CCEA Religion - justice and punishment

Individualistic justice

the individual comes first

communitarian justice

‘based on the assumption that the good of the community must come before the good of any individual’

Horner and Westacott quote

justice includes ‘equal opportunities for all to make something of their lives’

Plato

‘justice is a matter of achieving harmony between the different parts of society’

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

move away from a ‘self focused lifestyle to one that took account of others’

Thomas Hobbes

idea of a social contract- leaders should make laws to preserve freedom and protect rights, and in return the members of a society respect these rules

John Locke

‘each individual has a moral right to defend eachother’

what is punishment?

‘the intentional infliction of pain by a legal authority on those who have breached its standards of behaviour’

what are the five key aims of punishment?

protection, retribution, rehabilitation, deterrence and vindication

What is the harm principle?

When harm is justified to protect the safety of individuals and the stability of society

Lex Talonis

‘an eye for an eye’

Wilcockson on Lex Talonis

‘backward looking’ / ‘barbaric and void of any human compassion’

Rachels quote

‘those who have treated others badly deserve to be treated badly in return’

Wilcockson on rehabilitation

‘it attempts to return the offender back into society as a useful member’

V+G on reform in prisons

prisons are ‘schools of crime in which cartels are made and techniques are learnt’

Transforming Rehabilitation stat

almost half of all prison leavers re offend within twelve months

Sir Thomas Burnett quote

‘you are not being hanged for stealing a horse, but so that horses may not be stolen’

Three core values of restorative justice

encounter, amends, reintegration

Bowie on restorative justice

may lead to reformation as if they realise the suffering they’ve caused, they will not re-offend

Alexander on Lex Talonis

‘the punishment should be no less, or no worse, than the crime demands’

Aquinas

‘it becomes justifiable to kill a malefactor as one would kill an animal’

Harrington

‘christian’s have no right to place any limit on forgiveness’

Beccaria

punishment should never involve a form of torture / ‘ it is better to prevent crimes than to punish them’

criticism of utilitarian view of punishment

it could justify the punishment of an innocent person

VE on punishment

asks questions such as: would a virtuous person feel it is necessary to punish someone? / hauerwas = any form of punishment is wrong

Kant

concept of ‘just deserts’ → each person has personal autonomy to act how they please but this freedom comes with moral responsibility

Diminished responsibility

some factors diminish the extent to which we are responsible for our own actions

V+G link to determinism

genetic makeup is responsible for our crimes / a predisposed for criminal behaviour is inherited / ‘humans can’t be morally blameworthy for their acts’

Clarence Darrow quote

‘we are all the products of heredity and our environment… criminals are like the rest of us in that regard’

V+G conclusion on diminished responsibility

people’s actions may be influenced by their ‘nature and nurture’, but these factors may only ‘influence rather than determine behaviour’