NAMING AND SHAMING

I. Discussion.

1.Match the following punishments to the definitions below:

1) a fine;

2) a prison sentence;

3) a suspended prison sentence;

4) community service;

5) tagging;

6) the death penalty;

7) corporal punishment;

8) solitary confinement; a) you go to prison;

b) you have to pay money as a punishment;

c) you have to spend some time working for the local community; d) you are beaten or punished physically in some way;

e) you are killed (for example, by hanging, electrocution, or some other way);

f) you can live at home, but if you commit another crime, you will be sent to prison;

g) you are kept in prison on your own-away from other prisoners;

h) you have an electronic device fitted to your body so that the police always know where you are.

2.Discuss these questions in pairs.

1.Which of the above punishments are used in your country?

2.What other punishments are used?

3.What is the reasoning behind each different type of punishment?

4.Which punishment is the most effective? Which is the least effective?

II. Reading.

Read the article below and then answer these questions:

What sentences were given for a) shoplifting b) drunk driving? What does one woman think are the benefits of these sentences?

LET THE PUNISHMENT FIT THE CRIME!

In a number of courts in the US ‘naming and shaming’ is working. If you are found guilty of shoplifting, you may expect a fine or a short prison sentence, but you might actually receive a totally different punishment. You could have to spend a couple of weeks walking up and down the street outside the store you stole from, carrying a sign that reads: “I am a thief. Do not steal! This could be you.” This somewhat eccentric sentencing policy has an effect. Consider the drunk driver forced to confront the consequences of his actions every week for five years. His sentence was to write a one-dollar cheque every Friday to the man whose daughter he ran over. At the bottom of each cheque he had to write “For causing the death of your daughter.” Shamed offenders often do not like

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their sentences – and that is the point. “Shame makes you stop and think,” says a woman with a recent conviction for theft. “It gave me humility, which helped me. And if other people see the sign, maybe they'll think twice before they commit a crime.”

The only question is: how far will we go down this road? Will each town revive its public stocks? Will we soon be going along to throw tomatoes and rotten eggs at convicted criminals? And is this a step forward or a step back?

III. Discussion.

Look at these statements about the article you read. Decide if you agree or disagree.

1.I don’t think humiliation is a good way to punish people. In schools we don’t humiliate children any longer when they misbehave. We shouldn’t do it to adults either.

2.The punishment for the drunk driver is not enough. It’s a clever idea, but this man should also be spending a substantial time in prison.

3.I think the punishment for shoplifting is far too lenient. A few weeks in prison would be much more effective.

4.These types of punishment are a step back towards the middle ages. Surely civilisation has progressed since then. What will these people want next? Public hangings?

Compare your answers in pairs or small groups.

IV. Language.

Find these words and expressions in the text above:

Complete the text below using appropriate forms of the words and phrases

above:

Darren Jackson, 31, of Oxford Road, Abingdon was … (1) yesterday of … (2) Abigail Hunt while driving under the influence of drink, judge Barbara Mowat … (3)

Mr. Jackson to a £1,000 … (4) and three years in … (5) saying: “You have … (6) a very serious crime. And what is worse, you have a previous, similar … (7). You may think you are unlucky. I think you are a shameless … (8). I am

giving you a harsh sentence in the hope that it will be a warning to other potential … (9).”

Correct the wrong endings to this sentence:

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V. Discussion.

In an effort to stop petty crime, your government wants to develop a new and radical system of punishments for dealing with minor criminals. Work in pairs and devise suitably imaginative punishments for people who:

1)steal stationery and pens from their employer;

2)break the speed limit when driving;

3)leave a restaurant without paying the bill;

4)pick pockets;

5)park illegally;

6)steal mobile phones.

“Excuse me, madam, but I have a reason to suspect…”

For example:

People who steal mobile phones should:

–be made to work in a call centre for two years;

–spend one day a week for a year cleaning public phone boxes;

–be fitted with an electronic device that blocks mobile phone signals for a distance of ten metres from the wearer.

THE COST OF CRIME

1. Work in groups, discuss the following question.

Crime is a growing problem in many countries. What do you think the main causes are?

