Pro

Students will complete this project with 10 pages of complied research with each of the components of their research proposal. Student will also provide a conclusion page with recommendations based on their research findings. It should be typed, double spaced and APA format.

Note: Ensure that you are following APA guidelines. This assignment will be filter through turnitin.com to check for plagiarism. If your percentage score is higher than 15% (which would make up most of your references) it will not be accepted. You will be allowed two submission attempts. If you receive notification from me that your turnitin score is to high you have to use that second attempt to correct the issue and get your score at 15% or below.

1)

The Historical Concept of Crime and Punishment

 

The Historical Background of Crime and Punishment of Fyodor Dostoevsky

The perspective and theories of crime and punishment are closely associated with ancient times and the world. This concept is closely related to the lives of individuals and acts as a societal mirror (Coffee,2020). By applying the concept of punishment for crimes committed, society can develop a peaceful, easy, and fearless life for the citizens. There is a need to note that punishment can be defined as rules and laws that a society incorporates according to the crime framework. This essay analyzes the historical background of the arrest of Floyd Dostoevsky and relates the history of a public and private correctional facility.

Floyd Dostoevsky became actively involved in socialist circles as a result of the fact that he opposed the institution of serfdom. He was later arrested in 1849 due to his active participation in a group involved in the illegal printing and distribution of socialist propaganda. In prison, he spent eight months and would later get a death sentence for his membership in the socialist propaganda group. This involvement led to the shooting of Dostoevsky and other group members. However, the execution turned out to be a mere show that intended to inflict psychological punishment on the prisoners (Beal,2021). Later, Dostoevsky spent four years in Siberia at a labor camp and four years serving in the military. While in prison, Dostoevsky suffered from numerous epileptic seizures and also went through what is termed a political conversion. This made him reject the radical socialist position that triggered his arrest in a quest to exhibit favor towards a traditional conservative value. In the book “Crime and Punishment,” Dostoevsky’s dismissal of the leftist political perspective was portrayed. An example is an instance by which the crimes of Raskolnikov were motivated by the actions and the social theories of Dostoevsky.

Fort Leavenworth is a public prison found in Kansas. It is home to the US Army Combined Arms Center, which involves a group of major subordinate companies and the United States Disciplinary Barracks. The fort is closely located in Missouri. It is located in a manner that is strategic in the central part of the United States. The prison was built in 1827 to protect the Santa Fe Trail. At that time, it was known as Cantonment Leavenworth and contained a humble beginning with only 14 officers and a couple of hundred men. The fort was able to avail support during the war that took place between Mexico and America, and it played a considerable role in the Civil War since it acted as the home of Camp Lincoln, which acted as a training center that was used by volunteers (Mamun et al.,2020). Prison plays a massive role in the evolution of civil rights in the United States. An example is the case of 1866, where Congress gave authority to four black Army regiments, namely the 9^th Calvary,24^th Infantry,10^TH Calvary, and the 25^th Infantry. These soldiers were capable of distinguishing themselves when the war came and created a legacy renowned as other similar developments came about.

In America, private prisons became highly renowned in the early 1980s. As a result of the war on drugs by President Ronald Reagan, the public prison system was highly overwhelmed by the number of prisoners. There was thus the development of private prisons in a quest to lessen the burden put on overcrowded state prisons (White et al.,2020). The Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) was the first private prison. There exist numerous private correctional organizations in the United States of America, but CCA is the biggest. In 2021 the prison was able to generate revenues worth 1.8 billion dollars.

Conclusion

The view of punishment has been around for the longest time possible. All societies intend to generate peaceful lives, and it is the role of individuals to fulfill that goal. The society incorporates some form of control which is closely associated with a framework of some rules, laws, and regulations

 

 

References

Beal, S. G. (2021). Cross Temporal Analysis of Existentialist Authors Dostoevsky, Kafka, Camus, and Ellison Relative to the Divergence Between Their Disenfranchised and Non-Marginalized Characters (Doctoral dissertation, Southern New Hampshire University).

Coffee Jr, J. C. (2020). Corporate Crime and Punishment: The crisis of underenforcement. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Mamun, S., Li, X., Horn, B. P., &Chermak, J. M. (2020). Private vs. public prisons? A dynamic analysis of the long-term tradeoffs between cost-efficiency and recidivism in the US prison system. Applied Economics, 52(41), 4499-4511.

