Task 4. Match the legal terms on the left with their definitions on the right. Use them in sentences of your own.

 

1) deterrence	a). guidance and instruction given to offenders, their beneficial treatment aimed at restitution of positive skills and attitudes
2) case study	b) measures taken to prevent hostile action
3) legislator	c) a person serving a prison sentence
4) retribution	d) a detailed analysis of a criminal person or group
5) convict	e) a member of a body which gives or makes laws
6) rehabilitation	f) something given or demanded in repayment, especially punishment

 

Task 5. Answer the following questions:

1. What steps can society take to cope with crime?

2. What trends can be observed in the development of criminology?

3. What method and techniques are applied in criminology?

4. In what other spheres of life can criminology find useful application?

 

Text 4.

Task 1. Read and translate the text

 

Criminal Punishment

Criminal punishment of persons who have committed crimes is one or the forms of state fight against crime. Any criminal punishment is always a restriction of the rights of convicted persons. This restriction is a sort of retribution for the crime a person committed. If a person is convicted, the court decides on the most appropriate sentence. The facts of the offence, the circumstances of the offender, his/her previous convictions are taken into account. The more serious an offence is, the stricter a penalty should be.

But in any case, the responsibility of the court is to impose an exact and just punishment relevant to the gravity of a crime. The more just the punishment is, the greater is the possibility of a person’s reformation. The defence lawyer may make a speech in mitigation on behalf of the offender.

There are the following basic penalties: deprivation of liberty – imprisonment for a certain period of time or life imprisonment -, exile, fines or public censure. Capital punishment is usually used only as an exceptional measure when an especially grave crime was committed. The list of such crimes is not long and it is strictly determined by law. There are quite a lot of countries where death penalty is prohibited.

 

Task 2. Make up the questions that correspond to the following answers

 

1. No, a criminal punishment is not only a retribution for the offence committed but also a form of prevention of crimes.

2. No, capital punishment is not yet prohibited in Russia.

3. A form of criminal punishment depends on the gravity of the crime committed and the personality of a criminal.

 

Task 3. Improve your Grammar. Translate the following sentences into Russian paying special attention to the sentences with Passive Voice and Degrees of Comparison

 

1. A penalty must be imposed by the court.

2. The more serious a crime is, the more strict a punishment will be.

3. The rights of the convicted persons are restricted.

4. There are some supplementary penalties that may be imposed on the convicted persons.

5. The sooner you arrest the criminal, the quicker you prevent the crime.

6. Capital punishment is permitted only in exceptional cases.

7. The list of crimes which can be punished by a sentence of death is defined by law.

 

Task 4. What are the crimes described in the following situations?

 

1. He threatened to send the love letters to her husband unless she gave him $500.

2. The telephone box had been smashed and there was graffiti all over the walls.

3. Department stores lose millions of pounds each year through goods being stolen off the shelves.

4. Thieves broke into the house while the family was away on holiday.

5. He watched with satisfaction as the fire he lit burnt down the factory. That’ll make them wish they’d never given me the sack, he thought.

6. It was a perfect copy. It was so good, in fact, that it could even fool an expert.

7. The bank believed her to be trustworthy. They had no reason to suspect that she had transferred thousands of pounds to false accounts.

8. “If you want to see your child again, put $50,000 in an old suitcase and wait for further instructions”.

9. George gave the man $50 in return for a small packet of heroin.

10. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and people were sitting outside the café enjoying the sunshine. Then the bomb went off.

11. “If only I hadn’t brought these watches through customs” she thought as she sat crying in the police station.

 

Text 5.