2. Read the article.

Cost of crime at £20.4 billion a year

ACCORDING to a recent research survey, the cost of crime to individuals, businesses, taxpayers, and local authorities in England and Wales has now reached £20,4 billion a year. The research shows that £10 million of property is stolen every day. It estimates the cost of the Criminal Justice System, which includes the police and prisons, to be £9,5 billion. The cost to business is put at £7,5 billion; losses from car crime at £775 million; and goods stolen in domestic burglaries at £495 million. The £20,4 billion figure also includes the £2 billion cost of the private security industry and the £165 million paid in compensation to victims of violent crime. The research also shows that household and car insurance bills have risen by 20% in four years, due to a sharp increase in the number of claims for property theft.

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3. Read extracts from four interviews.

Speaker 1

One crime expert said that expecting the police to prevent crime on their own is like expecting a nurse in a hospital to prevent road accidents and I completely agree with that. Everyone, that means social workers, schools, businesses, local authorities, as well as the Criminal Justice system, everyone needs to work together to prevent crime. If that happened I believe crime could be halved.

Speaker 2

The government spends twice as much on the Criminal Justice system today as it did four years ago but the crime rate has doubled and it’s still rising, so the system just doesn’t work. If we used just one tenth of the money we spend punishing criminals on preventing crime we could save an enormous amount of money.

Speaker 3

I understand why people with no hope of finding a job turn to a life of crime instead. They see crime as the only alternative. It’s their way of protesting against a society which they feel they don’t belong to. If people had jobs, they wouldn’t commit crimes.

Speaker 4

We all pay a very high price for crime. It’s not just the cost of the police force – it’s higher taxes, higher insurance costs, and higher prices in the shops because of extra security. And of course there’s the enormous emotional cost – the fear of crime and the suffering of the people who are victims of crime.

4.Number the statements 1, 2, 3, or 4 to show which speaker’s opinion they express.

a. There would be less crime if there was less unemployment. ________

b. If everyone worked together, we could reduce crime by 50%.________

с. If we spent more money on preventing crime, rather than on trying

to find and punish the criminal, we would save ourselves a fortune.________

d. If we reduced crime, we would not only save a lot of money, we would also reduce the emotional costs of crime. ________

5.Look through the extracts again and answer the questions.

1.Who does the first interviewee mean by everyone?

2.Why does the second interviewee believe the Criminal Justice system doesn’t work?

3.According to the third interviewee, why do people turn to crime?

4.What examples of the high price we all pay for crime does the fourth interviewee give?

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6. Read the newspaper article Study criticizes failure to prevent crime. Tick T (true) or F (false).

According to the UK Crime study

1)video cameras help to reduce crime in car parks;

2)car manufacturers have improved car security;

3)improving home security does not reduce the risk of burglary;

4)the government has not dealt with the problem of young criminals.

Study criticizes failure to prevent crime

The latest UK Crime study criticizes the lack of crime prevention measures, and calls for much more to be done to reduce high crime rates.

Car crime

The study reported that 25% of all car crime takes place in car parks, and that in some car parks millions of pounds’ worth of cars were stolen every year. The study found levels of car crime were much lower in car parks that had video security systems. It estimated that there would have been 30% less car crime if all car park operators had installed video cameras.

The study also criticized car manufacturers for not making any effort to improve car security: “Car manufacturers have known for years which cars are the favourites of car thieves. They should have fitted these cars with anti-theft systems. If they had done that, car thieves would have found them a lot less easy to steal.”

Burglary

One of the key findings of the study was that some people's homes had been broken into over and over again. The study was critical of home owners who had failed to improve security: “The owners should have followed the advice of the police. If they had made their homes more secure, they might have avoided another burglary.”

Young criminals

The study of crime in one town showed that some young offenders had started committing crimes at the age of nine or ten, and that by the age of sixteen they had cost the public over £1 million each. Many of them came from broken homes or had a parent with a criminal record. The study criticized the government for failing to deal with the problem: “The government should have set up schemes to help these children. If they had done that, the children might have stopped committing crimes. The schemes would have offered them an alternative to a life of crime.”

7. Identify the crimes in the headlines below. Use a dictionary to check the meaning of new words. Then complete the word-building table. Some of the words are in the headlines.

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Football hooligans sent home

Art thieves steal

valuable paintings

Robbers caught in police chase