conclusion of crime and punishment essay

The Classic Journal

A journal of undergraduate writing and research, from wip at uga, an analysis of crime and punishment.

by Paris Whitney

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a novel that has been deemed controversial, yet notable over the course of centuries. This novel was influenced by the time period and setting of 19 th century St. Petersburg, Russia. Society was transitioning from medieval traditions to Westernization, which had a large impact on civilians, specifically those in poverty. Dostoevsky writes this novel centered around a poor man whose poverty drives him to test an ideology that results in his own detriment. Although this is important, the plot is only part of what makes this novel significant. What continues to make this novel memorable centuries after it was written is how Dostoevsky uses the concept of time to progress the plot and establish information, how his use of symbolism contributes to the message and meaning of the story and its characters, and how his writing has unintentionally embraced and related to different philosophies.

symbolism, nature, time, philosophy, existentialism, ego transcendence

Fyodor Dostoevsky is perhaps the most controversial author of the nineteenth century. His best-known work is Crime and Punishment , a novel that explores the psychological depths of man. At the center is Raskolnikov, a character who inflicts and experiences a great deal of suffering, all because he perceives himself to be superior to the average man.

Crime and Punishment takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia. The time is 1860, Alexander II holds reign, and consequently political skepticism is abundant. In addition to skepticism, the country’s economic state has disproportionate effects on its citizens, as the increasing wealth gap parallels the increase of turmoil in the streets. The novel follows Rodion Raskolnikov, a man of lower class whose poverty leads him to forming an idea and testing its validity. This theory is that certain men are exempt from laws created by society, as their actions against these laws are done for the greater good. In order to test this theory, Raskolnikov forms a plan to murder Alyona Ivanovna, an old pawnbroker whom he has had many exchanges with. After killing Ivanovna, he ends up killing her sister Lizaveta as well, when her appearance at Ivanovna’s apartment startles his original plan. In a frenzy, he leaves their bodies at the crime scene, and on his way out his mental state begins to spiral leading the readers to follow his psychological decline. 

Around the world, philologists and psychologists alike have studied Crime and Punishment to understand what makes this work essential to literature. Through studies of symbolism, philosophy, and psychology, it is recognized how Dostoevsky uses the concept of time to develop the story, how he uses symbolism to reflect underlying emotions and intentions of characters, and how different ideologies may be related to the meaning behind Crime and Punishment. These components used together showcase how Dostoevsky’s work remains notable for centuries.  

Crime and Punishment is a novel symbolic of the drawbacks that society can have on individuals, specifically those who are at a disadvantage as a result of their class or mental state. When Dostoevsky penned this novel, the time was 1866. 19 th century Russia was a transition period from medieval traditions to Westernization. During this transition, many people struggled to accommodate to the changing times. There was unrest in the streets, conflict amongst the classes, economic upheaval, and a lack of concern for those suffering by the government. Those who were of higher class were better able to navigate this complex transition, while those in poverty lacked the materials necessary to accommodate to the coming changes. Previously Westernized countries exhibited unrest fromtheir populations while progressing in societal advancement. There was concern about this potentially translating into Russia’s development. Russia was not exempt from these issues, and Dostoevsky was no help in assuring that peace would be maintained. Dostoevsky’s work concerned people in power when he indirectly made an association between violence and societal progression, and how this may prompt the masses to revolt against their government. Localized current events, such as a rise in domestic violence and murder, also influenced this novel. Due to these real-life events that inspired Dostoevsky’s work, it can be said that Crime and Punishment is an accurate representation of its time period [ 1 ] .

Not only was time period an influence on his work, but Dostoevsky would manipulate the concept of time itself to convey the meaning behind his stories. In Crime and Punishment , Dostoevsky writes Raskolnikov as a character continuously in a fever of thoughts. His mind is constantly running rampant, unrelenting even in slumber. Before significant events Raskolnikov would either flashback or dream of memories foreshadowing future moments. An example of this is before committing to murder Alyona Ivanovna, his subconscious takes him and the reader back to a moment where he and his father witnessed the cruel killing of a mule at the hands of a crowd for being too weak to pull a wagon . From a third person perspective, young Raskolnikov’s reaction to this moment is described hither, “But by now the poor boy is beside himself. With a shout he plunges through the crowd into the sorrel, embraces her dead, bloodstained muzzle, and he kisses her, kisses her on the eyes, on the mouth…” (Dostoevsky, 1866, pg. 57). By preceding Raskolnikov’s murderous intentions with his younger self’s mournful reaction to the mule’s death shows the audience how Raskolnikov has developed over time, and the degeneration resulting from his experiences in life.Time also seems to slow down when Raskolnikov is in moments of heightened emotion , because as he loses the ability to conceptualize, the more feverish his mind becomes. Towards the end of the novel, Raskolnikov reflects on the events that have occurred, saying “after a long time had passed, he thought his consciousness must have kept flashing on and off, with several dim, dark intervals, right up to the final catastrophe. He was absolutely convinced he had been mistaken about many things at the time; the duration of time of certain events, for example.” (Dostoevsky, 1866, pg. 417). This feverish mindset also manifests into physiological symptoms, giving Raskolnikov the appearance of being sick. “He was not completely unconscious all the time he was sick, but rather delirious, in a feverish state of half consciousness. He could recall a good deal later. Once in his room seemed full of people… They had all gone out. They were afraid of him.” (Dostoevsky, 1866, pg. 112). Dostoevsky uses syntax and diction to write these occurrences in a way that mimics Raskolnikov’s thinking. The transitions between events are frenetic, reflecting the tumultuous thoughts that plague Raskolnikov as a result of his actions. Choosing to modify the chronology of the novel in this way, he emphasizes the severity of situations by making the readers feel like they are experiencing the event as well.

In addition to this, Crime and Punishment contains levels of symbolism to enhance the mental conditions of characters . George Gibian explored traditionalsymbolism [2] within Crime and Punishment , and came to find that many motifshave religious roots. Ranging from Christianity to Paganism to Russian Orthodoxy, Dostoevsky’s implementation of images such as water, vegetation, air, and earth come together to express the mental state of the characters immersed in a particular setting. For example, Gibian described how water is used as a symbol of rebirth or regeneration. In Crime and Punishment , Raskolnikov would aimlessly walk about the setting in moments where his mind and thoughts were chaotic. He would end up in symbolically important nature scenes, for instance beside a river that ran through his town, or on the ground surrounded by bushes and trees. When near the water, he would feel the weight of guilt coming from the crimes he has committed. “He stared at the darkening water of the canal. He seemed to be scrutinizing this water. At last red circles danced before his eyes, the buildings swayed, the passersby, the embankments, the carriages- everything around him began to swirl and dance. All of a sudden he shuddered. A wild and grotesque scene saved him, perhaps, from another fainting spell.” (Dostoevsky, 1866, pg. 163). In this scene, Raskolnikov’s physiological symptoms begin to arise as his consciousness fights for contrition. This is important because Raskolnikov’s proximity to water when these feelings arise is representative of the good side of his conscience, trying to push him in the direction of what is right.

While water and vegetation are symbols that typically have a positive connotation, their presence can be used to emphasize the degeneration of one’s mental state . An example would be Svidrigailov, a character whose presence is nothing short of problematic. He strives to satisfy his erotic desires regardless of who may be harmed in the process, solidifying his position as one of the antagonists in Crime and Punishment . Svidrigailov also possesses a dislike for nature. This is shown when he visits St. Petersburg, and in his final night of life he ends up spiraling in his hotel room. During this downward spiral, he hears the sound of trees rustling outside of his window combined with rain. Instead of comforting him, they drive him further towards insanity. “‘The trees are sighing. I must admit I don’t care for the sighing of trees on a dark, stormy night- it gives me the creeps!’” He takes time to contemplate his life, saying, “ ‘I never in my life liked water… You’d think now, of all times, I’d be indifferent to these fine points of esthetics and comfort, whereas actually I’m fussier,’” (Dostoevsky, 1866, pg. 480). He resents the sound of vegetation when having a mental breakdown, and he ends up committing suicide in the midst of a fog that has emerged after a thunderstorm- showing his opposition to growing as a person. The use of nature as a way to reflect internal torments and emotions of different characters shows Dostoevsky’s proficiency in storytelling. Having the character’s surroundings speak the unspoken about what they may be feeling adds a level of meaning to the novel. This implementation of pathetic fallacy strengthens the story while aiding the reader in understanding the message of the text. When looking at the novel as a whole, it is clear nature bridges a connection between the audience and the author, by contextualizing events using the description of the setting where they take place. The narrator establishing the environment before delving into details about actions is a way to indicate to the reader potential outcomes of events, or foreshadow underlying emotions.

Symbolism in this novel does not stop with traditional aspects. Janet Tucker [3] explored the significance of clothing in respect to a character’s religious prospects and how their clothing reflects their beliefs or state of mind. When being worn by someone who has dedicated their life to Christ, clothing is modest and kept to the best of their ability. Sonya is a character in Crime and Punishment who serves as a deuteragonist, being one of the women that only have pure intentions when it comes to helping Raskolnikov. She tries to help Raskolnikov find faith and become a better person, and she does her best to comfort him in his worst moments of mental distress. Sonya even follows Raskolnikov to Siberia when he is imprisoned, despite his resistance to loving her. After analyzing this description of character, it can be said that Sonya’s clothes reflect the graciousness of her soul. She conceals her body in rags because she is poor, although she tries her best to keep them from becoming tattered, showing her values and how she maintains her composed state of mind. Comparing her to Raskolnikov, his mental state is too far distracted for him to care about trivial matters such as his appearance. His clothes are riddled with holes, and he lacks the incentive to fix the damage. An interesting point that Tucker made is how Raskolnikov uses his clothes in his crimes. He wears an overcoat that he uses to conceal his murder weapon and the items he has stolen from Ivanovna after killing her. Considering this, Tucker’s point is validated by the quality of clothing matching the quality of the person who bears it. Dostoevsky using clothing to portend the mental state and values that characters hold is a creative and effective way to give the readers insight as to how they will be progressing throughout the novel. Astute members of the audience will be able to recognize the differences among presentation of characters and base predictions about their actions off of their clothing. It is also interesting to see how characters’ religious affiliations can be observed through their attention to quality of clothing, reflecting how they choose to preserve and care for their items. In contrast to nature’s reflection of emotions, clothing gives insight about personal traits and the morals that shape a character into who they are.

While symbolism is important to developing the meaning behind Crime and Punishment , what makes this novel so notable are the philosophies it both challenges and embraces unintentionally. Existentialism [4] is a philosophy maintaining the belief that as individuals, there is a right within everyone to determine quality of life through acts of free will. It is easy to see how Crime and Punishment can be regarded by many existentialists as representative of this philosophy, but overall Dostoevsky is not one many would like to consider an archetype for existentialism. And, in retrospect, he is not. Dostoevsky’s main character in Crime and Punishment spends a lot of his time soliloquizing his belief that certain men are greater than others. Raskolnikov thinks men like this come to be by exercising their free will in ways that defy the common laws of life, but with the intention that what they are doing will better the world in the end. This idea is the reason behind Raskolnikov’s eventual murder of Alyona Ivanovna, a pawnbroker, and her half-sister Lizaveta. He kills Ivanovna as a way to test if he can be one of these people, but quickly discovers in the throes of his crime that he is not. This misconstrued idea of free will presented in Crime and Punishment can be where many begin to wonder if Dostoevsky was an existentialist. But a conclusion can be made that Dostoevsky’s free will is psychologically based and pushes the boundaries between what is right and what is wrong. Existentialism, on the other hand, is a philosophy centered around creativity and authenticity of the self.       

