Download The Aims of Punishment - The Grange School Blogs

Causes of Crime



Social Reasons – lack of education and qualifications,
broken homes, kids having nothing constructive to do
which leads to boredom, drugs, gambling or alcohol
addiction, and committing crime to support them.
Environmental Reasons – high unemployment-increase
in crime.
Psychological Reasons – violence on TV, selfish and
greedy attitudes
Christian views on crime




One teaching is ‘A man reaps what he sows’
(Galatians 6:7). This is similar to the Buddhist
idea of karma.
Most Christians teach that criminals need to be
punished but also forgiven and given a second
chance. “If your brother or sister sins against
you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive
them.”
They believe that it is important to work towards
stopping the causes of crime.
Christians are encouraged to be law-abiding.
Buddhist views on crime


Buddhist believe that if a person breaks the law
his or her karma will be affected and the actions
will have consequences.
For Buddhists, this is not a cause of God judging
or punishing people, but a person’s own karma will
ensure that justice will eventually be done in
either this life or the next.
Types of Crime
Civil and criminal law –
Civil law – concerns disputes between private individuals
or groups. Cases are taken to small claims court or
the High Court if its more serious.
 Examples- disputes over wills, divorces, landlord and
tenant arguments etc.
Criminal Law – when the state law has been broken.
Police gather evidence and forward to the Crown
prosecution Service. Less serious crimes are dealt
with at a magistrates court. More serous go to the
High Court, usually with a jury.
 Examples – burglary, murder, breaking speed limit etc

Types of Crime




Crime against the person – wrongdoing that
directly harms a person e.g. murder, assault.
Crime against Property – damaging items that
belong to somebody else e.g. vandalism
Crime against the state – an offence aimed at
damaging the government or a country e.g.
treason
Religious offence – an offence against religion
e.g. blasphemy (disrespecting God or anything
held sacred by the religion), sin (going against
God’s laws/rules e.g. do not covet (be jealous
of others).
Key term
Match up
Responsibility
Justice
Morality
Conscience
An inner sense of what
is right or wrong/
Voice of God
A duty/ commitment to
do something
A sense of how to
behave/ what is right
and wrong
Fairness/ equality based
on right and wrong.
Includes punishment
when laws are broken
Right and Wrong- Morality
Some religious people say we learn what is
right and wrong from God or from teachings
in religious books like the Bible.
Some believe that God speaks to people
through their conscience. It is the voice of
God telling you what you should do.
Other people believe we learn what is right
from our family/ school/ laws.
The Aims of Punishment
What is the point of
Punishment?
Protection:
The aim of the protection is to keep society safe from people
who are otherwise likely to cause harm. For example, prison,
mental institution.
Retribution:
The aim of retribution is ‘pay back’ for wrongdoing. The idea is
to inflict a penalty that is deserved, which is fitting for the
crime you've committed. For example, fine, taking driving
license away after speeding.
Deterrence:
The aim of the deterrence is to put people off committing the
offence in the future, either the wrongdoer him/herself,
and/or discourage others from following his/her example. For
example, cutting a hand off a theif.
Reformation (rehabilitation):
The aim of the reformation is to help the wrongdoer to
change his/her ways, to be reformed. The idea is to provide
skills, counselling, education so that they don’t feel the need
to rely on committing crime. For example, anger management,
drug and alcohol rehab, giving education or skills like
carpentry.
Vindication:
The aim of vindication is to punish offenders to show that the
law must be respected. Laws need to be respected to allow a
harmonious society e.g. car drivers must respect traffic lights
otherwise there would be chaos on the roads.
Reparation (restorative justice):
The aim of reparation is to help an offender to put something
back into society. To make up for the crime they committed.
For example, community service.
Christian views on the aims of
punishment






Most Christians do not support the idea of retribution
(pay back) but would support the other main punishments.
Christians believe that laws need to be upheld (the idea of
vindication).
They also believe in crime prevention and the need to work
towards removing the causes of crime, which may include
poverty, unemployment and bad social conditions.
The most important aim punishment is to reform criminals
and to help them become law-abiding citizens.
Most Christians believe that offenders should repent of
their wrongdoing and receive both punishment and
forgiveness, so that once the penalty is paid they have a
second chance and can start afresh.
Helping someone who has repented and is determined to
change is a priority, and this is often achieved through
reparation.
Buddhist views on the aims of
punishment