White, W., Pena, A. A., &Weiler, S. (2020). Going private: Are private prisons cost‐saving options for states? Growth and Change, 51(3), 1000-1016.

2)

The Historical Background of Crime and Punishment of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Crime and punishment was published in the mid-nineteenth century and is one of Dostoevsky’s great masterpieces of murder stories. Murder in crime punishment was for personal ambitions. The novel elaborates on how an individual may decide to do a certain task or commit a crime knowing the consequences that would follow. When someone commits a crime, there are two types of rewards; positive and negative. In most cases, people engage in criminality because they believe crime would reward them, which sometimes might turn positive, while others are negative (Dostoyevsky, 2017). Dostoevsky used this novel to demonstrate or show how nihilism had captured most youths in Russia in the mid-nineteenth century in response to the sweeping reform that followed the emancipation of the serfs. Many researchers have researched crime and punishment and have come up with diverse conclusions. Therefore, this paper is a literature review of how others have studied this topic, what they found out, and how my study will improve on prior research.

Emsley (2022) researched crime and punishment to determine why people engage in criminality. In this research, he randomly selected a sample size of twenty inmates. He supplied them with questionnaires to determine the main purpose that contributed to engaging in criminality. After gathering data, seventy percent of the sample stated that they committed crimes because they expected positive rewards. Others stated that they committed due to peer influence, substance influence, and others didn’t fail to give a reasonable reason. Based on these results, it is likely that many people commit crimes due to consequences that emanate from the action. For example, through criminality, a person can get wealth within a short duration; on the other hand, the person can be subjected to life imprisonment. Therefore, Emsley (2022) concluded that people commit a crime based on reward. This is among several reasons that Dostoevsky gave in his novel on crime and punishment.

Santoro (2018) also conducted research on crime and punishment. In this research, the researcher focused on determining the relationship between crime and punishment. He selected a population sample of thirty people and subjected them to survey questions and personal questionnaires on the relationship between crime and punishment. Most stated that the punishment determines the crime rate; if a person engages in criminality and the criminal justice system doesn’t punish him or her, the chances of reoffending are high. On the other hand, if a person is punished harshly for the crime committed, the person will have a fear of committing a crime, thus reducing the crime rate. For instance, people who are subjected to imprisonment are likely not to reoffend due to the pain and suffering they experienced in prison. Also, Coffee (2020) researched the same topic and determined that people involve themselves in criminality for the following main reasons; first, the weigh between the advantages and disadvantages of committing a crime. When advantages are more than disadvantages, the person is likely to commit a crime. On the other hand, when consequences exceed the reward, the person cannot commit a crime. The second reason is based on the type of punishment. If the person is punished for the crime, he or she gets deterred, thus minimizing the chances of committing a crime. Contrary, if the person is not punished, he or she is likely to reoffend.

After reviewing this research, there are dozens of research skills I have learned. For example, once data is obtained from the sample, it is important to analyze it to eliminate errors and mistakes to have high-quality data. Also, I have learned the importance of obtaining data from primary sources, such as interviews and surveys. Such data will always give a true picture of the phenomenon or matter under investigation.

Reference

Coffee Jr, J. C. (2020). Corporate Crime and Punishment: The crisis of underenforcement. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Dostoyevsky, F. (2017). Crime and punishment. Oxford University Press.

Emsley, C. (2022). Crime and Punishment: 10 years of research (1). Filling in, adding up, moving on Criminal Justice History in Contemporary Britain. Crime, Histoire &Sociétés/Crime, History & Societies, 9(1), 117-138.

Pali, B. (2019). The crime of punishment.

Santoro, E. (2018). Crime and punishment. In Political concepts (pp. 65-76). Manchester University Press.

 

 

3)

Research Gap

In this research, various topics have not been addressed in detail, and others haven’t been addressed. One of these topics is the relationship between crime and punishment. Since the research focuses on the historical background of crime and punishment, it is important to show how these two things are related. This will enable us to determine or predict the recidivism rate. For example, if a criminal is not punished, he or she is likely to reoffend again. On the other hand, if a criminal is punished based on the type of crime committed, he or she is likely not to reoffend due to consequences. Having such information in this research will play a pivotal role in reaching a conclusion to this question.