On a more granular level, while Dostoevsky was not an existentialist, his work shows his agreement with the philosophical concept of ego transcendence [5] . Transcendence of the ego is described as an advancement of the “authentic self” through experiences that result in a greater awareness. Once this awareness is achieved, this person usually begins to see themselves as greater than the average human. This is easily relatable to Raskolnikov’s philosophy that he reiterates often throughout the novel. The way that Dostoevsky sets his characters up for transcendence is through suffering. Richard Chapple analyzed the way Dostoevsky progresses Crime and Punishment by noting the use of the prism of the divine [6] . The prism of the divine includes 6 reasons that people suffer, and Dostoevsky provides different scenarios for representations of each reason. Raskolnikov suffers as a result of “recognition of transgression,” which is his guilt overpowering him after killing two women. It is even more stressful because in this guilt he realizes that he is not the monumental person he thought he was. In turn, he suffers because of “involvement in the torments and suffering of others,” as a result of brutally murdering his victims, followed by “greed and ambition.” Once failing to follow through with his entire plan beyond murdering Ivanovna, the weight of his ambition becomes heavy as it never had a chance at being attained. This dissatisfaction with himself contributes more to his depression than the fact that he is a murderer.

The last three prisms of the divine are “lack of faith,” “pride,” and the “inability to love.” Here, it is important to note Chapple’s perspective on how pride stems into all categories of suffering. Chapple discussed concepts such as clothing, a previously mentioned symbol, and how its relation to pride can be interpreted. He states, “The proud often suffer because of poverty or other seemingly external circumstances such as name, clothing and position. Pride generates a façade, and characters wear masks to conceal an inner reality…” (1983, p. 97). While Raskolnikov’s hubris is his biggest torment, Raskolnikov suffers for all of these reasons, and these intersections are where Sonya tries to ease his pain. When Raskolnikov is in his apartment with Sonya and is attempting to explain his crimes, she reassures him that she will not forsake him as he believes she will, going as far as to promise to follow him wherever he goes, even to prison. When he asks her what he should do, she advises him to go back to where he committed these atrocities, kiss the earth and kneel on the ground, then confess aloud that he is a murderer. By doing so, he is confessing to God and has a chance of being forgiven for his sins.

While religion plays a big role in Crime and Punishment , Dostoevsky’s implementation of Lazarus is predominately referencing the song rather than the biblical story- though that is mentioned. The Lazarus song [7] is a song that encapsulates the belief that the relationship between the rich and the poor should include the rich helping those in poverty by almsgiving. When Raskolnikov is preparing to face Porfiry Petrovich, a detective in the case of Ivanovna and Lizaveta’s murders, he says to himself “I’ll have to play the part of Lazarus for him too,” ( Crime and Punishment , 237). When Raskolnikov says this, he means that he is going to have to embrace his situation as a poor, college dropout, as a way to appear more innocent to Petrovich. This manipulation is seen from the side of poor people such as Raskolnikov, but also from those of wealth.

Raskolnikov’s sister, Dunya, was engaged to a man of the name Luzhin who expected her to marry him out of desperation. When Dunya backs out of the marriage, Luzhin scolds himself for not using his money to manipulate her into staying by purchasing expensive gifts, as opposed for thinking he should have treated her better. It is through secondary characters like these when many underlying messages are being portrayed. While Raskolnikov is the central character of Crime and Punishment , Dostoevsky uses secondary characters as a way to reflect certain aspects that Raskolnikov may be lacking, such as consciousness and an ability to recognize and admit to one’s mistakes. With Sonya, she was a part of a family that forced her into prostitution because they were too poor to provide for her, with a father who was too drunk to care. Marmeladov was the father’s name, and he is who Raskolnikov first meets in a bar and confesses to his shame about the situation he has put his daughter in. Similarly, Raskolnikov’s mother reduces his sister to working in uncomfortable scenarios in order to be able to send Raskolnikov to college. She feels guilt at this when Dunya becomes the center of town drama, after the husband in the family she works for begins to lust after her. These characters have made mistakes, but what parallels them to Raskolnikov is the fact that they acknowledge their wrongs, whereas he has to find the courage to do so .

Raskolnikov’s struggles with admitting that he can make mistakes like anybody else stem from his beliefs that there are two types of people in the world. He references Napoleon throughout the novel, because he believes him to be an example of how things considered to be bad have to happen in order for progress to be made. Pearl Niemi defines this as “power-cult [ 8] ,” the part of Raskolnikov believing in certain people’s superiority to regular laws. The part of Raskolnikov that cripples him once he tries exercising this belief can be referred to as “child-cult.” The child-cult is Raskolnikov’s emotions and thoughts that challenge the power-cult and ultimately overtake it. This duality within Raskolnikov has an interesting relation with his name. “Raskolot,” is the Russian verb meaning division, or split. When analyzing the schism between Raskolnikov’s feelings and actions, it gives his name a greater meaning and shows how Dostoevsky was very intentional with his work.

Considering what makes a novel notable, Hugh Curtler [9] elaborated on the idea that a novel which can be widely interpreted is what makes it memorable. Curtler referred to the part of the writer that allows for this to happen as the “poet,” because they write without clarification. In this respect, they acknowledge how Dostoevsky was successful at this throughout the majority of Crime and Punishment. Where Curtler thought Dostoevsky failed with this novel is in the epilogue. Instead of leaving the audience to gather their own opinions about certain aspects, he writes an epilogue that confirms what would have been better left unsaid, specifically Raskolnikov’s ability to feel emotions such as sadness, love, regret,etc .

In retrospect, Dostoevsky’s use of time, symbolism, and philosophical aspects in Crime and Punishment each provide different levels of meaning to the story. When incorporating the concept of time in terms of context and story progression, it allows the reader to grasp the importance of the events being foreshadowed, in addition to understanding the influences on decisions of characters. His attention to detail using motifs to communicate underlying emotions and intentions of his characters creates another layer of meaning for this novel, as the interpretation of these motifs make Crime and Punishment different for every reader. And lastly, Dostoevsky’s novel embraces different philosophies, while simultaneously maintaining its individuality from any one ideology. He writes this novel in a way where it applies to different ideals, wherein itself it is exclusive from being categorized, due to its unique central message. This message is one that can be applied to many time periods in history, including the 21 st century. The inevitable progression of societies tends to commonly leave those who are underprivileged to fend for themselves. When this isolation persists, is it unexpected to have people who attempt to create a life for themselves trying to prove that they are worth something, when their government treats them like nothing? Crime and Punishment provides a variety of perspectives for the audience’s consideration. Despite the many ways that this novel can be read and interpreted, one thing is clear, Crime and Punishment is illustrious.

Bourgeois, P. (1980). Dostoevsky and Existentialism: An Experiment in Hermeneutics. Journal of Thought, 15(2), 29-37. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42588842

Chapple, R. (1983). A Catalogue of Suffering in the Works of Dostoevsky: His Christian Foundation. The South Central Bulletin, 43(4), 94-99. doi:10.2307/3187246

Curtler, H. (2004). The Artistic Failure of Crime and Punishment.  Journal of Aesthetic Education,   38 (1), 1-11. doi:10.2307/3527358

Dostoevsky, F. (1866). Crime and Punishment. Signet Classics.

Gibian, G. (1955). Traditional Symbolism in Crime and Punishment.  PMLA,   70 (5), 979-996. doi:10.2307/459881

Harrison, L. (2013). THE NUMINOUS EXPERIENCE OF EGO TRANSCENDENCE IN DOSTOEVSKY. The Slavic and East European Journal, 57(3), 388-402. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43857534

Ivanits, L. (2002). The Other Lazarus in Crime and Punishment.  The Russian Review,   61 (3), 341-357. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3664132

Kohlberg, L. (1963). Psychological Analysis and Literary Form: A Study of the Doubles in Dostoevsky. Daedalus, 92(2), 345-362. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20026782

Niemi, P. (1963). THE ART OF “CRIME AND PUNISHMENT”.  Modern Fiction Studies,   9 (4), 291-313. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26278717

Tucker, J. (2009). Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”: Stopping History’s Clock. Russian History, 36(3), 443-453. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24664577

Tucker, J. (2000). The Religious Symbolism of Clothing in Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment. The Slavic and East European Journal, 44(2), 253-265. doi:10.2307/309952

[1] Tucker, J. (2009). Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”: Stopping History’s Clock. Russian History, 36(3), 443-453. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24664577

[2] Gibian, G. (1955). Traditional Symbolism in Crime and Punishment. PMLA, 70(5), 979-996. doi:10.2307/459881

[3] Tucker, J. (2009). Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”: Stopping History’s Clock. Russian History, 36(3), 443-453. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24664577

[4] Bourgeois, P. (1980). Dostoevsky and Existentialism: An Experiment in Hermeneutics. Journal of Thought, 15(2), 29-37. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42588842

[5] Harrison, L. (2013). THE NUMINOUS EXPERIENCE OF EGO TRANSCENDENCE IN DOSTOEVSKY. The Slavic and East European Journal, 57(3), 388-402. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/43857534

[6] Chapple, R. (1983). A Catalogue of Suffering in the Works of Dostoevsky: His Christian Foundation. The South Central Bulletin, 43(4), 94-99. doi:10.2307/3187246

[7 ] Ivanits, L. (2002). The Other Lazarus in Crime and Punishment. The Russian Review, 61(3), 341-357. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3664132

[8 ] Niemi, P. (1963). THE ART OF “CRIME AND PUNISHMENT”. Modern Fiction Studies, 9(4), 291-313. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/26278717

[9] Curtler, H. (2004). The Artistic Failure of Crime and Punishment. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 38(1), 1-11. doi:10.2307/3527358

Citation style: APA 6 th edition

Themes and Analysis

Crime and punishment, by fyodor dostoevsky.

'Crime and Punishment' features salient themes that are relevant today as they were in Dostoevsky's Russia.

About the Book

Article written by Israel Njoku

Degree in M.C.M with focus on Literature from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

‘Crime and Punishment’ contains numerous themes, reflecting Dostoevsky’s preoccupation with and response to the flurry of ideologies coming into Russia from Western Europe. Asides from complex ideological issues like nihilism and utilitarianism, everyday relatable issues that occupied Dostoevsky like poverty, suffering, and societal alienation are also addressed within the work.

The Dangerous Effects of Nihilism

One of the key themes of ‘Crime and Punishment’ is the effect of harmful ideologies. The problem here is not simply that an individual comes to wholly believe in a dangerous idea and so carries it out, it is also about the parasitic effects of these dangerous ideas as they slowly corrupt our minds and subtly strip us of control and autonomy, pulling us towards the actualization of its destiny even when our hold of and understandings of these ideas are incomplete and tenuous. 

Before Raskolnikov decided to kill the old pawnbroker whom he had deemed expendable on the basis of her wickedness and nastiness, Raskolnikov had written an article where he argued for the right of a certain class of special, superior men to raise themselves above conventional morality and commit crimes in service of aims they deem noble. 

For Raskolnikov, this means an ascendancy to a Napoleon-like personality who has earned the right to kill and commit all sorts of crimes in service of greatness. This extraordinary person is marked by his capacity to commit this crime and profit off it, feeling neither remorse nor weakness in a manner that would undermine the validity of his ideas, or his greatness. 

The more Raskolnikov became possessed by the truth of this idea, the more he wished to be an extraordinary man, to prove he has the capacity to transcend conventional morality in order to do what Raskolnikov deemed noble. Gradually this small theory assumes the nature of an obsession with proving his strength, and that culminated in the murder of the old pawnbroker. It resisted Raskolnikov’s erstwhile moral conscience.

Even when Raskolnikov gets disgusted at the idea of killing the old woman and feels free from the thoughts, he loses control when he overhears at the Hay market that a prime opportunity for the murder was going to present itself soon with the availability of Alyona alone at the house without her sister, 

Raskolnikov finds himself without any control and is thrust into an autopilot program, driving him to test his theory and prove himself extraordinary. The idea took on a life of its own in Raskolnikov’s head and convinced him of its own validity. But when Raskolnikov tries to justify his murder in terms of it being in service to humanity, he finds that he cannot sincerely explain his motivation that way. He discovered that none of the motivations he put forward in his conversation with Sonia inspired him as much as the simple, selfish desire to prove he was “extraordinary”.

A much less pronounced, but definitely evident, theme in the book is that of Egoism. This is an idea espoused to different degrees by a number of characters in the book-namely the likes of Raskolnikov, Svidrigailov, and Luzhin. It can express itself in a direct, undisguised form in service of evil aims, as we see in Svidrigailov’s behaviors. 

Svidrigailov lives for his pleasures and base desires and is not embarrassed by them. He speaks freely to Raskolnikov about desiring and relishing the effort to get these desires. He lives entirely for his own pleasures and is not concerned about others until the very end. Furthermore, he is ruthless in the pursuit of his own gratification and does not consider a grander, nobler aim, nor pretends to consider it in any way.

