Year 8 at XP and XP East have been studying crime and punishment over time and how our society has dealt with crime. They have looked at the evolution of punishment from retribution to reformation, alongside this, they began to notice how types of crimes have evolved over time.
To build a picture of crime and punishment and understand retribution, they began to study Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. This led them to question the place of retributive punishment in society.
They then examined crime and punishment locally and found that crime in Doncaster mainly occurs in the town centre. They created and sent out a questionnaire to all students at both XP and XPE and found out that nearly 50% of the students would feel scared to visit Doncaster Centre due to being aware and worried about the increase in crime, particularly knife crime which seems to be affecting young people across the country not just in Doncaster.
From this, they invited experts from Doncaster and surrounding areas to talk to them about crime and punishment in order to gain different perspectives and stories. They made pledges about how they would change their behaviour as a result of what they learned, such as not arguing with others online, never to carry a knife, and being more mindful of what they post on social media.
They also had sessions with the local police force to find out the impacts these crimes are having on their city, and visited Shrewsbury Prison to get an insight into what life would be like on the side of punishment and retribution.