Buddhist believe that it is important to protect society
from the actions of criminals but are not in favour of
retribution.
Getting revenge goes against the teaching of loving
kindness (metta) and compassion (karuna).
Using excessive cruelty to punish a criminal will injure
both the offender’s mind (making them bitter and
resentful) and also the mind of the person doing the
punishing.
The best approach is to help the offender to have a
change of heart and to modify/reform their behaviour.
This would be in keeping with the Five Precepts.
Reparation (making up for offence) is also important
because criminal activity creates bad karma and so making
amends helps not only society but the lawbreaker as well.
Forms of punishment








Community service – picking up litter, reading to senior citizens,
helping in a charity shop. This can also include a curfew.
Electronic tagging – a monitoring device. This could even include
permitting a sex offender to leave home because the electronic tag
will alert the authorities if the offender goes within a hundred
metres of a school or park.
Fines – The maximum fine form the magistrate's court is £5,000
but no limit the High Court can fine.
Probation – sometimes offenders are given suspended sentences,
which means they can go to prison if they get in trouble again.
Probation officers give advice, help the offender obey the law, and
reports to the court about the progress made.
Parole – being released early from prison, depending on a parole
board hearing.
Life imprisonment – average life sentence is 15 years before the
criminal becomes eligible for parole.
Early release – some prisoners are released before they are eligible
for parole, either because of a political decision (often low risk
prisoners), good behaviour, they’ve repented, or been reformed.
Prison reform – providing education, skills, counselling, drug/alcohol
rehab to allow the offender to change their life on release.
Life imprisonment, parole and
prison reform




Community service – picking up litter, reading to
senior citizens, helping in a charity shop. This can
also include a curfew.
Electronic tagging – a monitoring device. This could
even include permitting a sex offender to leave
home because the electronic tag will alert the
authorities if the offender goes within a hundred
metres of a school or park.
Fines – The maximum fine form the magistrate's
court is £5,000 but no limit the High Court can fine.
Probation – sometimes offenders are given
suspended sentences, which means they can go to
prison if they get in trouble again. Probation
officers give advice, help the offender obey the law,
and reports to the court about the progress made.
Age of Responsibility




If children who commit crime are under the age of 10, the
parents would be held responsible, as the age of criminals
responsibility in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 10.
Until 10, children are not deemed old enough to take total
responsibility for their actions.
Some religions have ceremonies to mark the occasion when
a child becomes an adult.
An example – Jewish Bar Mitzvah. Jewish boys become
responsible for their actions in the eyes of God from the
age of 13. Until 13, their parents are responsible. Jews
believe in the Book of Life which is symbolic for God
keeping account of everyone’s actions (think of Santa's
good and bad list). The book will be looked at on the Day of
Judgment and if the child is under 13, the parent’s are
responsible for their sins, but if they are 13, the child is
responsible for their sins. They are therefore responsible
for making up for their sins and asking for forgiveness.
Young Offender




A young offender is under 18.
Minor crimes are dealt with by means of
reprimands, ASBO’s, child safety orders.
More serious crimes are dealt with before the
Youth Court by means reparation e.g. community
service or fines, curfew.
Serious crimes are dealt with before the Crown
Court and the young person is held in custody such
as in a secure training centre (focus on education
and rehabilitation), secure children’s home (run by
local authority - look at the physical, emotional
and behavioural needs) or young offender’s
institution (run by prison service – take ages 15-21
in separate juvenile wings.
Arguments For and Against Prison
For
 To protect society form dangerous and violent
criminals
 To isolate those who deserve such punishment
from their family and friends (retribution)
 To stop people reoffending, because they are
locked away
 To act as a deterrent to others and ensure
that the law is respected (vindication)
 To give offenders a chance to reflect on their
actions and decide to reform.
Arguments For and Against Prison
Against
 Its expensive. It costs a taxpayer £30,000 a
year to keep someone in prison.
 They are often called ‘schools for crime’ –
prisoners can educate each other in criminal
methods
 Prisons often breed resentment, bitterness
and a determination to get back at society.
 Most prisoners reoffend on release, so the
system does not bring about reform.
 A prison record makes it very difficult to get
a job on release, which may lead back into
crime.
Religious views on prison






All major religions accept the need for prions.
Imprisonment is seen as necessary to deprive
offenders of their freedom and prevent them
continuing a life of crime.
Religions support the idea of seeking to reform
offenders, so that on release they become
responsible and law-abiding members of society.
They support the idea of rehabilitation.
Buddhist and Christian chaplains regularly visit
inmates and also help prisoners families.
Christians may take inspiration from the
Parable of the Sheep and The Goats – see next
slide.
Design your own cartoon drawing to explain the parable of the
Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25)
Matthew 25 – the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory …he will separate the people [like
the sheep and the goats].” Jesus said “whatever you did for one of the least
of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” This teaches that people should
treat others with care and respect. In short, love thy neighbour.
Methods used to execute people:
There are eight main methods of execution in current use
worldwide:
 Beheading: Only two countries execute people by chopping their
head off: Saudi Arabia and Iraq.




