Transcript Document

Crime
&
Punishment
What constitutes a crime?
 Not
merely acts which
are socially deviant
 Not
merely acts which are
immoral
Is Prostitution a crime?
Are these crimes?
 Unknowingly
entering
/overstaying in Singapore
without legal documents
 Unknowingly renting out
a room/premises to a person
entering Singapore illegally
Definition of crime


Against the law
A wrongdoing
classified by the
state as such
Types of Crime
 Serious
crimes/felonies
murder
rape
armed robbery
housebreaking
kidnapping
Capital Crimes
In Singapore,
 murder
 kidnapping
 possession of drugs
 possession of firearms
 treason
Trial held in the high court
/supreme court
Murder
First degree (a capital crime):
Intentional/wilful
Premeditated
Second Degree /Manslaughter
Unplanned
Committed
in the heat of the
moment (e.g. crimes of passion)
Drug Trafficking
In Singapore
Capital Offences:
Possession of
 15g heroin
 500g cannabis
15g cocaine
 30g cocaine
 Constitutes 70% of capital crimes
 32 executions annually
Serious offences
(mandatory caning)
More than 30-40 crimes, including

Rape & statutory rape

Molest
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Vandalism

Illegal entry into



/overstaying in Singapore
Attempted murder
Armed robbery
Drug trafficking
Repeat
drug offenders
Repeat drunk driving
Non-Serious Crimes
Offences/Misdemeanors
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Parking offences
Shoplifting
Vagrancy
Begging
Grey Areas
Are these crimes?
 Prostitution
 Oral Sex
 Abortion/Euthanasia
 Cloning of humans
 Suicide is a crime in Singapore
punishable by imprisonment
 Knowingly/unknowingly passing on the
Aids virus through unprotected sex
Other Ways of Classifying
Crime
Sex Crimes
 Rape/ Statutory Rape
 Molest
 Outrage of Modesty
 Possession of Pornographic Materials
 Public Nudity
 Unnatural sex (oral sex, sodomy)
 Indecent Acts
 Soliciting
 Living off the immoral earnings of a prostitute
Have a break!
Video Clip: Child Prostitution
Child Sex Crimes
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In Singapore
Consensual sex with a girl
under 14 : statutory rape
under 16 : sex with a minor
Patronising child prostitutes
overseas: laws currently
under review
Singaporeans form the largest
group of sex tourists in the Riau
Islands
Child Sex Crimes
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Internationally:
penalty for patronising
child sex prostitutes
overseas:
30 countries, including
the US, UK and
Australia:
imprisonment for
paedophiles
Non-Violent Crimes

White Collar Crimes
e.g.
embezzlement,
infringement of
copyright laws,
insider trading etc

Cyber Crime
eg.
Hacking,
phishing
online fraud
Juvenile Crime
In Singapore, 2003,

Youths: 20% of all offenders

Main crimes:
shoplifting, other forms of theft
& rioting
70% of young offenders:males
Under 14, not charged but sent
for reformation
Offenders under 16 cannot be
caned.
Offenders
under 18 cannot be executed
(Source: Speech by Minister for Home Affairs: Mr.
Wong Kan Seng, Feb 2004)
Property Crimes
Crimes against property
vs
 Crimes against a person
e.g.
 Vandalism
vs
 Wife abuse

Causes of crime
- Biological factors


Genetic make-up e.g. XYY
genes, too much/too little
serotonin etc ?
Testosterone ?
Issues

Personal responsibility?

Discrimination?
Causes of crime
- Psychological causes
Types of Mental Illnesses

Psychopaths
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Schizophrenics

Kleptomaniacs
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People suffering from
hallucinations
Causes of crime Sociological
Family
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parental neglect

poor role models

dysfunctional
families
Causes of crime Sociological
Peer pressure

Teens need to
belong to an
in-group
Causes of crime Sociological
Unemployment
 Poverty
 Desperation
Causes of crime Sociological
Social Injustice
 Wide gap between rich and
poor
 Sense of unfairness
Causes of crime - Sociological
Mass Media

Copycat crime e.g. violent movie:
Child’s Play and case of James
Bulger
 Glorification of violence: Glamorous
bad guys
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Absence of /lenient punishment
Violence seen as part of everyday
life
Values: materialism, women as sex
objects
Crime Rates in Singapore

