A Historical Look at Punishment

A Historical Look at Punishment Free Online Research Papers Imagine for a moment being Robert-Francois Damiens, who in 1757 was executed for the attempted murder of King Louis XV. Mostly likely one would expect to be put to death by a quick beheading through the use of a gelatin or by the swing of an executioner’s sword. However, this was not the case. His sentencing required flesh from his body to be torn off by flamed pincers, having those wounds filled with molten sulfur, and to be quartered by four horses which involved the horses pulling in opposite directions until the body’s limbs were ripped off. In today’s American society one would find this sentencing to be under the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Act which does not allow for such a horrific torture to take place. We would, on the other hand, expect the punishment to be severe for such an elevated offense, but the punishment for an attempted murder of an official would more likely involve life in prison, with a possible chance of parole or less. This quick description of punishment in different eras shows a little bit of where we were with the treatment of criminals in the past, and where we are today. To fully understand how we have made such accomplishments and changes in controlling deviancy we must look to the very earliest of civilizations and through time to realize why the changes were made and what they were. The Ancient Times were loaded with diverse punishment for criminals, and ways of deterring criminal acts to take place. Greece, for instance, heavily practiced execution, banishment, and exile. Execution consisted of crucifixion, stoning to death, and throwing from high cliffs. Many of the executed were left in public view while their body’s rotted away to deter others from committing the same crime. Israel followed the codes of the Bible, punishing criminals through exposure to wild animals, lashings, cursing, crucifixion, and casting down. The punishment was to revenge what laws of the Bible they broke and to be equal to what they have done. Early Rome had The Twelve Tables, which were the earliest written laws and punishment were burning to equal the offense of arson, throwing from a cliff for perjury, clubbing to death for mocking a fellow citizen, hanging for stealing crops or other property, and a few other vicious punishments for higher offenses. As society entered into the Middle Ages physical punishment followed in a similar fashion to ancient times through European countries and American colonies. The punishment involved five degrees of severity and were all held out in a public arena. The first degree was flogging and whipping, which was used mainly for control over prisoners. Used heavily throughout American colonies until the 20th century, the whipping allowed officials to forcefully control subjects and to deter others by the fear of harsh rules that follow imprisonment. The second level consisted of the burning of skin and flesh. As discussed in the case of Damiens, burning of the flesh was carried out as a deterrent and as a means of revenge. A third degree offense would have involved mutilation or an act that would have left the body permanently disfigured. These punishments were dealt to offenders as a deterrent to others and were designed to match the offense accordingly. For example, a thief would have the ir hands cut off, a liar would have their tongue ripped out, and a sexual offender would have their genitals removed. A fourth degree offense ended in instant death. Reserved mainly for royalty and nobles, the death was quick and virtually painless. Decapitation in this manner was seen as an honorable death through the Middle Ages. Finally, the fifth and last level of severity led to a very torturous, painful, and agenizing death. This is exactly what Damiens would have been sentenced to for his murder attempt on the king. It consisted of all the other punishment levels and a multitude of acts. Torture was used in the sentencing to gain confession of the criminal’s wrong doing and in efforts to free their souls from the evils which they committed. Also some societies practiced exile and transportation. The punishment sent criminals to foreign land or to newly discovered land as a way to remove them from society. Greek offenders were forced to Rome, who also practiced exiling any criminals to other countries. Amazingly, America was one of the newly discovered lands that Europe used as a transportation and exile area. The big change in punishment came about in the 16th and 17th centuries throughout Europe and began to spread elsewhere. What began as workhouses for social deviants and minor criminals would eventually span out to become long term, up to two years, holding cells for all criminals and even those who actually haven’t broke any written laws, such as mentally ill. The motivation behind this switch was a change in attitude towards punishment and its physicality. Thought began to emerge of taking away personal freedom and to make the person’s soul and spirit suffer more harshly then the body. Another main factor that led to more modern day prison versions was the passing of laws to keep non-criminals out of prison. This meant that there would no longer be holdings of mentally ill, children, women, and a very large number of debtors who were originally placed together. Reformers such as William Penn, John Howard, and Jeremy Bentham began studying prison systems to better the development and the purpose of prisons as institutions of rehabilitation. Penn shifted punishment by setting only one capitol punishment, being premeditated murder, and abolishing all former English capitol punishments. This became known as the â€Å"Great Act† of 1682. Howard and Bentham stayed busy by writing books on reformation and rehabilitation of prisoners, and by developing new versions of prison architecture. Along with other reformers, these men were able to help swing society’s