The question derived from this research which has led to a research gap, is whether the punishment Floyd Dostoevsky was subjected to led him to reject the radical socialist position (Beal, 2021). In this research, the researcher failed to inform us whether Floyd Dostoevsky changed at his will due to consequences emanating from the crime committed. Addressing this question will give an assurance that punishment could reduce recidivism.

In order to address this question, it is vital to propose a hypothesis. Therefore, the best hypothesis for this research is people who are punished in equal measures to the crime committed are more likely not to reoffend than criminals who are not punished. This hypothesis has related both variables; that is, independent and dependent variables. In order to answer this question, I will use data that are collected prior to the beginning of the research. For example, I will analyze it and determine how punishment has been contributing to crime reduction.

 

 

Reference

Beal, S. G. (2021). Cross Temporal Analysis of Existentialist Authors Dostoevsky, Kafka, Camus, and Ellison Relative to the Divergence Between Their Disenfranchised and Non- Marginalized Characters (Doctoral dissertation, Southern New Hampshire University).

4)

Life or Death in Prison

The issue of whether to subject serious offenders such as first-degree murderers to life imprisonment or the death penalty has been a subject of matter that has been debated for a long. Much research has been done on whether it is right to subject criminals to life imprisonment or the death penalty. Some researchers have concluded that it is right to subject serious offenders to life imprisonment instead of subjecting them to the death penalty, while others support the death penalty (Klimczak&Niełaczna, 2020). Therefore, to address this issue, I will gather data and provide my findings.

Since countries such as China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia, just naming a few, have legalized the death penalty, other countries like South Africa, Britain, and Ukraine prohibit the death penalty for criminals; it is important to take public opinion in order to understand their perception on this issue. Before gathering data, I selected a sample size of twenty through random sampling. The main reason why I used this sampling technique is to avoid biases. I ensured all participants had attained the age of eighteen and each gender was equally represented. I supplied questionnaires to them, requiring them to answer the indicated questions about the issue being addressed. One of the major questions required them to state whether they support the death sentence or life imprisonment and support their answer.

Various reasons made me use this method of collecting data instead of using others, such as surveys and interviews. First, it assured high-quality data. In this case, participants were giving their thoughts and opinions about the issue under research, and therefore there were no instances of data manipulation. Secondly, it is cheap compared to other data collection methods, such as interviews (Pritha Bhandari, 2022). In this case, I was only required to print questions and supply them to participants to fill out. If I had used an interview, I would have interviewed each participant, thus taking a longer duration and more resources. The last reason I used this method is rapidity because I received replies very quickly, and there was no need to visit the respondent personally or continue the study over a long period. The participant was required to answer these questions in an hour. Therefore, once they completed answering, I collected the data for analysis.

Data analysis is the second step in research after gathering data from the respondents. It is the process of applying statistical or logical techniques to describe as well as illustrate, condense and recap, and evaluate the collected data. The main reason I conducted data analysis is to eliminate errors the respondent could have made while answering questions. For example, correcting spelling mistakes and repetition. Correcting these errors enabled me to have high-quality information, which enabled me to develop a firm conclusion.

After analyzing the data, seventy percent of the total women stated that serious offenders are required to be subjected to life imprisonment instead of a death sentence. The other remaining women supported the death penalty. On the other hand, sixty percent of men supported life imprisonment, while the remaining percentage seconded the death sentence. Therefore, thirteen people, or sixty-five percent, supported life imprisonment. This shows that many people are against the death penalty, and therefore countries that have legalized this punishment are violating human rights, such as the right to life. From a general perspective, the main goal of punishing criminals is to eliminate them from society. Therefore, subjecting them to life imprisonment will eliminate them from the community, thus achieving the punishments’ objectives. In conclusion, my finding is that serious offenders should be subjected to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty.

 

Reference

Klimczak, J., &Niełaczna, M. (2020). Extreme criminal penalties: Death penalty and life imprisonment in the Polish penal and penitentiary system.

Pritha Bhandari, (2022). Questionnaire Design | Methods, Question Types & Examples, https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/questionnaire/#:~:text=A%20questionnaire%20is%20a%20list,the%20social%20and%20health%20sciences.