Raskolnikov is also similar but up until his real motivation is unraveled and understood, he masks this with a pretense of employing his capacity and actions for a larger good. He convinces himself that he was only killing the old pawnbroker because she was a net negative to humanity and her death would benefit many in terms of redistributing her wealth to the poor and preventing her from being wicked to the vulnerable under her. 

It was not until Raskolnikov was forced to examine his motivations for the murder that he realizes that his main aim for committing the murder wasn’t humanistic altruism but rather a naked, selfish pursuit of power, just the same way Svidrigailov was pursuing pleasures. Luzhin similarly masks his egoism under a front of benevolence. In his first encounter with Raskolnikov and Razumikhin, he argues that private charity was in the end counterproductive to the poor and that there would be a net good to society if those who are privileged focused on themselves and refrain from giving handouts to the poor. This argument is obviously only an excuse to legitimize his miserliness. 

The competing forces of natural good and learned evil

In ‘Crime and Punishment ‘, Raskolnikov seems to struggle with the moral demands of his conscience and that of his adopted nihilistic and rational egoistic philosophical outlook. Possibly resulting from his Christian background or a naturally altruistic and humanistic disposition, Raskolnikov seemed to have a basic constitution that has molded a conscience that inspires him to do good. We see this sentiment in his acts of charity towards the Marmeladovs as well as towards the young girl he saves from the lecherous individual stalking her on the streets. 

However, Raskolnikov has also been exposed to and adopted new dangerous ideas which emphasized a cold utilitarian outlook towards life in service of one’s self-interest. The philosophy of the extraordinary emphasizes his elevation over the troubles of the common people. It encourages a cold, statistical approach to life that sees the common people not as individuals but as numbers.

So just after he rescues the young drunken girl from her stalker, he immediately regrets the action because there were bound to be people like her all the time who will make up the number of people who would be vulnerable to predators, who are condemned to a life of prostitution, diseases, and vulnerability. It was a mathematical and sociological certainty, so why bother trying to interfere? 

Also, when he gives Sonia money after he was dragged to the home of the Marmeladovs, he regrets doing so almost immediately for the same purpose. For large stretches of the book, Raskolnikov struggles between these two competing aspects of his personality. 

The theme of Alienation is a prominent one in ‘ Crime and Punishment ‘. Raskolnikov’s alienation from society as a result of his haughty ideals, as well as his overpowering guilt as a result of his murders, is one of the plot points that move the book. Raskolnikov’s ideas separate him from most of the rest of humanity in theory and principle. His conviction that society is divided between a few superior men and a mass of inferior men sets him on a proud and arrogant path that alienates him from most people whom he views as inferior. 

Although poor and near destitute, Raskolnikov still manages to feel disgusted at the surrounding poverty in his area of St Petersburg. After committing the murders, he is overpowered with guilt and a strong sense that he did not belong with society and with the pure people around him, who are far removed from his destructive and tortured state of mind. His guilt makes him believe he cannot bear to continue to interact and coexist normally with his family and friends, who are good people. 

Helplessness

The theme of helplessness is also featured in ‘ Crime and Punishment ‘. Raskolnikov is a very poor student who is dependent on sacrifices from his mother and sister to be able to sustain himself. Given that his family has high hopes for him and views him as a potential breadwinner, Raskolnikov finds himself under great pressure. 

His poverty strips him of any capacity whatsoever to help his family and realize the expectation placed on him. Worse of all, he could do extremely little to prevent his family from enduring humiliating circumstances like Dunya’s employment at Svidrigailov’s and the prospect of a less than happy marriage with an unsavory character, like Luzhin.

This sense of hopelessness contributes to driving Raskolnikov towards the robbery and murders. Other characters in the novel also find themselves in helpless situations. Marmeledov cannot conquer his addiction and bring himself to stop drinking away the little money the family is able to procure, largely out of Sonia’s prostitution. Sonia herself is helpless against the forces that drove her into a life of prostitution against her will. 

Punishment and Suffering

The theme of suffering and punishment is predominant in the book. The book seems to advance the idea that only commensurate punishment and suffering can put the condemned and guilty on the path to redemption. Repentance is not enough and must be backed by a genuine willingness to pay for one’s sins. After Raskolnikov murders the old pawnbroker, his punishment begins almost immediately after. He suffers from crushing guilt, illness, and self-loathing. He cannot master his conscience, and in the end, he succumbs to it.

His guilt and the triumph of his conscience mean he cannot get away with his crime. He betrays himself and therefore leads himself to be suspected by the authorities. This punishment however can only be expatiated by further punishment. Raskolnikov can only get reprieve and redemption if he confesses publicly to the police and suffers the embarrassment of being thought a fool with crazy ideas and a weak constitution, as well as suffer the disappointment of his family and friends, as well as the loss of his freedom.

Analysis of Key Moments

• Raskolnikov witnesses a young student argue with an army officer over the morality of killing the old, detestable pawnbroker, Alyona.
• Raskolnikov has a dream where he tries to prevent some peasants from heartlessly maltreating a mare
• Raskolnikov receives a letter from his mother outlining the interesting events happening at home with his family
• Raskolnikov kills Alyona the pawnbroker and her sister Lizaveta.
• The police begin to suspect Raskolnikov due to his strange behavior at the station after his landlady reports him over unpaid rent.
• Luzhin makes the unfavorable acquaintance of Raskolnikov.
• Dunya and Pulcharia arrive in Saint Petersburg. They are shocked at Raskolnikov’s cold and erratic behavior.
• Dunya breaks off the engagement with Luzhin; A spiteful Luzhin blames Raskolnikov and plans his revenge.
• Svidrigailov tries and fails to rape Dunya
• Porfiry encourages Raskolnikov to confess and accept his suffering in a heart-to-heart talk.
• Raskolnikov confesses his crime to Sonia, then the Police. 
• Raskolnikov repents for real in a Siberian prison and acknowledges the defectiveness of his ideas.

Tone and Style

‘ Crime and Punishment’ is a forerunner of the realistic style that would come to replace the romanticism that was dominant in Western literature at the time. Dostoevsky’s novel is a classic detective story, but the norms of the genre are subverted when we see the killer commit the crime in the first few pages. There is no mystery as regards who committed the crime or the surface level motivations behind it, rather the novel immediately devotes itself to the consequences of the crime on the individual in a psychological, ideological, and spiritual sense.  

Dostoevsky employs realistic descriptions to bring into sharp relief the starkness of Raskolnikov’s poverty, and his very deliberate world-building and scene-setting allow us to glimpse some motivation behind his crime through the skillful use of strong opinionated characters and interesting, realistic dialogues.

Dostoevsky brings forth the opposing arguments he wants to comment on and allows them to fight as fairly as possible in the world in which he has set them out. Dostoevsky lends little outright authorial or editorial presence in the book, as the omniscient narrator stays mostly objective. But Dostoevsky advances his ideas through the mouths of certain characters. Through dreams, Dostoevsky provides clues as to the psychological makeup of the characters, as well as the principal motivations for their actions. 

Analysis of Symbols

The hay market.

A section of St. Petersburg that is reserved for the very poor. This area is the symbol of poverty, and of the common destitute that Raskolnikov feels himself above. There is a distinct sense of filth and wretchedness that Raskolnikov comes to be all too aware of when he passes by. By making Raskolnikov come here to confess, Sonia makes sure Raskolnikov gets the fullest possible punishment for his murders. This is because the hay market is populated by a mass of people whom Raskolnikov despises and thinks are inferior to himself. Confessing here accentuates his humiliation but at the same time fast tracks his redemption.

The cross is a symbol of wilful suffering in service of pious and redemptive aims. Raskolnikov goes to take Sonia’s cross only when he is ready to confess publicly for his sins.

Saint Petersburg

The city of Saint Petersburg was often seen as the most Westernized Russian city, therefore for Slavophiles, or people with slavophilic sentiments in post-Petrine Russia, Saint Petersburg was the most corrupt of Western cities, the city that has strayed farthest from traditional Russian values. The city is depicted this way in ‘Crime and Punishment ‘. Raskolnikov’s descent into the dark extremities of radical ideals begins only after he abandons the conservative society of rural Russia for corrupting Saint Petersburg. The city disgusts Raskolnikov, too, with its stench of filth and poverty and cynical residents. It is infested by “foolish” ideologues, too.

What are the major themes in ‘ Crime and Punishment ?’

‘ Crime and Punishment ‘ contain themes like helplessness, poverty, nihilism, suffering, and alienation, among others.

What did Dostoevsky set out to achieve in ‘ Crime and Punishment ?’

Dostoevsky’s major objective is to display the folly and dangers inherent in radical ideals like utilitarianism, atheism, and nihilism

What literary style did Dostoevsky employ in ‘ Crime and Punishment ?’

Realism. Dostoevsky wrote in a very realistic style, favoring an accurate mimicking of reality over romanticism.

Join Our Community for Free!

Exclusive to Members

Create Your Personal Profile

Engage in Forums

Join or Create Groups

Save your favorites, beta access.

About Israel Njoku

Israel loves to delve into rigorous analysis of themes with broader implications. As a passionate book lover and reviewer, Israel aims to contribute meaningful insights into broader discussions.

Join Our Free Community

Engage in Literary Forums

Create and Join Groups

Create your own profile

See fewer ads

Save and bookmark articles

Discover literature and connect with others just like yourself!

Start the Conversation. Join the Chat.

There was a problem reporting this post.

Block Member?

Please confirm you want to block this member.

You will no longer be able to:

• See blocked member's posts
• Mention this member in posts
• Invite this member to groups

Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

Crime and Punishment Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and Punishment essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

Crime and Punishment Material

• Study Guide
• Lesson Plan

Join Now to View Premium Content

GradeSaver provides access to 2360 study guide PDFs and quizzes, 11007 literature essays, 2767 sample college application essays, 926 lesson plans, and ad-free surfing in this premium content, “Members Only” section of the site! Membership includes a 10% discount on all editing orders.

Crime and Punishment Essays

Emerging from claustrophobia: the landscape of redemption celine piser, crime and punishment.

The Bible's notion of the "promised land" has had a profound influence on secular literature. Modern authors have reinterpreted this biblical ideal to include any land of redemption or salvation. This is an important concept in both Dostoevsky's...

The Doomed Enslavement of the Individual in Capitalist Society as Viewed by Marx Theoderek Wayne

Bourgeois society enslaves the individual such that any attempt to transcend one's environmental limitations results in self-destruction. Nietzsche "slave morality" theory is applicable to the works of Dostoyevsky, Mann, and Ibsen, and posits that...

Irony in Crime and Punishment Christopher M. Earhart

The primary conflict in Crime and Punishment is the internal development of Raskolnikov's character. In Raskolnikov's mind are two contrasting personalities, each demanding control over him. One side, brought out by poverty and egoism, is the...

Suffering in Crime and Punishment Judd Salamat

Fyodor Dostoevsky once stated, "Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience. But nothing is a greater cause of suffering" (Eiermann). Existentialism insists that human life is understood in terms of one's unique experience....

There Are No Small Parts, Only Small Actors Megan DiGregorio

Anyone who has had any exposure to theatre has at least once heard the colloquialism, "there are no small parts, only small actors." Some may mock this platitude, pointing out the fact that, of course there are small parts; most literary works...

Understanding Raskolnikov Through His Subconscious in Crime and Punishment Katherine Gleason

Dreams are considered a link to one's unconscious, able to offer explanations that "... the dreamer could not invent for himself in his waking state," (46). Sigmund Freud made revolutionary strides with the psychological implications of dreams in...

Deconstructing Madness in Crime and Punishment and Don Quixote Vanessa Carr

Madness and sanity seem to exist on opposite poles of a binary; one is defined by the absence of the other. However, this binary, though present in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, is problematic. The...

Superman is dead! Dostoyevsky's View of the Ubermensch Theory Ellie Roan

"The extraordinary...have the right to commit all kinds of crimes and to transgress the law in all kinds of ways, for the simple reason that they are extraordinary." [1] Dostoyevsky's main characters are divided into two philosophical categories....

