Does Capital Punishment Deter Crime? Essay

The death penalty is procedure conducted by the government by which a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime. The crimes that can sometimes carry the death sentence in places like the US are war crimes, treason, murder, crimes against humanity, espionage and genocide. 103 countries as of today have fully removed the death penalty except for special crimes e.g. War crimes. Although this is a step in the right direction (for most people) 56 countries are known to perform the death penalty.

A. Death penalty is the sentence of death for a person convicted of a capital offence, is currently used in 58 countries around the world, and is also legal sentence in 33 states. (Harrison, Tamony P2)

Those who believe that deterrence justifies the execution of certain offenders bear the burden of proving that the death penalty is a deterrent. The overwhelming conclusion from years of deterrence studies is that the death penalty is, at best, no more of a deterrent than a sentence of life in prison. The Ehrlich studies – which took

The idea of capital punishment deterring crime is difficult to determine; some could rationalize that the death penalty should in theory stop potential murders from committing crimes. However, this rationalization has never been concretely proven. The research into capital punishment’s effect on deterrence is immense; however, the majority of research on this issue has differential findings. Although some research suggests conclusively that capital punishment deters crime, others found that it fails to do this. Understanding deterrence, the death penalty, and the results of

Another issue related to the subject involves whether or not capital punishment actually deters criminals from committing crimes. Most people think that the death penalties primary function is to deter others in the future from committing similar crimes. There is evidence that at times capital punishment does deter. However, there are those or cite evidence or opinion that the capital punishment does not achieve its desired effect. The majority of this paper will focus on whether capital punishment actually deters crime.

Capital punishment or death penalty is usually imposed on persons who committed heinous crimes and are those that endanger the safety of the society. Some countries and societies implement capital punishment while others do not. There are various reasons for this policy of countries, including the social view on the

Capital Punishment has ended the lives of criminals for centuries. People have debated whether the government should have the power to decide one person’s life. On one side, people think the government does not have the right to play God as well as believe that the death penalty is simply unethical. Forty-eight percent of a half sample survey stated that life imprisonment was a better punishment for murder while forty-seven percent stated that capital punishment was a better punishment (Newport). However, capital punishment should be enforced throughout the country to help deter crime, benefit the economy, and ensures retribution.

Correspondingly, in the published book “Deterrence and the Death Penalty”, the committee on deterrence and the death penalty presents research organized on the effects of homicide rates due to the death penalty. The author's research specifies that capital punishment neither increases, deters or has any effect on the numeral rates of homicide. This is important due to the fact that even 30 years

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice where a person is put to death as a punishment for a crime. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. Among countries around the world, almost all European and many Pacific Area states, and Canada have abolished capital punishment.

When it comes to ethical dilemmas, few are more polarizing and contentious for citizens of the USA as whether capital punishment should be used as a punishment for crime. Also known as the death penalty, the practice involves legally executing a criminal if they commit a crime of a certain level; most often, this punishment is prescribed to those who have murdered other people. Opponents and proponents of the death penalty have clashed for decades, often claiming differing results prove their respective sides to be superior in many areas. For example, those that support the death penalty claim that it is a cheaper punishment in financial terms than lifelong imprisonment without parole, while those that oppose capital punishment believe the exact opposite, stating that capital punishment is the more expensive of the two options. Additionally, there is a major rift between the two sides involving the effectiveness of the death penalty as a crime deterrent; opponents believe there is little to no beneficial effect, while supporters often declare that the death penalty has been proven to decrease murders and therefore saves lives. Moral positions also play a role in the debate; proponents view the punishment as a just way to punish someone who has committed a capital offense and a path towards closure for families of victims, while some on the other side hold that it is wrong to take a life regardless of what a person has done or that death is a cruel, extreme, unnecessary

Last but not least, from a sociologic perspective, capital punishment does not work as intended, to deter crime rate, rather, it might brutalize individuals, at the same time does nothing good to the victim’s family other than brutal vengeance. The origin of death penalty is served as a vehicle to put a warning for those potential future criminals that such kind of behavior will lead to death. However, so far, no clear evidence can be seen that capital punishment, as a mechanism of deterrent, actually cut down the local crime rate. Ironically, a reversal trend was found by Death Penalty Information Center (2010) in the USA that the death penalty leads to an increase in local murder rate. To die might be too easy for the mindless murderers. Also, for the relatives or friends of criminals put into death through capital punishment, they are more likely to be

The most obvious and convincing advantage of capital punishment for murderers is its deterrence factor(McCuen 54.) Opponents of the death penalty would like everyone to believe that the death penalty does not prevent murders. However, with six percent of all murders being committed by repeat offenders, the death penalty would be an obvious deterrent since the murderers would have been killed before their chance to commit murder a second time. In Georgia, out of a sample of 164 murderers, eight of them committed murders after their prison release (Winters 78.) One out of every twenty murderers released in Oregon were found to kill within five years of release (Winters 78.) These examples are clear evidence that if the death penalty was applied as it was meant to be, it could save six percent of all murders. That would save just under 1,400 lives annually since there are over twenty-two thousand murders every year (Gottfried 23.) Capital punishment opponents also argue that states without the death penalty that adjoin states with the death penalty have crime rates that are just as low (McCuen 45.) However, this is circumstantial and it must be considered that a state with the death penalty has the death penalty for a reason, and that its crime

“I don’t think you should support the death penalty to seek revenge. I don’t think that’s right. I think the reason to support the death penalty is because it saves other people’s lives.” -- President George Bush

Four major issues in capital punishment are debated, most aspects of which were touched upon by Seton Hall’s panel discussion on the death penalty. The first issue stands as deterrence. A major purpose of criminal punishment is to conclude future criminal conduct. The deterrence theory suggests that a rational person will avoid criminal behavior if the severity of the punishment outweighs the benefits of the illegal conduct. It is believed that fear of death “deters” people from committing a crime. Most criminals would think twice before committing murder if they knew their own lives were at stake. When attached to certain crimes, the penalty of death exerts a positive moral influence, placing a stigma on certain crimes like manslaughter, which results in attitudes of horror to such acts.

Capital punishment, or otherwise known as the death penalty, is death sentenced upon a person by the state as a punishment for a crime. These crimes are known as capital crimes or capital offenses. Capital punishment has been practiced in many societies; now 58 nations practice the death penalty, while 97 nations have abolished it. In the past, it was common for the ruling party to make the offender known throughout the community for his or her criminal act. Thus, if the community were made aware of the consequences for breaking the laws, the crime rate would reduce. Such criminal penalties included: boiling to death, disembowelment, crucifixion and many more. As time went on the movement towards more humane treatments took hold. In the