view of punishment and set up new deviance control methods that were more centered on criminals and teaching them ways to correct their criminal ways. Obviously the harsh punishment in Ancient Times and through the Middle Ages wasn’t the most efficient manner to deter criminal acts because crime rates did not drop nor did criminals stop committing the same crimes. One of the problems revolved around the fact that many being punished were not offenders of serious crimes. Many were forced to thievery because of their social status and it was the only way for survival, while others were punished because they were in debt to a noble. The shift towards prison sentences established a well defined written law and also set punishment levels more accordingly to their offenses. Today’s prison, parole, and probation system allows use to hold prisoners in appropriate places. Our society has minimum to high security prison that have the ability to separate the serious and violent offenders from those who committed lesser acts. This keeps morale high for those who now the will be returned to society after a short sentence bec ause they understand that the situation could be worse. Probation and parole allows the offender to slowly adjust to normal society through certain regulations, routine drug checks, and probation or parole meetings to affirm success or to catch another criminal act by the offender. This operates as a deterrent and as a guide to the offender, while at the same time creates a system of checks and balances that officials can follow to assure they are releasing a reformed person who is no longer a deviant of society. However punishment is dealt, we will always have deviants in society, and it would be impossible to eliminate all criminal acts. I think we have come a long way in controlling deviancy and where we are at today has led to crime rate drops and will only continue to create new techniques in criminal deterrence, reformation and rehabilitation, and better programs to reintroduce criminals into society. 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How to Use the Preposition To

How to Use the Preposition To To is one of the most common prepositions in English. The preposition to also a part of the infinitive form of the verb. For example, these are all infinitives: To doTo playTo sing Infinitives can be combined with other verbs such as hope, arrange, want, etc. I hope to see you next week.Tom arranged to have his sister picked up at the airport.Your sister wants to help you understand mathematics. The preposition to is also used as a preposition of movement or direction. To is sometimes confused with at or in. Both at and in show the place, but to shows movement to this place. For example: I live in Boston. Lets meet Tim at the town center for lunch. BUT I drove to Boston. We walked to the town center for lunch. Here is a summary of the uses of the preposition to. Important prepositional phrases with to are also used as discourse markers beginning sentences to link one sentence to the next. The Preposition To for Movement Use the preposition to when indicating that there is movement from one place to another. In other words, the preposition to with verbs such as drive, walk, go, hike, fly, sail, etc. Were flying to San Francisco on Thursday for a meeting.We thought we should walk to the bakery for breakfast because it is such a beautiful day.The captain sailed to the closest port. It should be noted that the preposition to is never used with the verb arrive even though it indicates movement. Use the preposition at with the verb arrive I arrived at work early in the morning.The children arrived at the park to meet their friends. To as Time Expression The preposition to can also be used to refer to time in the same sense as the time expressions till or until. Meridith worked to (OR until, till) five and then left.Were going to wait another three weeks to the end of the month. From/To Time Expressions When a starting time and a finishing time is mentioned, use the preposition from to express the beginning and to for the end. We usually work from eight in the morning to five oclock.She played the piano from ten to twelve. To in  Phrasal Verbs The preposition to is also used in many phrasal verbs. Here is a short list of some of the most common: look forward to somethingobject to somethingappeal to someoneboil down to somethingget to something I look forward to seeing you soon.Peter objected to the way he acted.That car really appeals to Susan.It boils down to this: You need to work hard.Just a moment, Ill get to that subject soon. To as Infinitive of Purpose   The preposition to is used as an infinitive of purpose to mean in order to. For example: I spent some money (in order) to get some help.Susan hasnt worked so hard (in order) to give up! Linking Phrases With To The preposition to is also used in a number of common phrases to link ideas, often at the beginning of a sentence. To a great extent To a great extent begins or ends sentences expressing that something is mostly true. To a great extent, the students work hard in this schoolI agree with Toms ideas to a great extent. To some extent To some extent is used to express that something is partially true. To some extent, I agree with the ideas introduced in this discussion.The parents are at fault to some extent. To begin/start with To begin/start with is used to introduce the first element in a discussion with many points. To begin with, lets discuss the problems weve been having in the classroom.To start with, Id like to thank you for coming tonight. To sum up To sum up introduces a final review of the key ideas in a discussion. To sum up, we need to invest more money in research and sales.To sum up, you think that its all my fault!. To tell the truth To tell the truth is used to express an honest opinion. To tell you the truth, I think Doug is not doing a very good job.To tell you the truth, Im tired of listening to politicians tell us lies.