More and more prisons are being built to house the world’s criminals, and many people believe long-term imprisonment is the answer to solving the crime problem. However, others feel that psychological assistance is what is required. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. (Discuss both views.)

Those in favour of long-term imprisonment
argue
Suggestion
arguing
that criminals are not fit to live alongside normal members of
society
. The obvious reason for
this
is that they represent a danger to others’ personal safety, and it is true that
society
would not tolerate violent criminals living in its midst. The thinking behind imprisonment is to take away prisoners’ rights to individual freedom:
this
is their punishment.
In addition
, it is thought that prisoners use their time in
prison
to reflect on and consider their illegal behaviour, hopefully regretting and feeling remorseful about their crimes.
However
, some people argue that prisons are not the best place for all criminals. Advocates for psychological rehabilitation believe that psychological therapy may be a better alternative to imprisonment for some offenders. Psychological therapy may address the root causes of the criminal behaviour and offer strategies and possibilities for change in the future.
This
approach may be more successful in preventing
reoffending
in the long run because it does not assume the same solution (
that is
,
prison
) works for all. On the whole, I believe
prison
definitely has its place as a form of punishment, as no one would wish to live in fear of violent crime, and criminals need to be removed from
society
for
this
reason.
However
, I think a combined approach which has a strong focus on psychological treatment is essential in addressing the core causes of crime, as
prison
alone offers no hope for future change and eventually, almost all criminals are released back into
society
.

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Writing9 with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Include an introduction and conclusion

A conclusion is essential for IELTS writing task 2. It is more important than most people realise. You will be penalised for missing a conclusion in your IELTS essay.

The easiest paragraph to write in an essay is the conclusion paragraph. This is because the paragraph mostly contains information that has already been presented in the essay – it is just the repetition of some information written in the introduction paragraph and supporting paragraphs.

The conclusion paragraph only has 3 sentences:

  • Summary
  • Restatement of thesis
  • Prediction or recommendation

Example:

To summarize, a robotic teacher does not have the necessary disciple to properly give instructions to students and actually works to retard the ability of a student to comprehend new lessons. Therefore, it is clear that the idea of running a classroom completely by a machine cannot be supported. After thorough analysis on this subject, it is predicted that the adverse effects of the debate over technology-driven teaching will always be greater than the positive effects, and because of this, classroom teachers will never be substituted for technology.

Start your conclusion with a linking phrase. Here are some examples:

  • In conclusion
  • To conclude
  • To summarize
  • Finally
  • In a nutshell
  • In general

Discover more tips in The Ultimate Guide to Get a Target Band Score of 7+ »— a book that's free for 🚀 Premium users.

What to do next:
Look at other essays: