RS: Crime and Punishment

Crime: Crime is the breaking of a law established by a government for which there is punishment
Crime
1. Causes
2. Economic: -lack of financial resources can lead to poverty -lack of educational oppurtunities
3. Social environment: - Prevalence of drugs - inequality - lack of support for families
4. Family: -Dysfunctional family conditions -substance abuse in the family
5. Effects
6. Repairing damage
7. Loss of lives
8. Can cause PTSD, depression and anxiety
9. Can disrupt family life
10. Feeling unsafe
Christian responses to crime
1. May agree with social, economic and family causes
2. Moral failings because of the original sin
3. May also believe they are being influenced by the devil/satan
Christian views on crime
1. "Love God and your neighbour"
2. "Do not steal"
3. "Do not lie"
4. "Blessed are the peacemakers"
When might Christians challenge this?
1. If it did not uphold the rights of workers, women or the disabled
Aims of punishment
1. Retribution
  1. Revenge for what has been done against the law and society or the individual
  2. "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth"
2. Deterrence
  1. Warning others to discourage them from committing crimes
  2. "If you do wrong, be afraid"
3. Reformation
  1. Crime prevention, rehabilitation, education and substance abuse treatment
  2. "Do not kill"
4. 1. Protection
    1. Protecting society by stopping the individual criminals from being able to commit crimes against people
    2. "Love thy neighbour"
Types of punishment
1. Imprisonment
  1. For: -Prison stops people from committing more crimes and so protects society -long prison sentences can act as a detterent
  2. Against: -Overcrowding -majority of prisoners re-offend -Prisons can use legal drugs
2. Fines: speeding, littering, parking tickets
  1. For: -detterence -money can be used to help society
  2. Against: -For the rich it isn't as serious -the poor could struggle
3. Probation/Suspension
  1. For: -Gives the offender a normal life -offender is provided with support
  2. Against: - Soft punishment which doesn't cause discomfort -Doesn't send a message
4. Community service: refers to forced work for the community. Public act of repartition
  1. For: -Requires the offender to do something for the community -Most effective
  2. Against: -Safe option which doesn't cause discomfort -nothing to fear
Capital punishment
1. The execution of a criminal by the government
2. 2006, 1591 people executed in 26 countries 2007, 1252 people were executed in 24 countries
3. 69 countries are still legal
4. 137 countries have made it legal
5. For: Permanently removes the worst criminals, Cheaper than imprisonment, Detterance, 'fits the crime',
6. Against: Contradicts human rights, can be torturously painful, countries with this punishment have higher murder rates
7. Christian views
  1. Only in rare cases: -the bible does not recourse the death penalty if it is the only possible solution, -"Do not kill", -It "feeds the cycle of violence"
  2. God has authorized the death penalty: -The Old Testament lists crimes punishable by death -it is a 'biblical position'
Elizabeth Fry
1. Who: She was a Quaker who decided to reform prisons
2. Why: Maybe her Quaker influence also maybe because of the horrors he saw at the prisons she visited. An American preacher called William Savery may of also been an influence
3. What: Prison Reformer
4. When: 12th October 1845
5. How: She started a school and taught women and children there and also read from the bible and bought clean clothes for the prisoners

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RS: Crime and Punishment

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	Created by Aliyah :D almost 10 years ago