Crime and Punishment

Question 1

addiction

Answer 1

a recurring compulsion to engage in an activity regardless of its bad effects

Question 2

capital punishment

Answer 2

the death penalty for a crime or offence

Question 3

crime

Answer 3

an act against the law

Question 4

deterrence

Answer 4

the idea that punishments should be of such a nature that they will put people off (deter) committing crimes

Question 5

judgement

Answer 5

the act of judging people and their actions

Question 6

justice

Answer 6

due allocation of reward and punishment/the maintenance of what is right

Question 7

law

Answer 7

rules made by Parliament and enforceable by the courts

Question 8

reform

Answer 8

the idea that punishments should try to change criminals so that they will not commit crimes again

Question 9

rehabilitation

Answer 9

restore to normal life

Question 10

responsibility

Answer 10

being responsible for one’s actions

Question 11

retribution

Answer 11

the idea that punishments should make criminals pay for what they have done wrong

Question 12

sin

Answer 12

an act against the will of God

Question 13

Why does society need laws? (4)

Answer 13

• People can know what behaviour is expected of them and what to expect of others and what is right to do.
• Everyone behaves in a predictable manner (e.g. everyone drives on the left hand side of the road).
• Society is protected (especially weaker members of society).
• Society is fairer and people can work and be involved with business without having rewards taken away from them.

Question 14

Why is retribution the best form of punishment? (5)

Answer 14

• If it is shown in public, it can make it clear to others that justice had been done.
• The offender may be able to help society out directly (e.g. community service for vandalism).
• Victim is brought justice by seeing the criminal suffer and pay for their time.
• Offender will feel as if they have paid for their crime and the offender might have to give the victim something (e.g. money).
• It says so in the Bible: “an eye for an eye”.

Question 15

Why is retribution not the best form of punishment? (4)

Answer 15

• It is hard to determine what a just punishment ow,d be when many criminals are mentally ill (e.g. 2% women in the general public have 2 or more mental illnesses, in prison it is 70%).
• Many prisoners still reoffend - 47% adults are reconnected within one year of being released.
• There are things such as education and training which can help offenders to move on with their lives.
• There might be a sense of injustice if the victim fells the offender has not been punished enough.

Question 16

Why is reform/rehabilitation good? (4)

Answer 16

• It lowers reoffending rates because prisoners are educated and realise that breaking the law is not good.
• Prisoners are less likely to commit crimes because they have training in other things.
• The offender will not resent being punished.
• Society is helped because reformed prisoners can contribute positively.

Question 17

Why is it not so important to reform prisoners? (2)

Answer 17

• It is expensive to reform prisoners since so many of them require lots of education - 65% prison population has the maximum numeracy level of an 11 year old.
• Prisoners need to be punished to see they have done wrong - teaching is not punishment.

Question 18

Why must laws be just? (5)

Answer 18

• If they are not then people might start to break laws and the basis of society would disintegrate.
• People might campaign against unjust laws which can lead to large disruptions (e.g. Rosa Parks caused a bus boycott so many buses lost money in order for the unjust law to be changed).
• If people do not think they are just then society may revolt against the government (e.g. civil war in Syria against the government).

Question 19

Why is protection not always the best form of punishment? (example)

Answer 19

• Some people in prison are not dangerous to society (e.g. Daniel Sartian went to prison for looting - described as a “helper and doer” whose actions were “as out of character as it’s possible to imagine).

Question 20

Why is justice important to Christians? (4)

Answer 20

• The Bible teaches many things about being just - “an unplowed field produces food for the poor, but injustice sweeps it away” (Proverbs); “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah); Golden Rule; Imago Dei (everyone is equal in the eyes of God).
• Jesus taught that one should use love and forgiveness to overcome justice - he interacted with those treated unjustly and told stories about them to make them seem good in the eyes of society (Good Samaritan).
• On Judgement Day, Christians who have acted justly will be rewarded with heaven: Parable of the Sheep and Goats (“the righteous to eternal life”).
• Many Christian and Christian agencies work against injustice: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor” (Archbishop Desmond Tutu); World Council of Churches Assembly invited Christian communities around the world to engage in a process of “Justice, peace and the integrity of creation”.