Crime and Punishment: Resurrection Anonymous

Fyodor Dosteoevsky's Crime and Punishment is a renowned 19th-century novel that has captivated audiences for generations. Part of the appeal for this classic text comes from the densely interwoven and constantly evolving thematic motifs and...

Raskolnikov's Decision- Svidrigaylov Versus Sonya Sonia Stoddart

After discussing the possibility of confession with Porfiry in part six of Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov debates whom to go see, Svidrigaylov or Sonya. He says of Sonya:

"She represented an irrevocable sentence, an unchangeable resolution. He...

Svidrigailov's Nightmares Carl Gershenson

In his novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky uses nightmares to develop the story of Arkady Ivanovich Svidrigailov, the depraved sensualist, to its dnouement, in which he fully accepts his dire situation and its inevitable outcome....

Rodion Raskolnikov, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love God Tiffany Shropshire

Written in a time of emerging new philosophies and ideals, Dostoyevsky's novel Crime and Punishment exemplifies the author's strongly held viewpoints on religion, morality, society, and philosophy, while offering insight into the innermost...

Why Raskolnikov Killed the Pawnbroker Ruddy Wang

Following his confession to Sonya, Crime and Punishment's Raskolnikov attempts to explain the reasoning behind his murder. This segment of the novel illuminates the fundamental irrationality of Raskolnikov's ostensibly logical reasoning. It also...

A Woman's Care Michael Jin

"I like them to talk nonsense. That's man's one privilege over all creation. Through error you come to the truth! I am a man because I err!" (160) Dmitri Prokofitch Razumihin

The psychological realism apparent in the works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky...

Behind Every Great Man There is a Great Woman: Delving Into Man and Woman, Delving Into Modernity and Tradition Mary Margaret Acoymo

Fyodor Dostoevsky uses Crime and Punishment as a vehicle for his critique on the moral deterioration of society caused by the encroaching poisonous, impersonal rationalism of modernity. He focuses his critique by utilizing a defining component of...

The Character of Marmeladov in Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment Ming Vandenberg

Often in literature a minor character that appears only briefly nevertheless has a significant effect on such aspects of a work as theme and the development of other characters. This is especially true in the case of Marmeladov, the alcoholic...

Discovery of Existentialism in Crime and Punishment Anonymous

Discovery of Existentialism in Crime and Punishment

by, Anonymous

January 1, 1995

Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment can be read as an ideological novel because those typically represent the social, economic, and political concerns of a culture....

A Yellow Bruise Over His Heart: Symbolism in Crime and Punishment Nicole E. DiPaolo

Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment is one of the most memorable and substantial literary works in history. It deals with the psychological, emotional, mental, and physical struggles of several residents of nineteenth-century St....

Wrongdoing Natalia Martinez

In Chapter V of Part IV of Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky uses the physical and emotional fluctuation of the characters to highlight the mounting turmoil within Raskolnikov and accentuate the semantic threshold at which he finds himself. To see...

Environmental Awareness in I[Crime and Punishment] Jenna Weiner

It can be said that a person's disposition is determined by the condition of their living space, and it is no secret that environment greatly influences a person's character. This idea is taken to the extreme in Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and...

Part Two Essay : Alienation of Raskolnikov Anonymous

Crime and Punishment Part Two: Essay

In Part Two of Crime and Punishment, the reader sees a continuation of many themes earlier presented, but in a new and more extreme environment. As Raskolnikov tries to remain clear of accusation, he continues...

The Epilogue's Necessity to a Christian Theme Kirk Waldron

Although Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment has a primarily social theme, it offers an interesting approach to the Christian interpretation of man. Through the self-destructive experiences of Raskolnikov, the reader is drawn to see the fallacy of...

The Morality of Murder: Dostoyevsky's Complication of "the Trolley Problem" Joseph Silver

When is one morally sanctioned to take another's life? In Fyodor Dostoyevsky's highly acclaimed philosophical detective story, Crime and Punishment, the author casts light on several important existential and metaphysical quandaries that are...

Sin and Salvation: A Spiritual Rebirth Ignatius Ng

Sin and Salvation: A Spiritual Rebirth

Sin is an inextricable force that entangles an individual who has committed a crime; only through confession can a man be free of his sin. In Crime and Punishment Dostoevsky manifests the evil and goodness of...

An Essay on Crimes and Punishments

• Cesare Bonesana di Beccaria (author)
• Voltaire (author)

An extremely influential Enlightenment treatise on legal reform in which Beccaria advocates the ending of torture and the death penalty. The book also contains a lengthy commentary by Voltaire which is an indication of high highly French enlightened thinkers regarded the work.

• EBook PDF This text-based PDF or EBook was created from the HTML version of this book and is part of the Portable Library of Liberty.
• Facsimile PDF This is a facsimile or image-based PDF made from scans of the original book.
• Kindle This is an E-book formatted for Amazon Kindle devices.

An Essay on Crimes and Punishments. By the Marquis Beccaria of Milan. With a Commentary by M. de Voltaire. A New Edition Corrected. (Albany: W.C. Little & Co., 1872).

The text is in the public domain.

• United States

Related Collections:

Crime and punishment IELTS model essay with vocabulary

Our band nine sample essays give you the opportunity to learn from successful essays that show off the best structure, vocabulary and grammar. This IELTS essay on crime and punishment explores the advantages and disadvantages of harsh punishment for criminals.

band Nine Sample Essay

In some countries, crimes are punished harshly. what are some advantages and disadvantages of this approach.

Several nations have opted to implement a system of strict penalties, such as long jail sentences and execution, for crimes. In this essay, I will explore the advantage that this is a good deterrent with the disadvantage that this harms rehabilitation .

Punitive measures can help deter future crime. If people can see that crimes will be punished harshly, they are far less likely to want to commit a crime . Because people consider risk versus reward before acting, making crime as risky as possible by increasing punishment can stop criminals. Conversely, when countries have light punishments for crimes like shoplifting , people in those countries might feel like it is worth the risk to do these crimes.

However, these strong punishments also increase recidivism by failing to rehabilitate people. One of the main purposes of sending people to prison is to prevent them from committing crimes when they leave; however, making prisons and other punishments too strict works against this purpose. When criminals have a heavily punitive experience, they lose self-confidence and become distrustful of authority , meaning they are more likely to be involved in crime when they leave prison. Alternatively, if prisoners have access to training and support, such as drug rehabilitation programs and anger management classes, they are far more likely to rejoin society in a productive way. 

In conclusion, the correct punishment for crimes is a complex issue. On the one hand, strong measures deter crime; on the other hand, the same measures make it more likely for prisoners to reoffend .

crime and punishment vocabulary

Although crime and punishment is a common topic in the IELTS exam, there, thankfully, is not too much vocabulary you need to know for it. Let’s take a look at some of the high level vocabulary in this answer to kick start your learning.

Related posts

Essay on Crime And Punishment

Students are often asked to write an essay on Crime And Punishment in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Crime And Punishment

Understanding crime.

Crime is an act that breaks the law. It can be small, like stealing candy, or big, like robbing a bank. Some people commit crimes because they are poor, others because they want power or excitement. No matter the reason, crime harms others and disrupts peace in society.

Purpose of Punishment

Punishment is given to people who commit crimes. It serves two main purposes. First, it discourages the person from committing the crime again. Second, it warns others that crime leads to unpleasant consequences.

Types of Punishment

Punishments can be different based on the crime. For small crimes, punishments can be fines or community service. For serious crimes, punishments can be jail time or even the death penalty in some places.

Effectiveness of Punishment

Punishment can stop people from committing crimes, but it’s not always effective. Sometimes, people commit crimes again after being punished. This shows that we need to find better ways to prevent crime, like education and providing opportunities.

Crime and punishment are important topics in our society. While punishment can deter crime, it’s not a perfect solution. We need to work on other ways to prevent crime, ensuring a peaceful and safe society for all.

250 Words Essay on Crime And Punishment

Understanding crime and punishment.

Crime refers to acts that break the law. These are actions that society and law consider wrong. For example, stealing or hurting someone physically. Punishment, on the other hand, is what happens when someone commits a crime. It could be a fine, jail time, or community service.

Why Crimes Happen

People commit crimes for many reasons. Some do it out of need, like stealing food to eat. Others might do it because they think it’s fun or exciting. Sometimes, people commit crimes because they are angry or upset. Understanding these reasons can help us stop crimes before they happen.

Punishments are given based on the crime. Small crimes, like stealing a candy bar, might result in a small fine. Bigger crimes, like hurting someone, could lead to jail time. Some punishments aim to help the person learn from their mistakes, like community service.

Effect of Punishment

The goal of punishment is to stop people from committing crimes. It makes people think twice before doing something wrong. Yet, sometimes, punishment doesn’t work. Some people continue to commit crimes even after being punished. This shows that we need to find better ways to stop crime.

In conclusion, crime and punishment are important aspects of our society. They help keep order and ensure safety. By understanding the reasons behind crime and the effects of punishment, we can work towards a safer and more peaceful society.

500 Words Essay on Crime And Punishment

Crime is an act that goes against the laws set by society. It’s like breaking the rules that everyone has agreed to follow. These rules, or laws, are made to keep peace and order. When someone breaks them, it disrupts this peace and order. Crimes can be different in nature, like stealing, hurting someone, or telling lies about someone else.

What is Punishment?

Punishment is what happens when someone is found guilty of a crime. It’s a way for society to show that breaking the law is not okay. Punishments can also be different based on the crime. For example, if someone steals, they might have to give back what they stole and spend some time in jail. If someone hurts another person, they might have to go to jail for a long time.

The Purpose of Punishment

Punishment serves several important roles. First, it helps to teach the person who committed the crime that what they did was wrong. This is called deterrence. The idea is that if the punishment is tough, people will think twice before committing a crime.

Second, punishment also protects society. When a person who has committed a crime is in jail, they can’t commit more crimes. This is called protection.

Finally, punishment can also help the person who committed the crime to become a better person. This is called rehabilitation. The idea is to help them understand why what they did was wrong and how they can avoid doing it in the future.

The Balance Between Crime and Punishment

It’s important to make sure the punishment fits the crime. This means that the punishment should be just right – not too harsh, not too light. If the punishment is too harsh, it’s not fair to the person who committed the crime. If it’s too light, it might not stop them or others from committing more crimes.

Finding the right balance can be hard. That’s why we have judges and courts. They look at all the details of the crime and the person who committed it. Then they decide what the right punishment should be.

Final Thoughts

Crime and punishment are important parts of our society. They help keep order and teach people the difference between right and wrong. It’s a complex system, but it’s necessary to ensure that we can all live in peace and safety. It’s also a system that is always changing and evolving, as we learn more about what works best to deter crime and rehabilitate those who have committed crimes.

Remember, the goal is not just to punish, but also to prevent future crimes and help those who have committed crimes to become better people. This way, we can all live in a safer and more peaceful society.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Credit Card Boon Or Bane
• Essay on CPU
• Essay on Self Help Is The Best Help

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Undergraduate
• High School
• Architecture
• American History
• Asian History
• Antique Literature
• American Literature
• Asian Literature
• Classic English Literature
• World Literature
• Creative Writing
• Linguistics
• Criminal Justice
• Legal Issues
• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Political Science
• World Affairs
• African-American Studies
• East European Studies
• Latin-American Studies
• Native-American Studies
• West European Studies
• Family and Consumer Science
• Social Issues
• Women and Gender Studies
• Social Work
• Natural Sciences
• Pharmacology
• Earth science
• Agriculture
• Agricultural Studies
• Computer Science
• IT Management
• Mathematics
• Investments
• Engineering and Technology
• Engineering
• Aeronautics
• Medicine and Health
• Alternative Medicine
• Communications and Media
• Advertising
• Communication Strategies
• Public Relations
• Educational Theories
• Teacher's Career
• Chicago/Turabian
• Company Analysis
• Education Theories
• Shakespeare
• Canadian Studies
• Food Safety
• Relation of Global Warming and Extreme Weather Condition
• Movie Review
• Admission Essay
• Annotated Bibliography
• Application Essay
• Article Critique
• Article Review
• Article Writing
• Book Review
• Business Plan
• Business Proposal
• Capstone Project
• Cover Letter
• Creative Essay
• Dissertation
• Dissertation - Abstract
• Dissertation - Conclusion
• Dissertation - Discussion
• Dissertation - Hypothesis
• Dissertation - Introduction
• Dissertation - Literature
• Dissertation - Methodology
• Dissertation - Results
• GCSE Coursework
• Grant Proposal
• Marketing Plan
• Multiple Choice Quiz
• Personal Statement
• Power Point Presentation
• Power Point Presentation With Speaker Notes
• Questionnaire
• Reaction Paper

Research Paper

• Research Proposal
• SWOT analysis
• Thesis Paper
• Online Quiz
• Literature Review
• Movie Analysis
• Statistics problem
• Math Problem
• All papers examples
• How It Works
• Money Back Policy
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• We Are Hiring

Crime and Punishment, Essay Example

Pages: 1

Words: 301

Hire a Writer for Custom Essay

Use 10% Off Discount: "custom10" in 1 Click 👇

You are free to use it as an inspiration or a source for your own work.

