Access to HE: Law 2023-24 Flashcards
Explain what is meant by the term ‘free will’
The power or capacity of humans to make decisions or perform actions independently
Explain what is meant by the term ‘rational actor’
Individuals who make rational choices based on calculations and the information that is available to them
Explain what is meant by the term ‘cost – benefit analysis’.
Weighing up the possible costs and/or benefits of a situation i.e. potential punishment or reward for committing a crime.
Explain what is meant by the term ‘deter’
To discourage someone from doing something by instilling doubt or fear of the consequences
Identify one reason why knowing the consequences of crime may help reduce crime and give reasons why.
Before the classical school of criminology, people committed crimes without knowing fully what the consequences may be, therefore not fully understanding the severity of potential punishment.
Knowing the consequence of a crime could deter someone from committing a crime as they will be aware of the severity of the implication of their actions i.e. knowing that theft may get those 3 months in prison and not just a ‘slap on the wrist. Knowledge of what the punishment is may deter them.
punishment in the eighteenth century was inconsistent, often depending on status. Discuss two reasons why the poor may be treated more harshly than the rich.
• The rich have better access to resources, wealth often yields power
• They may have better connections with the lawmakers
• Rich landowners wanted a bigger say in the way the country was being run and had a growing
influence on the making of laws, consequently, there were tougher laws for crimes against property.
Explain what Bentham meant by the ‘pleasure-pain principle’.
Human behaviour is directed at maximising pleasure and minimising pain
Analyse how a community sentence such as litter picking outweighs the ‘pleasure’ of a crime such as criminal damage.
Litter picking can cause humiliation to some offenders which may outweigh the pleasure of criminal damage. Community sentences occupy offenders, taking some of their freedom away.
Analyse how a £100 fine and 3 points on an offender’s driving licence may not
outweigh the pleasure of speeding.
• Speeding often leads to a rush of adrenalin (the pleasure).
• The punishment of £100 and 3 points on an offender’s license is not permanent – no matter
the severity of the speeding
In the UK, a life sentence can have a minimum term, such as 25 years for murder. Considering Bentham’s view of the pleasure-pain principle, evaluate the effectiveness of this sentence and consider whether it outweighs the ‘pleasure’ of murder?
Life in prison is a long ‘painful’ punishment, which often outweighs the act of murder.
• Once the murder is committed the ‘pleasure’ may fade, but life in prison ensures that the
criminal no longer has access to the ‘pleasure’ of freedom.
Both Bentham and Beccaria opposed the death penalty. Discuss arguments for and against the death penalty.
For: Retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation, prevention of re-offending, closure and vindication, Incentive to help police.
Against: inhumaneness, lack of deterrent effect, continuing racial and economic biases, and irreversibility
