Abstract The paper states that only the human species is known to inflict pain purely for retribution. The fact that justice and punishment for rule violations are evident in animals, and that different human cultures have defined justice, crime, and punishment in myriad, and often in mutually contradictory terms, suggests the need to establish objective principles for concepts of justice that are indeed just. The paper concludes that "justice" incorporates objective rules without basis, which reflect the strength to impose the will of the of those more powerful in society, over the less powerful. The paper also states that crime and punishment are exclusive to human societies, notwithstanding our current relative inability to administer those concepts uniformly and justly, in most human society.
Outline:
A Survey of Cultural Variation of Crime and Punishment Throughout History
Toward the Objective Standard of Justifiable Criminal Definitions and Punishment Conclusion
From the Paper "In particular, purposeful actions on the part of society or dominant group of leaders to address unwanted behaviors or actions of the individual is apparent among many animal species, such as in relation to violations of established social and pair-bonding relationships and hierarchy of access to food and other natural resources (Gerrig & Zimbardo 2005). In certain primates, for example, group members risk both physical retaliation and elements of social exclusion if they are discovered by other group members to have hidden or failed to share resources by not disclosing its existence or location."
Abstract This paper examines a series of topics - gun control, age of sentencing, capital punishment, education and punishment of a crime - from the competing liberal/conservative points-of-view. These points of view are then, in turn, applied to the controversial topic of youth crime and what is to be done to stanch its spread. Ultimately, the paper argues that both sides have some of the answers - but not all of them.
From the Paper "Youth crime and punishment has long been a serious controversy in America, not least of all because a perception exists - at least in some quarters - that youthful criminals are not treated severely enough by the justice system. The following paper will examine five topics - gun control, age of sentencing, capital punishment, education for criminals and punishment for the commission of a crime - and provide both the liberal and conservative side of the issue. What should emerge is a recognition that both sides present compelling arguments in favor of their position - and that both sides do not have all the answers. With that in mind, it is to a discussion of the aforementioned topics that this paper now turns. Gun control is a very serious issue that is made more serious by the fact that guns are readily accessible to young people."
Abstract This paper examines Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and notes its parallels to Marxist theory. Principally, the paper explores class struggle, atheism, violent revolution and the social causes for proletarian unrest as they reveal themselves in Dostoevsky's nineteenth century masterpiece. The paper argues that, unwittingly, Dostoevsky provides a social template that gives a certain real-world authenticity to Marx's ideas.
From the Paper "There can be little doubt that communist and Marxist theories suffuse Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Among other things, this paper will examine the uneasy "capitalist" relationship between the impecunious Raskolnikov and his avaricious landlady. The paper will also examine the redistributive theme found in Dostoevsky's text and its obvious parallel to Marxist theory. From there, the paper will explore the social roots of violence (an idea that is implicit in Marxist thought) and conclude with a look at how the absence of "God" in Raskolnikov's life makes him the ideal proletarian solider in Marx's imaginings. To sum it all up, Dostoevsky's text is a text about Marxist class warfare. As most university students who have studied the philosophy of Marx (and Engels) know, Marxism holds that all human actions, institutions and social distinctions in society are economically determined."
Abstract This paper explores the relationship between race and capital punishment. Specifically the researcher explores the racial differences in attitudes toward capital punishment, focusing on juvenile opinions. The paper examines factors affecting views on capital punishment, arguments for and against, attitudes towards the death penalty and provides a review of the literature used in the paper.
Outline:
Introduction
Literature
What Predicts Death Penalty Support?
Arguments For and Against Death Penalty
Public Opinion and Attitudes
Death Penalty Attitudes of the Offender
Death Penalty Attitudes of Juveniles
Summary of the Literature
Discussion
Conclusion
References
From the Paper "Attitudes among juveniles regarding capital punishment are just as heated and challenging as they are among adults. While few studies directly explore the relationship between the death penalty and juveniles, there are reports provided by some empirical researchers suggesting by and large, the juvenile population is just as divided as the American people are on the issue. As noted in the introduction, the Death Penalty Information Center (2006) suggests at least 50% of all adults support the death penalty. However, the same group when offered other alternatives including the alternative of life without parole are likely to change their minds and their opinions of the death penalty. In ancient times, most people unequivocally supported the death penalty, as there were few resources available to conduct elaborate or even minimal burials to individuals that had committed crimes (Bedau & Cassell, 2004)."