Crime is a violent act with an aim of hurting other individual. The aim of a crime is to destabilize the peace and tranquillity of the society. There are various aspects that make up a crime. They include:

• The nature of the crime
• The motive of the crime
• Whether the culprit was caught or not
• The punishment
• The reason of the punishment
• The effectiveness of the punishment

The above aspects are vital in understanding crime and punishment. Crime has origin like any other thing in existence. There are theories that have been brought up to understand crime with an aim of stopping it. These criminals behaviour are known to have been triggered by something to do these acts of violence. There are some French and Italian thinkers who have come up with various schools of thought to understand crime and the motives behind them. These thinkers have been able to understand the minds of criminals. Understanding the minds of the criminals can lead to early prevention of crime (Tonry, 2000).

The punishment for the crimes is something that has evolved through the ages. The punishment was meant to change the behaviour of the perpetrator and was to be fitting to the crime. This is something that initially brought up a lot of problems since the perpetrators came out not reformed. It is something that has changed over the ages as various reformers have come up to change the status quo.  These reformers made a significant difference and the change was positive. The main reason for punishment is being achieved now. This is now up for debate since change comes from an individual choice to change their habit and behaviour ( Dostoevsky, 2004).

Tonry H. Michael . (2000). The Handbook of Crime & Punishment . Foster City, CA: Oxford University press.

Dostoevsky F. (2004). Crime and Punishment Enriched Classics . Kentucky: Simon and Schuster.

Stuck with your Essay?

Get in touch with one of our experts for instant help!

Elected Representative Letter, Research Paper Example

Synthetic Biology, Essay Example

Time is precious

don’t waste it!

Plagiarism-free guarantee

Privacy guarantee

Secure checkout

Money back guarantee

Related Essay Samples & Examples

Voting as a civic responsibility, essay example.

Words: 287

Utilitarianism and Its Applications, Essay Example

Words: 356

The Age-Related Changes of the Older Person, Essay Example

Pages: 2

Words: 448

The Problems ESOL Teachers Face, Essay Example

Pages: 8

Words: 2293

Should English Be the Primary Language? Essay Example

Pages: 4

Words: 999

The Term “Social Construction of Reality”, Essay Example

Words: 371

7.10 Conclusion

As this chapter shows, there are many different types of crimes against people (and this chapter only covered a few). Each type of crime has different levels or degrees of how bad they are considered to be under the law, which determines the punishment that will be assigned if that person is convicted. Mens rea and actus reus  are major factors in each of these decisions and honestly determining each of those can be more difficult than it may first appear. Further, the manner in which prosecutors use different degrees of a crime for negotiation in plea deals is beyond the scope of this textbook, but a worthy investigation.

As Pope John Paul II said in the opening quote, “Violence is a crime against humanity, for it destroys the very fabric of society.” Crimes against people are incredibly harmful to the victim, their loved ones, the community, and beyond. Scholars Thomas Underwood and Nancie Palmer explained, “With the victim at the center, crime is like a pebble in a pond; it ripples, extending its impact outward.” It is this extreme and extending harm that guides the criminal justice system in addressing such crimes.

7.10.1 Application Exercises

• Investigate the specifics of crimes against people in your state. Identify what factors your state considers for identifying different degrees of each crime. Compare the laws in your state to another state of interest to you.
• Consider a typical bar fight. What details of the encounter would you need to consider to decide how to charge the individuals involved?
• Visit the resources listed in this chapter for intimate partner violence and for rape . Learn what they offer and how you can support others with these resources.
• Review the full list of sex crimes for which sex offender registry is required in Oregon at https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/sor/pages/offenderinformation.aspx . Do you agree or disagree with the practice of public registry for these crimes?

7.10.2 Discussion Questions

• How do actus reus  and mens rea  factor into different degrees or types of homicide and what are the important distinctions?
• What are the differences between simple assault, aggravated assault, and intimate partner violence?
• How was the  legal definition of rape updated? What were the changes to consent requirements?
• Are there any offenses in the list of sex crimes that surprise you? How about any you disagree with?
• What are the important factors in a robbery when determining its degree? Why do you think these are the only factors considered in this decision? Are there any others you would add?

7.10.3 Key Terms

• Aggravating factors
• Causation in fact
• Concurrence
• Corpus delicti
• Crimes against property
• Crimes against the person
• Culpability
• Failure to act
• Intimate partner violence
• Legal causation
• Misdemeanor
• Mitigating factors
• Moral Penal Code
• Objective foreseeability
• Premeditation
• Voluntary action

7.10.4 Summary

All crimes are classified based on their type and severity under the law. First, crimes are grouped by subject matter into crimes against the person and crimes against property. Then, crimes are classified by level of severity. This classification directly affects the level of punishment tied to the crime. A felony is the highest (worst) level of severity of a crime and of the associated punishment. A misdemeanor is considered a less serious crime and a violation is the least serious type of crime. Crimes are then classified by the level of degree. Degrees start with first for the highest, most severe level and end with forth for the lowest, least severe level. First-degree crimes are the ones considered the absolute worst and carry the greatest punishment. This classification is decided based on several factors, including use of a deadly weapon, premeditation, gruesome or particularly violent actions, special victims, protected victims, and motive. The classification of a crime as second-degree means there was something involved that made the crime slightly less bad or just more understandable. These are called mitigating factors. Third-degree crimes are those with more mitigating factors or a little less harm done. The lowest classification is fourth-degree. These are crimes committed by negligence or recklessness and can sometimes be considered “near accidents.” Almost every crime has two main elements: criminal intent, also called mens rea and a criminal act, also called actus reus . Mens rea and actus reus  must be proven together, with concurrence.

Homicide is one human being causing the death of another and is not always criminal. A justifiable homicide is when the criminal action was justified by the threat they believed to exist against themselves or someone else. An excusable homicide claim centers on the person’s mental state when they committed the killing. Criminal homicides are those killings identified by the law as being unacceptable (neither justifiable nor excusable) and for which someone must be held accountable. First-degree murder is the highest classification of murder and results in the most extreme punishment available. Second-degree murder is a homicide that nearly rises to the level of seriousness as first-degree but has some sort of mitigating factor that rationalizes the killing to some extent. Manslaughter is an unlawful killing that occurs without malice or murderous purpose.

Assault   is a crime where one person commits or threatens to commit unwanted or uninvited physical contact on another person resulting in harm. Simple assault can include threatening to hit someone, but not actually doing it. Aggravated assault is physical contact that causes serious bodily injury or bodily injury that is caused by a deadly weapon. What was once termed “domestic violence” is now referred to as   intimate partner violence (IPV). IPV is an assault that occurs between people in a close relationship.

Rape is defined by the U.S. Department of Justice as, “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim” (DOJ, 2012). Rape is charged according to degrees, much like murder and other crimes against persons. Each jurisdiction specifies their own very detailed factors that are used to determine the degree of the crime.

Robbery is a crime against a person involving force, violence, or threat that poses a risk of injury or death to the robbery victim or other innocent bystanders. The degrees of robbery are determined by weapons (real or not) and whether or not the robber is alone. There are three degrees for robbery (first, second, and third).

7.10.5 Resources

• Learn more about intimate partner violence at the National Domestic Violence Hotline website at https://www.thehotline.org/ including statistics, research, and resources.
• Learn more about sexual assault at the National Sexual Assault Hotline website at https://www.rainn.org/ including statistics, research, and resources.
• Find registered sex offender information for any area of the United States at the National Sex Offender Public Website at https://www.nsopw.gov/ .

7.10.6 Licenses and Attributions for Conclusion

“Conclusion” by Jennifer Moreno is licensed under CC BY 4.0 .

 Introduction to Criminology Copyright © by Taryn VanderPyl. All Rights Reserved.

Share This Book

• The Open University
• Guest user / Sign out
• Study with The Open University

My OpenLearn Profile

Personalise your OpenLearn profile, save your favourite content and get recognition for your learning

About this free course

Become an ou student, download this course, share this free course.

Start this free course now. Just create an account and sign in. Enrol and complete the course for a free statement of participation or digital badge if available.

Crime evokes a wide variety of reactions in people: fear, anger, fascination, curiosity. In this free course, An introduction to crime and criminology , you have considered the relatively common-place problem of vandalism in the form of graffiti as one example through which to explore your own views about an everyday sort of crime.

You were also invited to consider how social scientists and criminologists, in particular, study and seek to understand problems of crime. Finally, you were introduced to the idea of the criminological imagination. This, in part, involved viewing criminological issues or problems from multiple perspectives but also suggested that private troubles and social issues are often linked together.

In summary, you have learned that:

• crimes are acts which break the law of the land
• graffiti is a crime that is not always seen as one
• in different circumstances, graffiti can be viewed as a crime, as art, as a form of freedom of expression, or as social protest.
• crime is a contested concept and graffiti is an example of this
• criminology is a social science, which means it involves the systematic study of human society and social relationships as they relate to problems of crime and criminal justice
• crime, justice, victimisation and the study of criminology can all be emotive areas of study. As a result, the criminologist needs to be aware of the biases, value judgements and opinions that they bring with them into their field of study
• using your criminological imagination involves trying to think about criminological problems by considering how ‘private troubles connect with public issues.’

This OpenLearn course is an adapted extract from the Open University course  DD105 Introduction to criminology [ Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. ( Hide tip ) ] .

A level Sociology with the NEC

From race and gender identity, to criminal behaviour, inequality, religion and family conflict – sociology will open up your understanding of human behaviour and interaction. It also seeks to improve the society in which we live.

Explore the rich variety and complexity of human social life when you study A level Sociology online with the National Extension College (NEC).

Enrol from £750.

Find out more about A level Sociology here.

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

Beccaria – “On Crimes And Punishments”

November 4, 2018 By Margit

Cesare Beccaria is seen by many people as the “father of criminology.” Here is a brief summary of his ideas and famous essay “On Crimes and Punishments,” both in video and text format.

Table of Contents

Discussions about Crime and Punishment

Cesare Beccaria is seen by many people as the “father of criminology” for his ideas about crime, punishment, and criminal justice procedures. He was an Italian born as an aristocrat in the year 1738 in Milan. At that time European thought about crime and punishment was still very much dominated by the old idea that crime was sin and that it was caused by the devil and by demons. And in part to punish the devil and the demons that were causing crime, very harsh punishments were used. At the time when Beccaria came along, the era of Enlightenment was in full swing, and scientists were starting to challenge the old views, but the people who had political power were not ready to leave those old ideas behind yet.

Beccaria didn’t start out as an intellectual. In fact, he wasn’t considered to be above average or interested really when it came to science or philosophy. But after he completed his law studies at the University of Pavia, he started to surround himself with a group of young men who were interested in all kinds of philosophical issues and social problems. And the intellectual discussions that Beccaria was able to have with these people led him to question many of the practices that were common in his time, including the way in which offenders were being punished for their crimes.

Publication of Beccaria’s “On Crimes and Punishments”

Beccaria’s famous work, “On Crimes and Punishments,” was published in 1764, when he was 26 years old. His essay called out the barbaric and arbitrary ways in which the criminal justice system operated. Sentences were very harsh, torture was common, there was a lot of corruption, there were secret accusations and secret trials, and there was a lot of arbitrariness in the way in which sentences were imposed. There was no such thing as equality before the law. And powerful people of high status were treated very differently from people who were poor and who did not have a lot of status.

