GP “Crime and Punishment” Notes

Tan Kang Soon 24/09

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1. Consider the arguments for and against the use of the death penalty in a modern society.

Arguments for:

1. It deters people from committing crime by instilling a sense of fear.

2. Justice – a life for a life
3. Save cost on long term imprisonment of a criminal.
4. Inefficiency of rehabilitation

Arguments against:

1. Serious crimes worthy of death penalty are still committed (murder and drug
trafficking). Death penalty is an ineffective deterrent?
2. We should preserve the sanctity of life
3. Long term imprisonment is more brutalizing for the criminal than the death penalty.
4. Rehabilitation can change a person
5. Criminals may be forced by circumstances and against their will to commit serious
crimes.
6. May accidentally send an innocent person for death penalty.

2. Types of crime:

1. Arson – illegal burning of another person’s or one’s own property willfully or

maliciously.
2. Felony – a serious criminal offence
3. Misdemeanor – a less serious offense than a felony.
4. Perjury – lying under oath
5. Embezzlement – illegally using money or property belonging to an organization that one
works for.
6. Forgery – imitating someone’s signature or altering the writing of a legal document
7. Blackmail – extortion of money by threatening to expose someone’s weaknesses or
crimes
 8. Fraud – deliberate deception in order to obtain money, property or services from
another.
9. Money Laundering - engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity,
source and/or destination of money gained through illegal activities.
10. Homicide – The killing of a human being
11. Manslaughter – the killing of a person without pre-mediation
12. Murder – the killing of a person with deliberation
13. Burglary- illegal entry into a building to steal
14. Theft – the act of dishonestly taking someone else’s property and keeping it
15. Robbery – taking of personal property from a person by force and against his will.

3. Why crimes occur:

1. Criminal genes
2. Absence of an authority figure when young
3. Lack of moral education
4. Lack of family guidance
5. Child abuse when young
6. Peer pressure
7. Psychological illnesses – sociopaths/psychopaths
8. Revenge
9. To clear heavy debts
10. Alcoholism
11. Forced by circumstances / self defense
12. Dissatisfaction/discrimination against ethnic/religious groups
13. To cover up previous crimes
14. Threatened to commit crimes
15. Extreme/distorted ideologies
16. Influence from media/games/internet
17. Poverty
18. Sense of adrenaline rush
19. To seek attention
20. To achieve goals through alternative means
4. Ways to deal with criminals

1. Capital punishment: the lawful infliction of death as a punishment (hanging/shooting/

lethal injection/ beheading)
2. Corporal punishment: the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence (i.e.
caning/whipping)
3. Imprisonment
4. Corrective Work Order
5. Fine
6. Rehabilitation
7. Counseling
8. Exile
9. Confiscation of property
10. Deprivation of right to hold specific offices

5. The role of nature and nurture in making the criminal

Argument: Social environment is the cause of criminal behavior, with weak broken bonds to
family, school, and religion being the catalyst to criminal behavior.

Explanation: Criminals cannot tell right from wrong as there is a lack of moral education,
or an authority figure in their life to guide them. They may be instilled with wrong
ideologies that extremist behaviors are right.

Examples: Terrorist activities/ majority of criminals imprisoned are lowly educated/

significant portion of juveniles have broken families

Counter-argument: Social environment may not be the only cause.

Explanation: Other factors, such as biological (criminal genes / additional Y-

chromosomes) or psychological factors (mental illnesses / the search for the sense of
adrenaline rush when committing crime) plays a part in making a criminal too.

Example: Many lowly-educated people with broken families do not commit crimes. In
contrary, highly educated people with wholesome families have been caught
committing (white collar) crimes too.

CCA (evaluation): However, biological factors, such as criminal genes, are not scientifically
proven and opens people to the Eugenics movement and discrimination. Meanwhile
rehabilitation efforts and counseling sessions have helped to statistically reduce crime rates by
re-educating criminals, suggesting that the ‘nurture’ aspect may play a bigger role in the making
of criminals.

6. Examples (Singapore)

1. Singapore has one of the lowest murder rates in the world.

2. Serious crime rates have fallen, while minor crime rates have risen.

3. Rozman Jusoh from Malaysia was sentenced to death for the capital offence of drug
trafficking despite being lowly educated. Being educationally sub-normal ‘does not
absolve him from his criminal deeds’.

4. Poon Yuen-chung from Hong Kong was executed for drug trafficking despite being as
young as 18 years old.

5. Zulfikar Bin Mustaffah was executed for drug trafficking on 2001 despite claims that
he was unaware of the contents of the package he was asked to deliver.

6. Thiru Selvam was hanged in 2001 even after denying involvement in a cannabis case.

7. Vignes s/o Mourthi from Malaysia was sentenced to death on 2003 for drug
trafficking despite claims that he was unaware of the contents of a package that was
asked to be delivered by his relative. His conviction was based on a possibly false piece
of evidence submitted to court. It is argued that the accused was given an unfair trail.

8. Arunprakash Vaithilingam was sentenced to death for murder despite claims from
himself and eye-witnesses that the killing was unintentional.