Electric chair: Nobody knows how quickly a person dies from
the electric shock, or what they experience, in two cases
prisoners apparently lived for 4 to 10 minutes before finally
expiring: US only
Firing squad: The prisoner is bound and shot through the heart
by multiple marksmen. Death appears to be quick, assuming the
killers don't miss: Utah, US, Belarus, China, Somolia, Taiwan,
Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and others.
Guillotine: A famous French invention, not used in North
America. It severs the neck. Death comes very quickly.
Poison gas: Cyanide capsules are dropped into acid producing
Hydrogen Cyanide, a deadly gas. This takes many minutes of
agony before a person dies.
Methods used to execute people:



Hanging: if properly conducted, this is a humane method. The
neck is broken and death comes quickly. However, if the freefall distance is inadequate, the prisoner ends up slowly being
strangled to death. If it is too great, the rope will tear his/her
head off: Egypt, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Singapore and
others.
Lethal injection: Lethal drugs are injected into the prisoner
while he lays strapped down to a table. Typically, sodium
pentothal is injected to make the prisoner unconscious. Then
pancuronium bromide is injected. It terminates breathing and
paralyzes the individual Finally, potassium chloride is injected
to stop the heart. If properly conducted, the prisoner fades
quickly into unconsciousness: China, Guatemala, Philippines,
Thailand, and the U.S.
Stoning: The prisoner is often buried up to her or his neck and
pelted with rocks until they eventually die. The rocks are
chosen so that they are large enough to cause significant injury
to the victim, but are not so large that a single rock will kill the
prisoner: North Afghanistan and Iran, as a penalty for murder,
adultery, blasphemy, and other crimes.
Arguments for and Against Capital
Punishment
FOR
 Retribution – Terrorist and murders deserve
to die – ‘a life for a life’.
 Deterrence – The death penalty deters people
from doing horrendous crimes because they
know if they are caught they will die.
 Protection – The public needs to be protected.
However, those given a life sentence are often
let out of prison after about 15 years.
 Finance – It costs taxpayers thousands of
pounds to keep murderers alive in prison.
Arguments for and Against Capital
Punishment
AGAINST
 Mistakes - Innocent people have been executed.
 Protection – Putting a murderer in prison
protects society.
 Deterrence – There is no evidence that the
death penalty is more of a deterrent than life
imprisonment.
 Reformation – Reformed criminals can be an
enormous influence for good.
 Right – Only God has the right to end a person’s
life.
Christian views on Capital Punishment
Some Christians support capital punishment using the
principle of “whoever sheds the blood of a man, by man
shall his blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6)
 “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” – Retribution.
 “Those who live by the sword, will die by the sword”.
 They see the threat of the death penalty as a
deterrent that helps to prevent serious crimes.
Others Christians believe in the 5th Commandment ‘Do not
murder’ as executing a murderer is still killing.
 Forgiveness - “Love your enemy”
 - “For if you forgive men when they sin against you,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Buddhist views on Capital Punishment





There is no single Buddhist policy on capital
punishment, however the death penalty is not in
keeping with:
The First Precept ‘Do not harm others’.
The Buddhist Teaching on non-violence (ahimsa).
The teachings of Metta – loving kindness and
Compassion should help Buddhists be forgiving.
The Buddha taught anything a person does, even
if it brings good to them, like getting justice for
a crime, it can’t be considered a good action if it
causes physical and mental pain to another human,
which being on death row and the executions can
cause.
Tick List for the exam








Explain religious beliefs about law and order
Explain the concepts of right and wrong, conscience,
duty and responsibility
Describe and evaluate the causes of crime
Understand the different types of crimes
Explain the aims of punishment
Evaluate whether or not the different forms of
punishment achieve the aims of punishment,
including consideration of young offenders,
imprisonment, parole, early release and the death
penalty
Evaluate alternatives to prison and issues concerning
prison reform
Discuss topics from different points of view,
including religious ones
Exam style Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Explain, using an example, what is meant by a
‘religious offence’. (2 marks)
Give three ways in which a young offender may be
punished by the law. (3 marks)
‘Prisoners should be given religious teaching.’ What
do you think? Give reasons for your opinion. (3
marks)
Explain two of the aims of punishments. (4 marks)
‘Greed and selfishness are the main causes of
crime.’ Do you agree? Give reasons and explain your
answer, showing you have thought about more than
one point of view. Refer to religious arguments in
your answer. (6 marks)