Beccaria’s ideas clashed dramatically with these practices. And I’ll go through some of the central principles that his work is based on.

Only the Law Can Prescribe Punishment

According to Beccaria, only the law can prescribe punishment. It is up to the legislator to define crime and to prescribe which punishment should be imposed. It is not up to a magistrate or a judge to impose a penalty if the legislator has not prescribed it. And neither is it up to a judge to change what the law says about how a crime should be punished. The judge should do exactly what the law says.

The Law Applies Equally to All People

In addition, Beccaria said that the law applies equally to all people. And so punishment should be the same for all people, regardless of their power and status.

Making the Law and Law Enforcement Public

Beccaria also believed in the power of making the law and law enforcement public. More specifically, laws should be published so that people actually know about them, and trials should be public, too. Only then can onlookers judge if the trial is fair.

Beccaria: Punishments Should be Proportional, Certain, and Swift

Regarding severe punishment, Beccaria said that if severe punishments do not prevent crime, they should not be used. Instead, punishments should be proportional to the harm that the crime has caused. According to Beccaria, the aim of punishment is not to cause pain to the offender, but to prevent them from doing it again and to prevent other people from committing crime. In order to be able to do that, Beccaria believed that punishment should be certain and swift. He believed that if offenders were sure that they would be punished and if punishment would come as quickly as possible after the offense, that this would have the largest chance of preventing crime.

Beccaria Argued Against the Death Penalty

As another controversial issue, Beccaria argued against the death penalty. In his view, the state does not have the right to repay violence with more violence. And in addition to that, Beccaria believed that the death penalty was useless. The death penalty is momentary, it is not lasting and therefore the death penalty cannot be very successful in preventing crimes. Instead, lasting punishments, such as life imprisonment, would be more successful in preventing crimes, because potential offenders will find this a much more miserable condition than the death penalty.

No Right To Torture

Similarly, according to Cesare Beccaria, the state does not have the right to torture. Because no one is guilty until he or she is found guilty, no one has the right to punish a person by torturing him or her. Plus, people who are under torture will want the torture to stop and might therefore make false claims, including that they committed a crime they did not commit. So torture is also ineffective.

The Power of Education

Instead of torture and severe penalties, Beccaria believed that education is the most certain method of preventing crime.

Beccaria: Controversy and Success

Beccaria’s ideas are hardly controversial today, but they caused a lot of controversy at the time, because they were an attack on the entire criminal justice system. Beccaria initially published his essay anonymously, because he didn’t necessarily consider it to be a great idea to publish such radical ideas. And this idea was partly confirmed when the book was put on the black list of the Catholic Church for a full 200 years.

But even though his ideas were controversial back then, his essay became an immediate success. In fact, Cesare Beccaria’s ideas became the basis for all modern criminal justice systems and there is some evidence that his essay influenced the American and French revolutions which happened not long after the publication of the essay. His ideas were not original, because others had also proposed them, but Beccaria was the first one to present them in a consistent way. Many people were ready for the changes that he proposed, which is why his essay was such a success.

Beccaria ends his essay with what can be seen as a kind of summary of his view:

“So that any punishment be not an act of violence of one or of many against another, it is essential that it be public, prompt, necessary, minimal in severity as possible under given circumstances, proportional to the crime, and prescribed by the laws.”

You can find Cesare Beccaria’s full essay “On Crimes and Punishments” here .

Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment

More from nber.

In addition to working papers , the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter , the NBER Digest , the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability , the Bulletin on Health , and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship  — as well as online conference reports , video lectures , and interviews .

The Politics of Crime and Punishment in America Essay

Introduction, prisons and criminal justice in america, increasing prison industrial complexes, private prisons.

Bibliography

Four Americans were sentenced to eight years of imprisonment when they were found guilty of shipping lobsters in plastic bags and not in wooden boxes, violating the law (that was no longer enforced) of Honduras (“Rough Justice” par. 1). Punishment and disciplining has been part of the society since the Enlightenment (Foucault 82). Offences, earlier in history were made a public spectacle to insight fear for the power of the ruler. However, in the nineteenth century with the advent of the modern times, the nature of punishment transformed and the new form aimed at deprivation in seclusion, hence the prison system.

Imprisonment was believed to be a method to control the deviant and has been embraced by most of the modern societies today. However, in some countries like the USA, this form of punishment ahs assumed a new meaning. Imprisoning of the law-breaker was no longer just a method to control and discipline the behavior of the perpetrator but also to garner economic growth and business. In this essay, I will argue that incarceration and prisons in America has become a governmental tool to meet economic and political ends by building more prisons and creating new laws.

The justice system in America boasts of being harsher and stricter than any other developed countries. The paranoia over the felonious moving freely on the roads creates panic and hence, the overprotective justice system. Any forms of aberration, even the minutes of them, are punished with imprisonment. Why is it so? Is it because the country’s beliefs in a crime free society or some other reason?

Criminologists believe that the American penal system is flawed as incarceration rate, duration of imprisonment is very high, and the system criminalizes acts that need not be turned into a criminal act. For instance, a 65-year-old orchid collector who has been accused by law as smuggling flowers from South America under the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species (“Too many laws, too many prisoners” par. 3).

This exemplifies the belief that the increase in number of prisoners in US prisons is due to the increase in incarceration due tot non-violent crimes. According to a recent Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) report, there are around 2.4 million people inside prisons and of these, 1.3 million in state prisons (“Who, what, where and why” par. 2). President Eisenhower started the war on crime in the sixties and it was not until the nineties that the American bureaucracy started to develop the prison complexes (Schlosser 3). This has resulted in a spurt in prison construction in the US.

One reason behind this increase in incarceration rate may be due to the increase in number of laws in the US. Criminal law legislations increased from 3000 in 1980 to 4500 in 2008 (Pelaez par. 7). Does this demonstrate the politicians are more concerned about public safety and hence have device means to control the outburst of criminal activities as was observed in the eighties? Some believe that the intent to increase internal security was the initial agenda of the lawmakers but then the power hunger drifted them to utilize this as a tool to influence votes (Schlosser 3).

Prison population has been used since the Civil Wars as a means of cheap labor in the US. With rise in the incarceration rate in America, there has been an increase in prison labor, which is much cheaper than ‘free’ labor. Many private investors are contracting prison labors that have been legalized in 37 states in America (Pelaez para 11). Many eminent business houses are eager to tap into the possibilities of the increase in cheap prison labor the boom that it would cause to the economy. Thus, it is popularly believed that prisons can turn around the economy of a state.

The politics and economic of prison building was first, unwittingly, initiated by New York governor Mario Cuomo in the eighties (Schlosser 6). The prison building effort of Cuomo was due to his predecessor’s legislation to strengthen criminal act. Overcrowded prisons had become the breeding place of crime and criminals and hence there was immediate need to increase prison faculties.

However, the unconventional method of financing prison building was probably the brainchild of Cuomo, who turned to Urban Development Corporations who invested in rural areas of New York State, to build prisons (Schlosser 6). By building new prisons in the backward areas of the state, helped in giving employment to the locals and therefore, improve the living standard in the area. Thus, prisons helped bring steady economic growth to rural regions: “Prisons are labor-intensive institutions, offering year-round employment” (Schlosser 7).

Prisons not only help in providing employment to the locals, they also develop ancillary industries. Prisons require supplies of various forms – catering, telephones, prison interiors, security cameras, plumbing supplies, health care, and construction. There are investors in Wall Street who handle prison bonds that are specifically invested in prison building purposes (Schlosser 9). Providing and supplying to prisons have become a niche industry in the US.

Therefore, building of prisons helped in achieving two purposes – increase number of cells for overcrowded prisons and generate economic growth. The prison building effort in the US is a large industry that thrives on increased number of prisoners. Hence, reducing prisoners’ intake will negatively affect the growth of this industry that thrives on higher incarceration rate. Though scholars believe in reviving the old fashion method of preventing crime, the politicians believes in rejuvenating the growth engine with the aid of increased prisons, and therefore, increased number of prisoners.

Privatization of prions in the eighties marked another milestone for the criminal justice system in America, under the leadership of President Ronald Reagan but reached its height in 1990s when the stock market was extremely bullish. Private prisons are believed to provide the largest business opportunity to prison industrial complex. Private prisons are provided with a fixed compensation for each prisoner they guard. Nevertheless, how helpful are these to the justice system of he state?

Private corporations operate on profit motive. Their business model would be same as that of the hospitality or hotel industry. The larger the number of guests in the greater is their profits. In other words, higher the number of prisoners higher will be their profits. Thus, the increase in the number of prisoners can be attributed to an increase in private prisons. The private prison establishments are often mismanaged and are unsafe place for boarding dangerous sociopaths.

These companies are highly controversial and have aided in enhancing prison complex development. Private prisons were brought forth through the privatization drive of Reagan and Bush administration. The justice department has also supported the move by placing minimum-security inmates in private prisons. It was believed that private prisons would drive away inefficiencies of the public sector and make prisons more efficient. However, experience suggests that private prisons were not successful in guarding dangerous criminals, the primary task for which they were commissioned.

Privatization of prisons was a business move as the government sought to reduce its public burden. However, the privatization process led to profit motive that essentially contributed to the increase in incarceration rate.

Crime and punishment in America is governed by political intent to lure votes or to pacify lobbying businesspersons. The political clout and the justice system has helped develop an institution that breeds on injecting fear in the mind of the common people to attract votes with their showy criminal control legislations and then presenting another lure of economic growth to counter their initial mistake that increased prison population. Privatization of prisons demonstrates another motive of the politicians to help the interest of private businesses while overlooking the need for true justice.

American politicians and justice department in conjunction, In the name of war against crime, law and order, and safety, has crowded the American prisons and filled the coffers of the private investors. Prisons, that were supposed to be isolated campus for dangerous criminals, has become home to non-violent offenders. Thus, the political system in America has rigged the justice system to create a flawed correction and incarceration institution for mere profit. Clearly, the policymakers in America have overlooked the need to correct and give another chance. This essay therefore points out, through the words of Michael Foucault that “there is no glory is punishing” (10).

Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison . London: Penguine Books, 1975. Print.

Pelaez, Vicky. The Prison Industry in the United States: Big Business or a New Form of Slavery? 2008. Web.

Schlosser, Eric. The Prison-Industrial Complex. 1998. Web.

The Economist. Rough Justice. 2010. Web.

Too many laws, too many prisoners. 2010. Web.

Who, what, where and why . 2014. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, November 28). The Politics of Crime and Punishment in America. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-politics-of-crime-and-punishment-in-america/

"The Politics of Crime and Punishment in America." IvyPanda , 28 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-politics-of-crime-and-punishment-in-america/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'The Politics of Crime and Punishment in America'. 28 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "The Politics of Crime and Punishment in America." November 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-politics-of-crime-and-punishment-in-america/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Politics of Crime and Punishment in America." November 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-politics-of-crime-and-punishment-in-america/.

IvyPanda . "The Politics of Crime and Punishment in America." November 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-politics-of-crime-and-punishment-in-america/.

• New York State Budget for Educational Policies
• The New York Health Act and Its Benefits
• Approaches to Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
• Current Event on Sexual Harassment
• Hurricane Sandy and Emergency Plan
• Protein-Protein Complexes Through to Interactomics
• Crossover Complexes of Iron Coordination Compounds
• Privatization of Prison Industry in the United States
• Privatization of the American penal system
• Advertisement in Beauty Sphere: Psychological Complexes
• Plea Bargain: Benefits and Pitfalls
• Florida’s Prisoner Aging Problem
• Prison Privatization: Pros and Cons
• Presumption of Innocence: Law Students' Perception
• Presumption of Innocence in Palestine

IELTS Preparation with Liz: Free IELTS Tips and Lessons, 2024

• Test Information FAQ
• Band Scores
• IELTS Candidate Success Tips
• Computer IELTS: Pros & Cons
• How to Prepare
• Useful Links & Resources
• Recommended Books
• Writing Task 1
• Writing Task 2
• Speaking Part 1 Topics
• Speaking Part 2 Topics
• Speaking Part 3 Topics
• 100 Essay Questions
• On The Day Tips
• Top Results
• Advanced IELTS

Crime & Punishment Essay Titles

IELTS Essay Questions for the Topic of Crime & Punishment. All essay questions below are reported by IELTS candidates and seem to have been repeated over the years. Regardless of the years the questions were reported, you could get any question below in your test. You should, therefore, prepare ideas for all questions given below. This topic is more likely to appear in the Academic test than the GT writing test. However, all candidates should prepare for all topics to be safe.