Abstract The author of the paper examines capital punishment, which has been a part of human culture since the 18th century B.C. The writer looks at the development of capital punishment over the ages and at the gradual influence and success of reform groups in different countries that called for the abolition of the death penalty. The writer also discusses the varying schools of thought regarding the legitimacy and effectiveness of capital punishment.
From the Paper "Critics of capital punishment conclude that if there is no good reason for executing a criminal he should be allowed to live. In the legal philosophy it can be said that defenses of capital punishment either have utilitarian or retributive nature. If seen from a utilitarian point of view capital punishment is acceptable if it averts the criminal from repeating his crime or if it discourages the other would-be criminals. While if seen from a retributive point of view criminals capital punishment is necessary to achieve justice and the criminal should be harmed the same way he damages someone else."
Abstract This paper studies the disposition of youth crime in the justice system. The paper focuses on key issues in the debate over juvenile justice, in an attempt to develop ethical ways of redress the rising phenomenon.
Abstract The paper explains that in recent years many states and the federal government have enacted penalty enhancement statutes to punish bias motivated crime, or hate crimes. These statutes punish the motive behind the crime, thereby punishing the offender's thoughts. Further, the paper argues that we should punish hate crimes through enforcement priorities and recording statutes which are responsive to the community and do not punish thought. The paper concludes that penalty enhancement statutes are wrong and provides several interesting alternatives that would possibly be more effective. The paper cites numerous cases as evidence for its assertions.
From the Paper "Hate crimes: the definition varies from state to state and person to person. However, a standard definition is any ?offense[s] motivated by hatred against a victim based upon his or her race, religion, sexual orientation, handicap, ethnicity, or national origin.? It may seem that hate crimes are nothing new to American culture, and in most ways they are not. Hatred has been almost as much of a contributor to the development of the United States legal system as has tolerance. The two are in a constant battle for superiority. Hatred and bigotry is what allowed slavery's survival, the Japanese internment camps of World War II, and the strength of the Ku Klux Klan and segregationists less than a century ago. But until recently, the government has been able to control the negative factors of our society without infringing on the rights guaranteed by the first Amendment."
Abstract Daniel Curran and Claire Renzetti's work, "Theories of Crime" presents us with a tome in which the theories of crime are addressed with poignant and pointed research directly addressing the psychology of crime, punishment and victimization. The paper specifically covers elements of crime within the context of their argument. Crime and punishment, victimization and retribution are our natural and legislated balances. Romancing the outlaw goes part of the way toward explaining the desire not to speak of violent crime in social terms. A first step in breaking these rounds of crime-and-punishment, punishment-and-crime, is to recognize the fact of their existence.
Abstract This paper looks at how the amount of crime increases every day and how governments are working over time to fight this disaster and reduce it. It shows how some countries adopt capital punishment as one of the best ways of deterring crime and how others that have abolished capital punishment are trying to show the negligible effect of this kind of punishment. It examines how the United States of America, the only western country that uses death penalty suffers from a huge amount of offense from other countries. It evaluates how statistics have proved that there is no real positive effect with capital punishment and what makes capital punishment ineffective are errors in judgments such as lack of justice and natural mistakes.
From the Paper "In addition, the positive effects of death penalty on rate of crime are not proved. For many years it was thought that capital punishment is a deterrence of crime but later, when statistics became expanded, statisticians express that the idea that states with capital punishment have a lower crime rate is wrong. McManus (1998) expresses that states without the death penalty have fewer homicides than states those use death penalty. Massachusetts that has been abolished the death penalty, as an example, has the fewest crime rates in the United States of America (McManus, M., 1998). Similarly, Bonner and Fessenden (2000) illustrate that during the last twenty years, the rate of murder in states with capital punishment has been forty eight percent to more than one hundred percent higher than states with no capital punishment."
Abstract The paper explores the debate over whether rehabilitation or punishment of an offender make a better deterrent and begins by providing a formal definition of punishment and rehabilitation. The paper deals with the concerns about the proper solution to crime prevention, reintegration back into into society, the safety of the community and the feelings of the victims and their families. The writer contends that punishment and different methods of rehabilitation must be used together in order to effectively deter crime and have a positive impact on the offender, society and upon victims and their families.
Outline:
Introduction
Deterrence of Crime Impact on Victims and Victims Families
Impact on the Offender and Society
From the Paper "Throughout the history of correctional facilities first conception, the government and those in charge have made many attempts to try and improve corrections to a point where it can keep up with the ever demanding and changing dynamics of the American society. Every since policing agencies and correctional facilities were first implemented, there has always been a big debate over the effectiveness of rehabilitation compared to punishment in relation to management of convicted offenders in prison and under community supervision. The debate between rehabilitation and punishment has always raised ethical questions and concerns about the proper solution to crime prevention, reintegration back into to society, the safety of the community, and other issues regarding what is best for prisoners and the American society as a whole."