2002: per 100,000
U.S. Leads Richest Nations In
Total Crime
Gun Deaths
1/5: Switzerland, 1/5 : US
Murders
1/5 : Switzerland, 1/9: US
Rapes
½ : Switzerland, 1/10: US
BY CHELSEA J. CARTER
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
From 8th UN Survey on Crime Statistics & Singapore
Police Force Statistics
Singapore: Low Crime Rates
Possible reasons
 Draconian laws: capital punishment, caning,
long jail sentences
 Efficient/incorruptible police force/legal
system
 Strict banning of firearms
 Strict censorship laws?
 Meritocratic system with large middle class
 High levels of education
How should society respond
to those deemed to have
broken the law?
WITH PUNISHMENT!
PUNISHMENT

“inflicted on an offender because of an
offence he has committed; it is
deliberately imposed, and not just the
natural consequence of a person’s actions.
The unpleasantness is essential to it, not
an accidental accompaniment to some
other treatment.”
… as observed by Stanley Benn
JUSTIFICATIONS OF PUNISHMENT
Backward looking
Forward looking
Retributive
Deterrence
Rehabilitation
Incapacitation
RETRIBUTIVE
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Lax talionis “an eye for an eye”, “a tooth
for a tooth”
The offender should suffer at least equally
to the victim – proportionate punishment
Resets the moral balance by punishing the
offender
Is it just revenge dressed up in nice clothing?
Have a break!
Video Clip: Execution in North
Korea
DETERRENCE

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Works as a disincentive
Deters people from committing crimes
they would otherwise commit
Does it deter those who are chronic/
repeat offenders?
Most crimes, are committed on impulse by offenders
who rarely calculate the consequences of their actions.
(British Crime Survey Research 1998)
REHABILITATION
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Core concept = the criminal being changed in ways that
makes him less likely to commit crimes
Goal = to change the offender's attitude to what they
have done, and make them come to accept that their
behaviour was wrong
A matter of making the criminal a morally better person?
More than 70% of young offenders are reconvicted within two years
of release.
(British Crime Survey Research 1998)
Incapacitation

Imprisonment has the effect of confining
prisoners, physically preventing them
from committing crimes against those
outside, i.e. protecting the community

Most dangerous criminals may be
sentenced to life imprisonment

Sexual offenders, eg. serial rapists, may
be subjected to castration
TYPES OF PUNISHMENT
Corporal
Punishment
Capital/
Death penalty
Privative
“Execution…not because it holds life in low regard but
precisely because it holds the lives of those that the
murderer dispatched in such high regard…”
John Stuart Mill
METHODS OF PUNISHMENT
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Custodial sentence
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Fine
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Alternative sanctions (community service or
training orders)
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Supplementary sanctions (disqualification from
driving)
ALTERNATIVES TO PUNISHMENT
Retribution
Restorative
Restorative- focuses on repairing the harm
 Reparation
-Enforcing efforts at making amends for the offence
-The offender works to make amends for the
offence he has committed
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ALTERNATIVES TO PUNISHMENT

Rehabilitation
-treatment programmes/ counselling
-the offender is being changed in ways that
makes him less likely to commit crimes
-conferencing
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Probation and after-care service
THE DISTURBING PICTURE
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2.1 million Americans in prisons and jails
3700 Americans currently on death row
98 executed in USA in year 2000
Appropriate punishment for white-collar
crimes/ serious corporate crime
Punishing parents vs Punishing kids
“getting tough” vs. “softening hearts”
SOME ISSUES
IN CRIME & PUNISHMENT
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT


Otherwise known as the death
penalty
Definition:
the lawful infliction of death as
punishment
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
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Background:
ancient times eg. crucifixion of Christ
medieval Europe eg. burning of
witches
reforms in late 1700s in Europe –
movement towards ‘humane’
execution – hanging, lethal injection
currently, used for serious crimes eg.
murder
Overview of death penalty in
2004
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3,797 prisoners were executed in 25
countries
97% of all known executions took
place in China (3,400), Iran, Vietnam
and USA
120 countries have abolished the
death penalty in law or practice
(recent egs. Philippines, Senegal,
Canada, Mexico, Bhutan, Greece)
76 countries retain and use it
(From Amnesty International)
Methods of execution
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Electrocution
Lethal injection
Hanging
Shooting
Beheading
Stoning
Have a break!
Video Clip: death penalty
Arguments for death penalty
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Deter perpetrators – would-be
murderers fear being caught
Protect society - convicted murderers
prevented from killing again
Provide justice for victim – a life for a
life
Arguments for death penalty


