Some people believe that there should be fixed punishments for each type of crime. Others, however, argue that the circumstances of an individual crime, and the motivation for committing it, should always be taken into account when deciding on the punishment. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Throughout his history, human has invariably searched for more accurate, just and practical approaches to

punishment

. Some have viewed the concept as quite rigid, believing in fixed, unforgiving punishments for each type of

crime

, while

some

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apply

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others believe in a more relative and understanding

approach

to

punishment

that takes into consideration the motivation and circumstances of the

crime

. Those maintaining that crimes ought to be responded to using fixed punishments are probably concerned about the function of

punishment

: to prevent

crime

. They may state that knowing that a

crime

will lead to an unambiguous, uncompromising consequence, would-be offenders will do their utmost to avoid committing it. On a more epistemological level, they may be staunch believers of free will, which means that, in their book, ill intent has to be reciprocated with the same level of maliciousness. There are others,

however

, who adopt a different

approach

, believing that it is not the

crime

per se that needs to be taken into account when determining punitive measures, but that it would be more judicious to consider the circumstances of an individual offence or

crime

as well the motivation of the offender.

This

approach

comes from a more humanistic mindset in which people are deemed as not machines and robots, but beings highly affected by external factors. To

them

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,them

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an act of stealing food conducted by an individual starving to death should be penalized differently than one done simply on a whim. Another relative aspect in their viewpoint is that one’s motivation

also

plays a key role. A case in point would be a so-called murderer who happened to ‘get someone killed’ when they were playfully engaged in a friendly battle or wrestle. All in all, thoughts and mindsets regarding how to penalize offenders abound and have invariably been a moot point. While some adopt a ‘tunnel-versioned’

approach

towards

this

long-debated issue, there are more balanced views that not only take into account the preventative function of

punishment

but

also

the circumstances of every individual

crime

and intents of the criminals.