Unit 3More Crime and

Less Punishment

Which countries do you think are the safest in the world?

Which countries do you think are the most dangerous in the world?

In China Top Five cities with the highest crime rate

1 Guangzhou 2 Shenzhen 3 Chongqing4 Wuhan 5 Nanjing

Warm-up Question:

What are the causes of crime?

The gap between the rich and poor

The lack of moral controlThe lack of effective lawsThe bad influence of other cultu

resFamily structures

Do you think harsh punishment can deter crime?

Do we have enough prisons for ever-increasing criminals?

Who is going to pay for prison construction?

Are longer prison sentences too expensive?

Are they really effective?

More Crime and Less Punishment

Richard Moran

About the author

Richard Moran

Richard Moran is a criminologist and a leading expert on the insanity defense, capital punishment, and the history of the electric chair.

The author of numerous articles and reviews, Moran has also written articles for the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, and Newsweek.

Structure of the text

Part I (para.1-3)

Part II (para. 4-9)

Part III (para. 10)

Introduction of the central idea: punishment does not reduce crime.Why punishment doesn't deter crime.

Conclusion: getting tough with criminals is not the answer to the crime problem.

Part I

You need to acquire the following expressions…

Get tough with Amount to Correctional supervisionLock awayThe more …, the more …

Afford to The other way around

get tough with 对…强硬When he started to argue, I got tough with him.

be tough on

The new mayor intends to be tough on crime.

tough luck: bad luck

Tough luck about your job! I hope you’ll find another one soon.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

To emphasize that when conditions become difficult, strong people take action.

Word study

lock away (lock up)

1. to put something in a place or container which is fastened with a lock

Take good care to lock away your jewelry before going away on holiday

2. to put someone in a prison, or a hospital for mentally ill people.

After murder, he was locked away for 50 yeas.

Word study

commit perform(a crime, foolish act etc.)

commit murder/suicide/an offence entrust; hand over to

commit a man to prison make oneself responsible; undertake

He has committed himself to support his brother’s children.

(often reflexive) bind oneselfI won’t commit myself to that course of action.

Word study

deter: discourage, hinder from

Failure did not deter him from trying again.

The university enforces severe punishment to deter cheating in exams.

Word study

illustrate explain by examples, pictures, etc.

The following examples illustrate our point. supply a book, article, lecture etc. with pictures, diagr

ams, etc.

The book was illustrated with color photographs.

This is a well-illustrated textbook.

illustration n.

Word study

be/go easy on sb/sth. to tell someone not to punish a person too severely

Go easy on these children and let them enjoy themselves.

to eat or use a small amount of somethingGo easy on the cake. There isn’t much left.

easier said than done easy come, easy go

Word study

measure Success isn’t measured by how much money

you have.Popularity is still measured in terms of winn

ing elections.Measured against the success of some of the

ir rivals, their performance looks poor.

Word study

so…as to… Are you so naïve as to imagine this is not taking p

lace elsewhere? Who could be so mean as to do a thing like that.

so as to Go in quietly so as not to wake the baby.

Word study

work out toThe total area works out to 25,000 square

miles.

the other way aroundYou would think that John would have

been the courageous one and Jane the timid one, but it was just the other way around.

Word study

convince and persuade

convince: make sb. believe that something is true He failed to convince the jury of his innocence.

persuade: make sb agree to do something by giving them reasons why they shouldNobody would persuade her to change her mind.

Word study

refuse and rejectrefuse is more positive, often implying decisiveness. decline means to refuse courteously.reject means a throwing away, a discarding, or abandoning of someone or something as unsatisfactory, defective, or useless.

The company _____ the entire shipment. I'll make him an offer he can't ____. We asked her to he reception, but she ___ the invitation.

Difficult sentences

While elite colleges and universities still have high standards of admissions, some of the most “exclusive” prisons now require about five prior serious crime before an inmate is accepted into their correctional program.

(Analogy) There is a similarity between prisons and universities

in their recruiting policy. You’ve got to be outstanding candidates to get into the best colleges and universities. Similarly, certain prisons for dangerous criminals only accept those who have committed five serious crimes before being convicted for the present one.

Difficult sentences

Yet when measured against the lower crime rates this would probably produce, longer prison sentences are not worth the cost to state and local governments.

If criminals were kept longer in prison crime rates would probably go down. But when we consider the money that state and local governments have to pay for this, longer prison sentences are not worthwhile.

Difficult sentences

While it is not possible to know the true amount of crime committed by people released from prison in any given year, we do know the extent to which those under parole are jailed again for major crime convictions.

Although we can’t possibly know exactly how many crimes are committed by released prisoners in a specific year, we do know how many of those people under parole are convicted again for serious crimes and put into jail again.

Difficult sentences

The first-year operating cost would be $ 150,000 per crime prevented, worth it if the victim were you or me, but much too expensive t o be feasible as a national policy.

$150,000 would be worth it if there were only one person’s life, such as yours or mine, to save, but such a policy would be much too expensive to carry out nationwide.

Operating cost: money you have to pay to put long prison sentences into practice.

Techniques of writing

Statistical InformationIn an argumentative piece of writing, statistical evidence is convincing.

Rhetorical QuestionsThese are questions that do not expect an answer but express a strong feeling, opinion or impression.Can we send them to prison?Can we execute more than 22,000 murderers?More examples:

Who was he to take stand against a custom?Do you see anything green in my eyes?

Techniques of writing

Selective Use of RepetitionRepetition is used for emphasis and expression of a strong feeling.More examples:Alone, alone, all, all alone.He is as vulgar as a hog, as awkward as an elephant, and as ugly as an ape.

AnalogyIt is the comparison of two unlike things for the purpose of illustration. The comparison is possible because the two things have something in common.

Techniques of writing

AnalogyIt is the comparison of two unlike things for the purpose of illustration. The comparison is possible because the two things have something in common.

Judicious praise is to children what the sun is to flowers.

The growth of alternative mental interests is a long process. The seeds must be carefully chosen; they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended, if the vivifying fruits are to be at hand when needed.

After class reading

Please read a report from National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) and pay attention to the the views towards crime and punishment.

Crime and Punishment in America: 1998