Question 21

Why is justice important to Muslims? (5)

Answer 21

• The Qur’an teaches that Allah wants people to act fair to one another: one of Allah’s 99 names in Al’-Adl (The Just); “Believers, conduct yourselves with justice and bear true witness before God”; “I have been commanded to do justice among you”.
• Justice is the basis of Zakat (charitable giving) in Islam: Zakat is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and requires Muslims to share out 2.5% of their surplus income to people less fortunate than themselves.
• Shari’ah Law (Law of God) requires justice for everyone - Islamic legal system is based on the idea of justice for everyone (e.g. Muslims should not charge interest because it makes rich people richer and poor people poorer).
• On the Day of Judgement God will reward those who have acted justly and fairly: those who “conduct themselves with wickedness and injustice in the land…shall be sternly punished”.
• Islamic Relief works for justice and equality in the world: “those who are blessed can…fulfil the goal towards social justice”.

Question 22

What are the arguments in favour of capital punishment? (5)

Answer 22

• Retribution is a necessary part of punishment and the only way that murderers can be punished in proportion to their crime is to be killed themselves (Lisa Stotler felt that the death penalty for her mother’s murderer helped to alleviate stress).
• It protects society from the most most dangerous people, such as serial killers, vexes otherwise they can still be threats to other prisoners and prison staff). Stops reoffending.
• It acts as a deterrent because people will not want to be killed.
• Society can see that bad things happen to bad people (and therefore good things will happen to good people)- in Japan, around 3 prisoners are executed each year and 81% of the population is in favour of the death penalty.
• It enforces how valuable human life is because it is the worst possible punishment someone can receive.

Question 23

What are the arguments against the death penalty? (6)

Answer 23

• No justice system is likely to be 100% correct - many innocent lives may be lost: in the USA 130 people since 1973 have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence.
• It is not an effective deterrent: 88% of US top criminologists “rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder”; murder rates are highest in the South of America, where 80% of executions take place, murder rates are lowest in the Northeast of America, where 1% of executions take place.
• It puts the mental health of whoever has to carry out the executions at risk: Fred Allen, former head of death house in Texas, suffered a breakdown and quit his job after participating in 130 executions.
• Human life is sacred: one of our human rights is the right to life; execution shows that society doesn’t value human life as sacred.
• It is applied very unfairly and depends a lot on a person’s race, emotions in trial, family: in Louisiana the odds of a death sentence were 97% higher if the victim was white compared to black; Jason Burkett and Michael Perry committed crimes together but only Michael Perry receive the death penalty (Burkett’s father spoke in court).
• Expensive: Oregon Judicial Department would save $2.3million annually if the death penalty were abolished.

Question 24

What are arguments in favour of the death penalty in Christianity? (4)

Answer 24

• Bible teachings in the Old Testament: Lex Talons - “en eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”; “if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death” (Exodus 21:12-14); “whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed” (Genesis 9:6)
• If a country’s legal code allows it, then it is supported because St. Paul said that “everyone must obey the state authorities, because no authority exists without God’s permission, and the existing authorities have been put there by God.” (Romans 13:1).
• The Ten Commandments state that “thou shalt not kill”, enforcing the idea that murder is a very serious crime and therefore must be punished with the most serious punishment.
• Thomas Aquinas believed that the death penalty should be used if it is an effective protection for society: “if a man be dangerous and infectious to the community, on account of some sin, it is praiseworthy and advantageous that he be killed in order to safeguard the common good” (Summa Theologica).

Question 25

What are arguments opposed to the death penalty in Christianity? (4)

Answer 25

• Sanctity of Life: only God can give and take away life, therefore no one is permitted to execute a person - everyone is made in the image of God (Imago Dei) so life is sacred.
• Jesus came and saved the adulterous woman from execution by saying “he who is without sin may cast the first stone” - Jesus promoted love.
• One of the Ten Commandments is “thou shalt not kill” - no one should therefore be permitted to kill anybody.
• Jesus taught that people should act in a forgiving way - “You have heard that it was said ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth’. but I tell you, do not resists an evil person. if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

Question 26

Why might Muslims be in favour of the death penalty? (4)

Answer 26

• Muhammad allowed capital punishment: he ordered the stoning of an adulterous woman and said “Do not stone the adulteress who is pregnant until she has had her child.”
• Qur’an teaches that “Whoever kills a soul unless for a soul or for corruption in the land - it is as if he had slain mankind entirely” (Qur’an 5:32).
• Shari’ah Law permits the death penalty for deliberate murder or threatening to undermine authority (Fasard fil-ardh - “spreading mischief in the land” - includes rape and adultery”.
• Islamic Philosophy teaches harsh punishments are deterrents - in Islamic countries executions are sometime carried out in public and can be things such as beheading, hanging and stoning (e.g. in Saudi Arabia there are public beheadings).

