Exercise 1

Write the concluding paragraph for the following essay.  80-100 words

Question: It has been said by various social commentators over the ages, among them Dostoyevsky, that how civilized a country is can be measured by how it treats its inmates or those in prison. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this idea?

Torture, mistreatment, abuse, and squalid and dangerous conditions are considered to be signs of barbarity by many people. I am one of these people. I believe that when these negative social conditions and actions are manifested in a society, they signal that something is amiss with that society. I will explain my reasons for this.

Those who are most prone to be mistreated, tortured, or held in terrible conditions are prisoners.

I am not arguing for some kind of limitless leniency. I am not saying that criminals aren’t problematic and that they don’t deserve punishment. Crime and insecurity are social ills; it is a terrible experience to be the victim of a crime—especially a violent one. Nevertheless, I am arguing for a rational and firm way to carry out the punishment of those who commit crimes and are caught. Just as civilized societies do not believe that children should be tortured or abused in the process of their raising, a civilized society does not mistreat its prisoners. I think that the analogy of raising children and dealing with criminals has a certain similarity in this aspect as bringing up children requires moments of discipline and punishment because parents are also socializing their children and teaching them about limitations and obligations.

Furthermore, cruel and abusive punishment have been shown to be unnecessary to lower crime rates. Countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, or the United States, do not have lower crime rates because they apply public beatings (Saudi Arabia and Iran) or executions (all three countries). The United States does not have particularly low rates of crime while its prisons are very unpleasant places to be. The US prison system’s harsh realities have not been an effective deterent. It seems that these prisons are a way for society to exact revenge on the transgressors being held in them.

On the other hand, some countries, such as those in Europe, are famous for not executing anybody. Their prisons are rather safe places that perform the role of incarceration without turning into violent and dangerous environments. They could even be described as civilized places. Perhaps, as a result, they are low crime societies.

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