Crime & Punishment Essay Questions for IELTS Writing Task 2

The crime rate nowadays is decreasing compared to the past due to advance technology which can prevent and solve crime. Do you agree or disagree? (Reported 2017, 2021 Academic Test)

Many criminals commit further crimes as soon as they released from prison. What do you think are the causes of this? What possible solutions can you suggest? (Reported 2015, 2017, 2022 Academic Test)

It is often thought that the increase in juvenile crime can be attributed to violence in the media. Do you agree that this is the main cause of juvenile crime? What solutions can you offer to deal with this situation? (common question)

In some societies, the number of crimes committed by teenagers is growing. Some people think that regardless of age, teenagers who commit major crimes should receive adult punishment. To what extent do you agree? (2020, 2023)

Some countries are struggling with an increase in the rate of crime. Many people think that having more police on the streets is the only way to reduce crime. To what extent do you agree? (2018, 2020)

Some people think that women should not be allowed to work in the police force. Do you agree or disagree?

Many crimes are often related to the consumption of alcohol. Some people think that the best way to reduce the crime rate is to ban alcohol. Do you think this is an effective measure against crime? What other solutions can you suggest?

Some people think certain prisoners should be made to do unpaid community work instead of being put behind bars. To what extent do you agree? (Reported 2017, 2020, GT Test)

Many people believe that having a fixed punishment for all crimes is more efficient. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a fixed punishment? (common question)

Some people think that the government should be responsible for crime prevention, while others believe that it is the responsibility of the individual to protect themselves. Discuss both sides and give your opinion.

The death penalty is the best way to control and reduce serious crime. To what extent do you agree? (2018, 2020)

While it is sometimes thought that prison is the best place for criminals, others believe that there are better ways to deal with them. What is your opinion? (common question – this is often reworded with a focus on the best ways to deal with criminals)

Crime rate, in most countries, is often higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Why do you think that is? What can be done to reduce the crime rate?

Some people think that poverty is the reason behind most crimes. Do you agree or disagree?

Internet crime is increasing rapidly as more and more people are using the internet to make financial transactions. What can be done to tackle this problem ?

Some people think that the parents of children who commit crime should also receive a punishment. Do you agree or disagree? (2020)

Reported essay questions are from students who have taken their IELTS test. That means questions may have appeared more frequently than have been reported. These questions may vary slightly in wording and focus from the original question. Also note that these questions could also appear in IELTS speaking part 3 which is another good reason to prepare all topics thoroughly.

All Practice IELTS Essay Questions

• Over 100 IELTS Essay Questions

IELTS Writing Task 2 Main Page

• Writing Task 2 Model Essays & Tips

Advanced IELTS Lessons & E-books

Click Below to Learn:

• IELTS Test Information

Copyright Notice

Copyright © Elizabeth Ferguson, 2014 – 2024

All rights reserved.

Privacy Policy & Disclaimer

• Click here:  Privacy Policy 
• Click here: Disclaimer

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2024 · Prose on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

'The Town's Alternate Ending Shows a Different Fate for Ben Affleck

• Ben Affleck's The Town pays homage to heist dramas with a modern twist and perfect casting.
• The alternate ending shows a fatalistic side of crime and highlights themes of punishment.
• Affleck's portrayal of Charlestown's cyclical criminal world challenges the romanticized notion of crime.

Since Ben Affleck emerged as a filmmaker, he has always delivered the goods. While his films never reinvent the wheel, they utilize the essential traits of genre storytelling while giving them an ever-so-slight modern touch . With Gone Baby Gone , Affleck re-charged the seedy and mysterious thrills of the noir genre. With Argo , the actor-director brought the '70s political thriller back into the fold . Nowhere were Affleck's homages more present than with The Town , his classical interpretation of the heist drama/thriller. Affleck's precise genre sensibilities, combined with perfect casting and vibrant characterization of Boston, resulted in the most satisfying heist movie in recent years. The ending of The Town put a bow on the story of a career bank robber eying one final job, but its alternate ending showcased the harsh, fatalistic side of crime that would have left viewers unsettled.

Release Date September 15, 2010

Director Ben Affleck

Cast Slaine, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm

Runtime 123

Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime, Documentary

Ben Affleck Pays Homage to Crime and Heist Dramas of the Past in 'The Town'

Affleck's second film in the director's chair , based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan , tells a story located in the "bank robbery capital of America," a title the film ascribes to Charlestown, a neighborhood of Boston, MA. Doug MacRay (Affleck) is the leader of the most feared bank robbery crew in the town alongside James "Jem" Coughlin ( Jeremy Renner ). Their criminal enterprise begins to go awry when Doug falls in love with Claire Keesey ( Rebecca Hall ), who was taken hostage by the crew during the opening bank heist. Feeling jaded by life as a thief and stricken with true love , Doug looks for a way out, even if it requires one last job . Before he can think about setting up a new life for himself and Claire, Doug must evade the pursuit of FBI Special Agent Adam Frawley ( Jon Hamm ), who is right on his tail.

Released in 2010, The Town is as much of an homage to the city of Boston as it is to the heist genre , notably Heat and The Friends of Eddie Coyle , with the latter being a seminal Boston-set film. The roots of Michael Mann 's meditation on crime and punishment are inextricable to any heist film. Affleck himself cited the groundbreaking car-chasing police procedural, The French Connection , as an influence , particularly when filming the North End chase. The Town is also indebted to the work of Martin Scorsese and Sidney Lumet , two filmmakers who thrived off urban environments and examined the criminal lifestyle as the ultimate burden on the soul. More than any visual motif or character arc, the heist genre staple most realized in The Town is the "one last job" narrative beat. The dispirited criminal, who knows no other life besides a life of crime, finally possesses the urge to live a stable and tranquil life. To achieve that utopia, they must complete a final heist that will set them up for a peaceful future.

The Alternate Ending of 'The Town' Depicts a Fatal Demise for Ben Affleck's Doug MacRay

Doug is well aware that engaging in an intimate relationship with a potential witness in Claire egregiously violates the criminal honor code . This reckless choice could send him and his entire crew to prison, especially when Frawley begins investigating Claire as an accomplice. Doug and Jem orchestrate their most daunting task , a heist at Fenway Park, the iconic home of the Boston Red Sox. Jem is killed by FBI SWAT agents during a shootout. Doug manages to escape the crime scene, and he takes care of loose ends by killing a local Irish gangster, Fergie ( Pete Postlethwaite ), who previously threatened to harm Claire if he refused to partake in the heist. Sometime later, Claire finds a bag of money in her garden left by Doug, who hopes to eventually see her again. Claire donates the money to the hockey arena that formed a once budding hockey star in Doug. The film concludes with a picturesque shot of a lonely, but presumably safe, Doug looking out at the water in his new home in Florida.

Within the context of the film, the ending is a hopeful, if not bittersweet, conclusion . Some might argue that the story of a lifelong bank robber should not end so cleanly. Logically, and for the sake of artistic expression, Doug should either be in handcuffs or have his soul forever corrupted. The deleted alternate ending of The Town is not so kind to its protagonist. After the FBI shootout during the Fenway heist, the deleted ending shows Doug, donning a cop uniform as a disguise, confronted by Alex ( Isaac Bordoy ), the gangster beaten by Doug and Jem as retribution for harassing Claire earlier in the film--the scene that spawned from Jem's memorable line, "Whose car are we taking?" Suffering from grave injuries from the attack, Alex now seeks his own revenge. The tense stand-off ends with Alex shooting Doug multiple times, leaving him dead on the streets . The film closes with no romantic gesture to Claire or suggestion of salvation. Doug's dream of retreating from Charlestown is a fleeting wish, as one of the last things he sees is a distant plane in the sky.

How the Alternate Ending of 'The Town' Highlights the Themes of Crime and Punishment

Doug's demise coming at the hands of a character both he and the audience had forgotten about is undoubtedly cruel, but it is also a just source of karma in the "ethics" of the criminal underworld . They say "crime doesn't pay" for a reason, and the original ending cheats on that mantra, as Doug and Claire can walk away with monetary gains scot-free. The Town 's alternate ending follows the principle of classic Warner Bros gangster movies when the likes of James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson had to atone for their sins. The only reasonable source of retribution was a bloody demise. One could argue that Affleck undermines his romanticized portrait of Charlestown as a cyclical den of bank robbing. When you're a Charlestown native, you remain a lifetime resident. If you belong to a bank-robbing family, you follow the family tradition. Doug's relationship with his incarcerated father, the notorious thief, Stephen MacRay ( Chris Cooper ), highlights Affleck's commentary on how the sins of one's parents will always linger with future offspring . Crime is in his blood , whether his drive for bank robbing is burgeoning or dormant. What's even more punishing is that the alternate ending shows Doug being fatally punished for an act driven by sentimentality in defending Claire's honor. In Charlestown or any world of crime, sentimentality gets you killed.

The alternate ending may not have been what audiences were clamoring for in 2010, but in retrospect, a fatalistic conclusion to The Town best serves the thematic trends that Ben Affleck sought to mimic . The audience is led to believe that, to survive in Charlestown, one must kill, or be killed. The validity of Doug being permitted to escape his criminal life is up to the viewer, but there's no question that Affleck's choice for a bittersweet coda starkly contrasts with Mann and Scorsese's fatalistic examinations of crime.

The Town is available to rent on Amazon in the U.S.

Rent on Amazon

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

What the data says about crime in the U.S.

A growing share of Americans say reducing crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress to address this year. Around six-in-ten U.S. adults (58%) hold that view today, up from 47% at the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidency in 2021.

We conducted this analysis to learn more about U.S. crime patterns and how those patterns have changed over time.

The analysis relies on statistics published by the FBI, which we accessed through the Crime Data Explorer , and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), which we accessed through the  National Crime Victimization Survey data analysis tool .

To measure public attitudes about crime in the U.S., we relied on survey data from Pew Research Center and Gallup.

Additional details about each data source, including survey methodologies, are available by following the links in the text of this analysis.

With the issue likely to come up in this year’s presidential election, here’s what we know about crime in the United States, based on the latest available data from the federal government and other sources.

How much crime is there in the U.S.?

It’s difficult to say for certain. The  two primary sources of government crime statistics  – the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) – paint an incomplete picture.

The FBI publishes  annual data  on crimes that have been reported to law enforcement, but not crimes that haven’t been reported. Historically, the FBI has also only published statistics about a handful of specific violent and property crimes, but not many other types of crime, such as drug crime. And while the FBI’s data is based on information from thousands of federal, state, county, city and other police departments, not all law enforcement agencies participate every year. In 2022, the most recent full year with available statistics, the FBI received data from 83% of participating agencies .

BJS, for its part, tracks crime by fielding a  large annual survey of Americans ages 12 and older and asking them whether they were the victim of certain types of crime in the past six months. One advantage of this approach is that it captures both reported and unreported crimes. But the BJS survey has limitations of its own. Like the FBI, it focuses mainly on a handful of violent and property crimes. And since the BJS data is based on after-the-fact interviews with crime victims, it cannot provide information about one especially high-profile type of offense: murder.

All those caveats aside, looking at the FBI and BJS statistics side-by-side  does  give researchers a good picture of U.S. violent and property crime rates and how they have changed over time. In addition, the FBI is transitioning to a new data collection system – known as the National Incident-Based Reporting System – that eventually will provide national information on a much larger set of crimes , as well as details such as the time and place they occur and the types of weapons involved, if applicable.

Which kinds of crime are most and least common?

Property crime in the U.S. is much more common than violent crime. In 2022, the FBI reported a total of 1,954.4 property crimes per 100,000 people, compared with 380.7 violent crimes per 100,000 people.  

By far the most common form of property crime in 2022 was larceny/theft, followed by motor vehicle theft and burglary. Among violent crimes, aggravated assault was the most common offense, followed by robbery, rape, and murder/nonnegligent manslaughter.