Question 27

Why might Muslims be opposed to the death penalty? (4)

Answer 27

• The Qur’an says that capital punishment is an option that does not have to be used: a victim’s family can accept “blood money” instead of there being an execution”.
• Shari’ah Law is not always applied fairly: Sakineh Mohammadi received many lashes and then was sentenced to death by stoning in Iran despite two appeals of her innocence.
• There a such strict conditions for when capital punishment should be used that it is very difficult for them to be actually met.
• Some of the Ulamas (Scholars of Shari’ah Law) are not in agreement about the authenticity of the interpretation of the Qur’an and what it says about when the death penalty should be used.

Question 28

What are the social effects of drugs and alcohol? (5)

Answer 28

• Problems at work: alcohol abuse costs British industry £2billion through absenteeism or poor work performance.
• Family breakdowns and abuse: 40% of domestic abuse and 33% of child abuse cases involve alcohol.
• Crime: 47% of the offenders in violent incidents are believed to be under the influence of alcohol; 9990 people were casualties of drink-driving accidents in the UK in 2001.
• Cost the the healthcare system: alcohol abuse costs the NHS £21billion a year.
• Increased likelihood of incarceration: 65% of male prisoners used drugs in the previous year (13% of male general population).
• Addiction: addiction can lead to crime in order for it to be funded (e.g. stealing to get drugs).

Question 29

What are the health effects of drugs and alcohol? (4)

Answer 29

• Death: 33,000 people die each year from alcohol related causes.
• Alcohol is a casual factor in more than 60 medical conditions (e.g. high blood pressure, depression, liver cancer).
• Smoking causes cancer, lung disease, etc.
• Drugs can have serious psychological effects such a paranoia and depression (Amy Winehouse said that the Grammy Awards were “so boring without drugs”).

Question 30

Why are Muslims against drugs and alcohol? (4)

Answer 30

• Taking drugs and alcohol is “haram” (completely forbidden) - “Every intoxicant khamr [alcohol], and every khamr is haram” (Hadith).
• Cause harm to society - alcohol abuse costs the NHS £21billion a year.
• Qur’an teaches that it is not good: “Satan sirs up hatred among you by means of wine and gambling… Will you not abstain from them?” (Qur’an 5:90); in wine and gambling “there is great sin and benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit” (Qur’an 2:219).
• Teachings of the Prophet Muhammad: he referred to alcohol as “the mother of all sins”; “Alcohol is not a medicine but a disease”.

Question 31

Why might Christians allow the use of alcohol? (4)

Answer 31

• At the wedding at Cana, Jesus transformed water into wine.
• At the Last Supper, Jesus gave his disciples wine and told them to drink it in memory of him.
• St. Paul tells Timothy to drink wine to help with digestion: “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” (1 Timothy 5:23).
• Alcohol is used by Churches in moderation in religious ceremonies (it is a symbol of blessing and a gift of God): RCC and CofE use alcohol using Holy Communion.

Question 32

Why might Christians be against the use of drugs and alcohol? (4)

Answer 32

The Salvation Army and Methodists do not approve of the bad effects they can have: “Accepting that alcohol, tobacco and other addictive drugs can be harmful, and can also have consequent effects on individuals, families and society, members of the Salvation Army freely and willingly refrain from the use of these substances in their own lives”.
• The temple of the Holy Spirit: “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? (1 Corinthians 6:9); “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
• It causes great harm to society: drink driving caused 9990 casualties in the UK in 2001; alcohol abuse costs NHS £21billion a year”.
• Addiction might cause a person to put alcohol before other things including God or their family.
• Greig House is a place set up by the Salvation Army to help rehabilitate those with drug/alcohol addictions.