Abstract This paper examines how, in the last quarter century, the U.S. has experienced a drop in both crime rates and arrest rates and how many criminologists have speculated on the reasons for this drop in crime. It shows how Nobel Prize winner, Gary Becker, in his work, ?Crime and Punishment, An Economic Approach,? was the first economist to explain the theory of deterrence as a function of econometrics and how, according to Becker, if the punishment costs the criminal more than the crime benefits the criminal, then the criminal will rationally be deterred from committing the crime. It looks at how, although the Uniform Crime Report and the National Crime Victims Survey support Becker's economic model of crime, scientists have struggled to prove Becker's model with sound, empirical research.
From the Paper "The deterrence/incapacitation argument is important for legislation such as "three strikes you"re out? in which after three convictions a prisoner receives automatic jail time. If deterrence is not a key factor, the threat of incapacitation does not work. By definition, incapacitation is a by-product of deterrence. Without incapacitation, deterrence would not be a workable theory. Levitt concludes in his paper, that incapacitation may imprison the majority of people who would commit crimes no matter what, however, incapacitation without deterrence may make others more likely to commit crimes, who otherwise may have been deterred (Levitt, 370) increasing rather than decreasing arrest rates."
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the topic of capital punishment. Specifically, it discuss both sides of the capital punishment debate and argues why capital punishment is an excellent deterrent to crime. It looks at how the benefits of capital punishment far outweigh the drawbacks and how statistics indicate that the American public supports the death penalty for a majority of violent crimes. Thus, capital punishment is effective, saves tax dollars, and helps contain the most violent of America's criminal population.
From the Paper "Capital punishment has been controversial throughout America history. Also referred to as the death penalty, the practice has always been a contentious and emotional issue. In the United States, disagreement over capital punishment began as early as Colonial times after America gained independence from Great Britain. Some people began to wonder if taking a human life was really justified, even by the government (Vila and Morris xxv), and the debate has raged on ever since. In fact, since the Supreme Court reinstituted the practice in 1976, the debate about capital punishment has become even more heated."
Abstract This paper offers a comparison of Susan Glaspell's short story "Trifles" with Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment," based on the interplay of conscience, crime and social experience. The paper describes plots of premeditated murder and the investigation surrounding the murders.
From the Paper "This research examines ways in which social experience informs conscience and behavior with reference to Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" and Glaspell's play "Trifles" and the short story on which it was based, "A Jury of Her Peers." The research will set forth the cultural context of each narrative and then compare and contrast how conscience-related issues are treated by the texts with a view toward identifying ways in which inter penetrations of conscience and social constructs affect or explain behavior."
Abstract This paper looks at dream sequences in Dostoevsky's novels "The Double" and "Crime and Punishment" and analyzes how they allow the reader to understand more about the psychology of the characters in a way that would be difficult to portray in the character's waking thoughts and actions.
From the Paper "In both The Double and Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky describes dream sequences that are very revealing about the fears of Mr. Golyadkin and Raskolnikov. Using his characters? nightmares as a way to convey something about their psychology allows Dostoevsky to reveal the characters? mental state with an untainted honesty that is not possible in their thoughts and actions. In this way, Dostoevsky is able to crystallize and clarify the characters? deepest fears. In particular, the examination of Golyadkin's dream about his double turning everyone against him reveals that his peers? opinions of him are of the highest importance to him, and as such, his great fear is that others will dislike him. Raskolnikov's dream about the horse reveals his fear of his own weakness, his fear and repression of his past, and his fear of his own humanity and capacity for compassion."
Describes the symbolism that was lost in the translation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" from Russian to English and also takes a look at the general symbolism of the book and some history.
Abstract Explains some history of Russian dialogue, Russian history, and Fyodor Dostoevsky's life experiences. It tells the symbolism of the names in "Crime and Punishment," how Fyodor Dostoevsky was imprisoned, and the history of Russian tsarist government.
From the Paper "Authors write their novels using literary techniques such as symbolism. However, when entire novels are translated from the native language to another, there are some things that are lost in translation. Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote Crime and Punishment in Russian and when the novel was translated to English, symbolism was lost in translation. The symbolism requires knowledge of Russian history and language and some history of Fyodor Dostoevsky's life, to know and understand. Without prior knowledge of the use of some names and words, the symbolism is unknown to the reader."
