What topic are you planning on researching?
I would like to research criminals and their punishments, and the different models for punishments throughout the world and how they affect re-offending rates and reformation. I shall also be investigating our own country’s methods of punishment and whether they are actually effective at all. I hope to look at controversial methods of punishment such as capital punishment and also more modern ones such as sending prisoners home at the weekends to experience the contrast between prison and home life.
Why are your interested in this project?
I find the different methods for punishing criminals both fascinating and interesting. I am especially interested in crimes throughout the ages, and the way in which these criminals were punished.
What are you aiming to find out?
I hope to find out which methods of punishment are the most effective, by comparing them with re-offending rates. I hope this will give me sufficient knowledge in order for me to make my own analysis of whether these methods are successful in preventing crimes or not.
What are you planning on producing i.e. what is your final product?
I hope to produce an essay and a presentation on my chosen subject. I will use my essay to come to a conclusion over which, if any, punishment methods seem the most effective.
How will you go about doing this?
I plan to research my chosen topic by looking at our own legal system and prisons, hopefully I would like to get the opportunity to visit a prison to experience it for myself. I also want to interview a criminal psychologist who can give me the views of criminals and the way they are affected by being punished. I also want to look at other countries re-offending rates in relation with their own punishment methods. For examples, in some states in the USA where capital punishment still exists crime rates have only been reduced by 1%, therefore suggesting that this method doesn’t always tackle the problems of violent crime.
