AQA GCSE Religious Studies (8062) · Paper 2
⚖️ Theme E: Crime & Punishment
Revision notes written to the specification, with examiner tips and the required practicals. Every point here has flashcards in the Stickwise app.
Crime, punishment & forgiveness
Causes of crimeCauses of crime include poverty and upbringing, addiction, mental illness, greed or hatred, and principled opposition to an unjust law, as with Rosa Parks. Believers are taught to hate the sin, not the sinner.
Aims of punishmentThe aims of punishment include retribution, making the offender pay for the crime, deterrence, warning others against offending, and reformation, changing the offender for the better, which the faiths generally favour.
Treatment of criminalsCriminals are entitled to a fair trial and humane conditions in prison, with no torture, since even the guilty keep God-given dignity. Visiting those in prison is itself commanded (Matthew 25).
ForgivenessBelievers are taught to forgive the offender while justice still takes its course. Restorative meetings bring victim and offender face to face, echoing Jesus's words from the cross, 'Father, forgive them.'
Death penaltyArguments for the death penalty include 'eye for eye', its deterrent effect, and protection of the public; some readings of Sharia permit it. Arguments against it include the sanctity of life, the risk of irreversible mistakes, and the fact that it leaves no room to reform, alongside the words 'let him without sin cast the first stone'. The death penalty has been abolished in the UK.
Corporal punishment means physically punishing an offender, for example by flogging. It is illegal in the UK. Some believers accept it where a religious legal code prescribes it, such as the fixed Hudud penalties in Shari'ah law, or point to the Old Testament principle of 'an eye for an eye'. Most Christians and Muslims today reject it as a denial of human dignity and prefer punishments that reform, citing teachings such as 'turn the other cheek'.
🎯 Examiner tip: In evaluations, tie each aim of punishment to a religious principle: retribution to justice, deterrence to protecting the innocent, and reformation to forgiveness and redemption. This mapping is what 'religious reasoning' means in the mark scheme.
Turn these notes into memory. 9 flashcards cover this topic. Short daily sessions, spaced repetition up to your exam date, quizzes with friends. Free during the beta.Practise Theme E: Crime & Punishment in the app ↗