犯罪題是 Part 3 最容易踩情緒地雷的主題。台灣考生常因為近期社會新聞，在考場直接表態「應該死刑」或「重判嚴懲」——但 Part 3 要的不是道德立場，是平衡分析。
五個常見角度
| 角度 | 題目範例 | |------|----------| | 起因 | What are the main causes of crime in society? | | 預防 vs 懲罰 | Is it more effective to prevent crime or to punish it? | | 更生 | Should prisons focus on rehabilitation rather than punishment? | | 青少年犯罪 | How should society deal with youth offenders? | | 監控與隱私 | Do CCTV and surveillance reduce crime effectively? |
5 題代表題 + Band 7+ 範例
Q1. What do you think are the main causes of crime?
Generally speaking, the research points to a combination of factors rather than a single cause. Economic inequality, lack of education and broken family environments tend to come up most often. Arguably, the strongest predictor across countries is just deprivation — countries with smaller wealth gaps, like the Nordic states, consistently report lower crime rates. So the causes are structural more than personal.
Q2. Should prisons focus on punishment or rehabilitation?
I’d argue rehabilitation has to be the goal, even though it’s politically unpopular. Norway’s reoffending rate is around 20%, compared with over 60% in the US — and the difference is largely down to how prisons are designed. That said, certain serious crimes do require longer sentences for public safety. So it’s not either-or, but rehabilitation should be the default frame.
Q3. How should society treat young offenders differently?
It really depends on the crime, but on the whole I’d say young offenders need a different system because their brains are still developing. Locking a 15-year-old in an adult prison tends to produce a hardened criminal, not a reformed citizen. Most European countries use specialised youth courts and education-based interventions, and the outcomes are noticeably better.
Q4. Do CCTV cameras genuinely reduce crime?
The evidence is mixed, honestly. Cameras seem to reduce property crime in car parks and similar contained spaces, but they have little impact on impulsive or violent crimes — those tend to happen too fast for the camera to deter. Arguably the bigger effect is psychological: people feel safer, even if the actual statistics barely change. So it’s as much a public-perception tool as a crime-fighting one.
Q5. Are some crimes more harmful to society than others?
Yes, though "harm" is multi-dimensional. Violent crime obviously causes the most direct suffering, but white-collar crime — corporate fraud, tax evasion — can damage thousands of lives at once and tends to be punished more leniently. There’s an argument that society undertaxes prosecutions of the second type, partly because it’s less visible. So the legal system’s priorities don’t always match the actual social cost.
三層結構提醒
Claim — I’d argue / On the whole / Generally speaking
Reason — because / since / the evidence suggests / arguably
Example — Norway’s 20% / US’s 60% / Nordic states / specialised youth courts主題詞彙（Band 7 級）
| 詞彙 | 中文 | 範例 chunk | |------|------|------------| | rehabilitation | 更生 | invest in offender rehabilitation | | reoffending rate | 再犯率 | Norway’s low reoffending rate | | deterrent | 嚇阻 | the death penalty as a deterrent | | miscarriage of justice | 司法誤判 | risks of a miscarriage of justice | | white-collar crime | 白領犯罪 | under-prosecuted white-collar crime | | youth offender | 少年犯 | specialised courts for youth offenders | | restorative justice | 修復式正義 | restorative justice programmes | | custodial sentence | 監禁刑 | avoid unnecessary custodial sentences | | community service | 社區服務 | community service as an alternative | | recidivism | 累犯傾向 | high rates of recidivism | | socioeconomic factors | 社經因素 | socioeconomic factors driving crime | | surveillance | 監控 | the rise of public surveillance | | public safety | 公共安全 | balance public safety against rights | | moral panic | 道德恐慌 | avoid policy driven by moral panic |
台灣考生常見陷阱：情緒一邊倒
"Criminals are bad people. Just put them in prison forever." ——典型情緒答案，Band 5。Part 3 要的是冷靜分析，不是個人立場。
修正：永遠加入 on the other hand 或具體國家對比：
Tougher sentencing has political appeal — it sounds firm. On the other hand, the empirical record from the US, where prison populations exploded after the 1980s "tough on crime" wave, suggests longer sentences barely move crime rates. So the policy may be popular without being effective.