Is state’s responsibility – to preserve
order, to right wrong
Is more humane than alternatives –
life imprisonment is a “living tomb”
Arguments for death penalty
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“Following the prison
spokesman's
announcement that Ted
(Bundy) was officially
dead, sounds of cheers
came from the jubilant
crowd and fireworks lit the
sky. Shortly thereafter, a
white hearse emerged
from the prison gates with
the remains of one of the
countries most notorious
serial killers. As the vehicle
moved towards the
crematorium, the
surrounding crowd
cheerfully applauded the
end of a living nightmare.”
From www.crimelibrary.com
Have a break!
Video Clip: Death Penalty Mistake
Arguments against death penalty
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Is barbaric – against human rights, statesanctioned murder
Does not deter crime – no substantial
proof of decreasing crime rates
Takes innocent lives – eg. Timothy Evans,
prejudice against certain groups
Arguments against death penalty
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Has high costs – cases time-consuming
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Has no possibility of rehabilitation
Death penalty in Singapore
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According to UN, Singapore has the
highest execution rate per capita of
13.57 executions per 1 million people
(1994 to 1999)
Hanging for murderers, kidnappers,
drug traffickers (>15g heroin, >30g
morphine/cocaine, >500g cannabis)
Majority of executions were for drug
offences estimated 70%)
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
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Definition: Antisocial or criminal acts
performed by juveniles
Treated separately from other crimes
eg. in Singapore, there’s the Juvenile
Court
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
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Rationale for punishment includes:
rehabilitating and reforming
removing from undesirable
surroundings
promoting his/her welfare
Punishment options for juveniles

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Commit offender to care of relative/ fit
person
Offender’s Parent/ Guardian to execute a
bond
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Community service order

Probation order
Punishment options for juveniles

Detention/ Weekend detention
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Approved school order
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Reformative Training Centre
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Payment of fine, damages, costs
Concerns in juvenile cases

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Balancing juvenile’s welfare and
compensating victim/ victim’s family
Who should be held responsible –
juvenile, parents, society?
Concerns in juvenile cases

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Age definition of a juvenile – in
Singapore, it is a child under 14 or a
young person below 16
In very serious crimes such as
murder, should there be harsher
punishments ie. should juveniles be
treated as adults
The murder of James Bulger
(1993)
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Jon Venables and
Robert Thompson
were tried as adults
even though they
were 10-year olds.
Controversially
released in 2001
following European
Court on Human
Rights ruling
Was justice served?
USE OF SCIENCE

Forensic science: The
application of science to
questions of interest in
the legal system (and also
archaeology and the
social sciences)
USE OF SCIENCE

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Mass media:
Sherlock Holmes
and, of course, CSI
and its offshoots.
Many specialities:
computer,
toxicology,
psychiatry,
othodontology
DNA testing


Also known as genetic
fingerprinting or DNA
profiling
Definition: Techniques used
to distinguish between
individuals of the same
species using only samples
of their DNA
DNA testing
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Process: extract DNA from cells in
samples, cut DNA into fragments,
treated to make a film with a visible
pattern of bands or markers
Benefits of DNA testing/science
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Useful for identification of missing
persons/ victims, and crime
investigation
DNA can be extracted from almost
anything
Highly sensitive eg. only need a
single hair
Benefits of DNA testing/science


Unambiguous, factual, objective
Has acquitted innocent suspects and
exonerated wrongfully imprisoned
convicts
Drawbacks in using DNA
testing/science

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Just another piece of evidence, need
to use with other evidence and
consider circumstances
Forensic evidence can be planted or
faked
Drawbacks in using DNA
testing/science

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Depends on the criteria used/ level of
technology eg. how many bands or
markers to use in DNA fingerprinting
Can wrongfully convict an innocent
person
Can infringe on civil liberties
PRISONERS’ RIGHTS

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Part of human rights and civil
liberties
Includes prison conditions, rights to
medical treatment, protection from
assault, legal representation and
rights of privacy
PRISONERS’ RIGHTS
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Balance between prisoners’ rights
and rights of their victims/ victims’
families/ public safety eg. keeping
identity and new locations of
released criminals secret
Rodney King, eg of police brutality

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Videotaped being
beaten by LAPD officers
in 1991.
Officers were charged
but acquitted in 1992,
verdict triggered
massive rioting in LA
Subsequently officers
charged with violating
King’s civil rights
THE END
Thank goodness!