How do religious and non-religious people respond to crime and punishment, and is the death penalty ever right?
Religious and non-religious responses to crime and punishment, including sources of moral authority, and the arguments for and against capital punishment (the death penalty).
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on Morality and Belief, using Crime and Punishment. Covers religious and non-religious responses to crime and punishment, sources of moral authority, and the arguments for and against capital punishment, with balanced evaluation.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
The Morality and Belief component studies one moral issue through religious and non-religious responses. Using Crime and Punishment, this dot point covers how people respond to crime and punishment, where their views come from (sources of moral authority), and the big debate this issue contains: capital punishment (the death penalty).
You need to describe and explain these responses, and evaluate the death penalty with arguments on both sides.
Sources of moral authority
For a religious person such as a Christian, sources can include:
- Sacred texts (the Bible), including "do not kill" and teaching on justice and mercy,
- the teaching and example of Jesus, especially on forgiveness,
- the Church and religious leaders, and
- conscience and prayer.
For a non-religious person such as a Humanist, sources can include:
- reason and evidence about what actually works,
- empathy and concern for human welfare, and
- ideas of human rights and fairness.
Religious responses to crime and punishment
Christians do not all agree. Some emphasise retribution, quoting "an eye for an eye". Others emphasise mercy, pointing to Jesus telling the crowd "let anyone without sin throw the first stone". Present this range accurately and respectfully. Underneath it is the belief, from the World Religion component, that every person is made in the image of God and can be redeemed.
Non-religious responses to crime and punishment
Because they judge punishment by its results, non-religious thinkers often reject retribution as revenge that does not make society safer. They place strong weight on human rights, which shapes their view of the death penalty. Many agree with religious believers on practical measures like rehabilitation, though they reach that view from a different starting point.
The death penalty: arguments for
Arguments in favour include:
- Retribution. For the worst crimes, such as murder, some argue the only fitting penalty is death, so justice is done and "an eye for an eye" is satisfied.
- Deterrence. Supporters claim the fear of execution puts people off the most serious crimes.
- Protection. Execution permanently removes a dangerous offender, so they can never harm anyone again.
- Closure. Some argue it gives victims' families a sense of closure.
The death penalty: arguments against
The main arguments against:
- Risk of executing the innocent. Courts make mistakes, and an execution cannot be undone, unlike releasing a wrongly jailed person.
- The value of life. Many religious people say life is sacred or God-given, so only God should take it; humanists say everyone has a right to life.
- It does not clearly work. The evidence that it deters crime more than long prison sentences is weak.
- No chance to reform. Execution removes any chance the offender could change or make amends, which conflicts with forgiveness and rehabilitation.
Today most Christians and most humanists oppose the death penalty, though some still support it, so views genuinely differ.
Examples in context
Example 1. A wrongful conviction overturned. A prisoner freed years later after new evidence shows that courts make mistakes. This supports the argument against the death penalty: an execution could not have been reversed.
Example 2. A prison chaplaincy. Christians visiting prisoners to support rehabilitation show the religious response of forgiveness and reformation in practice, flowing from Jesus' teaching on mercy.
Try this
Q1. Name one source of moral authority a Christian might use when responding to crime. [1 mark]
- Cue. Any one of the Bible, the teaching and example of Jesus, the Church, conscience or prayer.
Q2. State one argument against the death penalty. [1 mark]
- Cue. Any one of: the risk of executing the innocent; the sanctity or right to life; weak deterrence evidence; no chance of reformation.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA N5 style4 marksDescribe one religious and one non-religious response to crime and punishment.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark describe question wants one developed religious response and one developed non-religious response, so give a point and detail for each.
Religious response (Christianity): many Christians stress forgiveness and reformation. Following Jesus, who taught mercy and forgiving "seventy times seven", they support punishment that protects the public but also gives the offender a chance to change, and many oppose the death penalty.
Non-religious response (Humanism): humanists base morality on reason, evidence and human welfare rather than scripture. They tend to support whatever reduces crime most effectively, such as reform and tackling causes like poverty, and most oppose the death penalty as a breach of human rights.
Markers reward one accurate religious and one accurate non-religious response, each developed. Do not evaluate in a describe question.
SQA N5 style6 marksExplain arguments against the death penalty.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark explain answer needs developed reasons with consequences, so make three linked arguments.
Argument one: the risk of executing the innocent. Courts can make mistakes, and the consequence of a wrongful execution is that it cannot be undone, unlike a prison sentence, so an innocent person could be killed.
Argument two: the value and dignity of life. Many religious people say life is sacred or God-given, so only God should take it, and humanists say every person has a right to life, so the consequence is that the state should not deliberately kill.
Argument three: it does not clearly work. The evidence that the death penalty deters crime more than long prison sentences is weak, so the consequence is that it may take life without making society safer, and it removes any chance of reformation.
Markers reward each argument explained with its consequence, drawing on both religious (sanctity of life, forgiveness) and non-religious (human rights, evidence) reasoning.
Related dot points
- The nature of crime, the difference between crime, sin and immorality, and the causes of crime, including poverty, upbringing, addiction, mental health and greed.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on Morality and Belief, using Crime and Punishment. Covers the nature of crime, the difference between crime, sin and immorality, and the causes of crime including poverty, upbringing, addiction, mental health and greed, with religious and non-religious responses noted.
- The purposes of punishment, including protection, retribution, deterrence and reformation, and how religious and non-religious views weigh these aims.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on Morality and Belief, using Crime and Punishment. Covers the purposes of punishment - protection, retribution, deterrence and reformation - and how religious and non-religious views weigh these aims, with worked exam technique.
- The means of reaching the goal in Christianity, including the death and resurrection of Jesus (atonement), grace, faith, repentance, prayer and worship, the sacraments, and following the teaching and example of Jesus.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on World Religion, using Christianity. Covers the means of reaching the goal: the death and resurrection of Jesus (atonement), grace, faith, repentance, prayer, worship and the sacraments, and following the teaching and example of Jesus.
- Christian beliefs about human nature, including being created in the image of God, the soul, free will, and sin and the Fall, and beliefs about the human condition, including the problem of suffering and separation from God.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on World Religion, using Christianity as the worked example. Covers Christian beliefs about human nature, including being created in the image of God, the soul, free will, and sin and the Fall, and the human condition, including suffering and separation from God.
- The existence of the soul and life after death, including beliefs about the soul, religious beliefs about the afterlife such as resurrection and reincarnation, evidence such as near-death experiences, and non-religious responses.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on Religious and Philosophical Questions. Covers the existence of the soul and life after death: beliefs about the soul, resurrection and reincarnation, evidence such as near-death experiences, and non-religious and materialist responses, with balanced evaluation.