days and three nights and have none other sustenance but bread and water and then shall be put out of Town.

These positions were held by neighbors, friends, employers, and churchwardens; local government was based around the idea of community and working together to establish societal order.

[2] The early modern period challenged these social establishments as England experienced a time of inflation and extreme population growth and incurred a widening gap between the wealthy and the poor.

Those who made their living through crime formed their own neighborhood that centered its activity around one of the busiest areas of London, St. Paul's Cathedral.

[6] The dangers of London prompted the creation of informational material that warned prospective visitors of the typical scams that criminals utilized; such as Gilbert Walker's Manifest Detection of Dice Play (1552) and Robert Greene's A Notable Discovery of Cozenage (1592).