BJS tracks a slightly different set of offenses from the FBI, but it finds the same overall patterns, with theft the most common form of property crime in 2022 and assault the most common form of violent crime.

How have crime rates in the U.S. changed over time?

Both the FBI and BJS data show dramatic declines in U.S. violent and property crime rates since the early 1990s, when crime spiked across much of the nation.

Using the FBI data, the violent crime rate fell 49% between 1993 and 2022, with large decreases in the rates of robbery (-74%), aggravated assault (-39%) and murder/nonnegligent manslaughter (-34%). It’s not possible to calculate the change in the rape rate during this period because the FBI  revised its definition of the offense in 2013 .

The FBI data also shows a 59% reduction in the U.S. property crime rate between 1993 and 2022, with big declines in the rates of burglary (-75%), larceny/theft (-54%) and motor vehicle theft (-53%).

Using the BJS statistics, the declines in the violent and property crime rates are even steeper than those captured in the FBI data. Per BJS, the U.S. violent and property crime rates each fell 71% between 1993 and 2022.

While crime rates have fallen sharply over the long term, the decline hasn’t always been steady. There have been notable increases in certain kinds of crime in some years, including recently.

In 2020, for example, the U.S. murder rate saw its largest single-year increase on record – and by 2022, it remained considerably higher than before the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary data for 2023, however, suggests that the murder rate fell substantially last year .

How do Americans perceive crime in their country?

Americans tend to believe crime is up, even when official data shows it is down.

In 23 of 27 Gallup surveys conducted since 1993 , at least 60% of U.S. adults have said there is more crime nationally than there was the year before, despite the downward trend in crime rates during most of that period.

While perceptions of rising crime at the national level are common, fewer Americans believe crime is up in their own communities. In every Gallup crime survey since the 1990s, Americans have been much less likely to say crime is up in their area than to say the same about crime nationally.

Public attitudes about crime differ widely by Americans’ party affiliation, race and ethnicity, and other factors . For example, Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are much more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say reducing crime should be a top priority for the president and Congress this year (68% vs. 47%), according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

How does crime in the U.S. differ by demographic characteristics?

Some groups of Americans are more likely than others to be victims of crime. In the  2022 BJS survey , for example, younger people and those with lower incomes were far more likely to report being the victim of a violent crime than older and higher-income people.

There were no major differences in violent crime victimization rates between male and female respondents or between those who identified as White, Black or Hispanic. But the victimization rate among Asian Americans (a category that includes Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders) was substantially lower than among other racial and ethnic groups.

The same BJS survey asks victims about the demographic characteristics of the offenders in the incidents they experienced.

In 2022, those who are male, younger people and those who are Black accounted for considerably larger shares of perceived offenders in violent incidents than their respective shares of the U.S. population. Men, for instance, accounted for 79% of perceived offenders in violent incidents, compared with 49% of the nation’s 12-and-older population that year. Black Americans accounted for 25% of perceived offenders in violent incidents, about twice their share of the 12-and-older population (12%).

As with all surveys, however, there are several potential sources of error, including the possibility that crime victims’ perceptions about offenders are incorrect.

How does crime in the U.S. differ geographically?

There are big geographic differences in violent and property crime rates.

For example, in 2022, there were more than 700 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in New Mexico and Alaska. That compares with fewer than 200 per 100,000 people in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine, according to the FBI.

The FBI notes that various factors might influence an area’s crime rate, including its population density and economic conditions.

What percentage of crimes are reported to police? What percentage are solved?

Most violent and property crimes in the U.S. are not reported to police, and most of the crimes that  are  reported are not solved.

In its annual survey, BJS asks crime victims whether they reported their crime to police. It found that in 2022, only 41.5% of violent crimes and 31.8% of household property crimes were reported to authorities. BJS notes that there are many reasons why crime might not be reported, including fear of reprisal or of “getting the offender in trouble,” a feeling that police “would not or could not do anything to help,” or a belief that the crime is “a personal issue or too trivial to report.”

Most of the crimes that are reported to police, meanwhile,  are not solved , at least based on an FBI measure known as the clearance rate . That’s the share of cases each year that are closed, or “cleared,” through the arrest, charging and referral of a suspect for prosecution, or due to “exceptional” circumstances such as the death of a suspect or a victim’s refusal to cooperate with a prosecution. In 2022, police nationwide cleared 36.7% of violent crimes that were reported to them and 12.1% of the property crimes that came to their attention.

Which crimes are most likely to be reported to police? Which are most likely to be solved?

Around eight-in-ten motor vehicle thefts (80.9%) were reported to police in 2022, making them by far the most commonly reported property crime tracked by BJS. Household burglaries and trespassing offenses were reported to police at much lower rates (44.9% and 41.2%, respectively), while personal theft/larceny and other types of theft were only reported around a quarter of the time.

Among violent crimes – excluding homicide, which BJS doesn’t track – robbery was the most likely to be reported to law enforcement in 2022 (64.0%). It was followed by aggravated assault (49.9%), simple assault (36.8%) and rape/sexual assault (21.4%).

The list of crimes  cleared  by police in 2022 looks different from the list of crimes reported. Law enforcement officers were generally much more likely to solve violent crimes than property crimes, according to the FBI.

The most frequently solved violent crime tends to be homicide. Police cleared around half of murders and nonnegligent manslaughters (52.3%) in 2022. The clearance rates were lower for aggravated assault (41.4%), rape (26.1%) and robbery (23.2%).

When it comes to property crime, law enforcement agencies cleared 13.0% of burglaries, 12.4% of larcenies/thefts and 9.3% of motor vehicle thefts in 2022.

Are police solving more or fewer crimes than they used to?

Nationwide clearance rates for both violent and property crime are at their lowest levels since at least 1993, the FBI data shows.

Police cleared a little over a third (36.7%) of the violent crimes that came to their attention in 2022, down from nearly half (48.1%) as recently as 2013. During the same period, there were decreases for each of the four types of violent crime the FBI tracks:

• Police cleared 52.3% of reported murders and nonnegligent homicides in 2022, down from 64.1% in 2013.
• They cleared 41.4% of aggravated assaults, down from 57.7%.
• They cleared 26.1% of rapes, down from 40.6%.
• They cleared 23.2% of robberies, down from 29.4%.

The pattern is less pronounced for property crime. Overall, law enforcement agencies cleared 12.1% of reported property crimes in 2022, down from 19.7% in 2013. The clearance rate for burglary didn’t change much, but it fell for larceny/theft (to 12.4% in 2022 from 22.4% in 2013) and motor vehicle theft (to 9.3% from 14.2%).

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Nov. 20, 2020.

• Criminal Justice

John Gramlich is an associate director at Pew Research Center

8 facts about Black Lives Matter

#blacklivesmatter turns 10, support for the black lives matter movement has dropped considerably from its peak in 2020, fewer than 1% of federal criminal defendants were acquitted in 2022, before release of video showing tyre nichols’ beating, public views of police conduct had improved modestly, most popular.

1615 L St. NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Age & Generations
• Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Economy & Work
• Family & Relationships
• Gender & LGBTQ
• Immigration & Migration
• International Affairs
• Internet & Technology
• Methodological Research
• News Habits & Media
• Non-U.S. Governments
• Other Topics
• Politics & Policy
• Race & Ethnicity
• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Copyright 2024 Pew Research Center

Terms & Conditions

Privacy Policy

Cookie Settings

Reprints, Permissions & Use Policy

Death Penalty Cruel or Unusual Punishment?

This essay about the ethical and legal dimensions of the death penalty explores the intense debates surrounding its use. It examines the historical context, arguments from both supporters and opponents, and the constitutional implications, particularly in light of U.S. Supreme Court decisions. Advocates argue for its deterrent effect and justice for victims, while critics condemn its inhumanity and potential for wrongful convictions. The essay concludes that as societal values evolve, so will the discourse on the morality and legality of capital punishment.

How it works

In the labyrinthine corridors of legal discourse, few issues evoke as much impassioned debate as the question of the death penalty’s ethical standing. At its heart lies a profound inquiry: Does the death penalty constitute a form of cruel or unusual punishment? This essay embarks on a journey through the labyrinth of arguments surrounding this contentious issue, shedding light on the myriad ethical and legal considerations that underpin the debate.

Historical Context: Throughout the annals of human history, civilizations have grappled with the challenge of devising just and equitable responses to the most egregious transgressions.

The death penalty, woven into the tapestry of legal traditions, has long been regarded as a deterrent against heinous crimes and a means of societal retribution. Yet, as societal values evolve and consciousness of human rights deepens, the moral legitimacy of capital punishment has increasingly come into question.

Advocates’ Assertions: Proponents of the death penalty ardently defend its utility as a deterrent against the gravest offenses, contending that the specter of ultimate punishment serves as a potent deterrent to potential wrongdoers. They argue that the imposition of capital punishment is not only morally justifiable but essential in upholding the social contract and preserving public safety. Moreover, proponents assert that executing perpetrators offers a modicum of closure and vindication to the grieving families of victims, providing a semblance of justice in the wake of tragedy.

Additionally, proponents underscore the rigorous procedural safeguards and exhaustive legal scrutiny inherent in death penalty cases, mitigating the risk of miscarriages of justice and ensuring due process. From their perspective, the imposition of the death penalty is not cruel or unusual but rather a measured response to the most egregious acts, reaffirming societal norms and upholding the sanctity of the law.

Opponents’ Assertions: Conversely, opponents of the death penalty decry it as a barbaric relic of antiquity, arguing that state-sanctioned killing violates the fundamental tenets of human dignity and individual rights. They contend that no civilized society can countenance the deliberate extinguishment of life, regardless of the severity of the offense committed. Moreover, opponents highlight the systemic flaws and biases ingrained within the legal system, which exacerbate the risk of wrongful convictions and perpetuate injustices.

Critics further emphasize the evolving standards of decency and global consensus against the death penalty, with the majority of nations either abolishing or imposing moratoriums on its use. They posit that the practice not only contravenes the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment but also tarnishes the moral integrity of the state and undermines its commitment to human rights.

Legal and Ethical Reflections: From a legal standpoint, the constitutionality of the death penalty hinges on nuanced interpretations of constitutional provisions and landmark judicial precedents. The Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, exemplified by seminal cases such as Furman v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia, underscores the delicate balance between the state’s authority to administer justice and its obligation to protect individual liberties.

Ethically, the death penalty raises profound philosophical questions about the nature of justice, the sanctity of life, and the moral responsibilities of society. Philosophical perspectives diverge, with some advocating for retributive justice and others championing restorative approaches grounded in rehabilitation and redemption.

Conclusion: In conclusion, the debate surrounding the death penalty encapsulates the moral and legal complexities that define the quest for justice in contemporary society. While proponents extol its virtues as a deterrent and symbol of retribution, opponents denounce it as a violation of human rights and an affront to civilized values. As societal attitudes continue to evolve and consciousness of human rights deepens, the discourse surrounding the death penalty will undoubtedly persist, prompting ongoing introspection and reevaluation of our collective moral compass. Ultimately, the pursuit of justice demands a nuanced understanding of the ethical and legal considerations inherent in capital punishment, ensuring that the scales of justice are balanced with compassion, equity, and humanity.

Cite this page

Death Penalty Cruel Or Unusual Punishment?. (2024, Apr 29). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/death-penalty-cruel-or-unusual-punishment/

"Death Penalty Cruel Or Unusual Punishment?." PapersOwl.com , 29 Apr 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/death-penalty-cruel-or-unusual-punishment/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Death Penalty Cruel Or Unusual Punishment? . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/death-penalty-cruel-or-unusual-punishment/ [Accessed: 30 Apr. 2024]

"Death Penalty Cruel Or Unusual Punishment?." PapersOwl.com, Apr 29, 2024. Accessed April 30, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/death-penalty-cruel-or-unusual-punishment/

"Death Penalty Cruel Or Unusual Punishment?," PapersOwl.com , 29-Apr-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/death-penalty-cruel-or-unusual-punishment/. [Accessed: 30-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). Death Penalty Cruel Or Unusual Punishment? . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/death-penalty-cruel-or-unusual-punishment/ [Accessed: 30-Apr-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers