Deterrence of Death Penalty
The death penalty has been used for centuries as a form of retributive justice for felonies committed by criminals. The code of Hammurabi, written approximately 3,700 years ago, stated that "if a man destroys another man's eye, the offender's eye should be taken out; if a son strikes his father, the son shall have his hand cut off."(246) Early legal codes tried to provide justice by matching the punishment with the offense. This approach was also evident in numerous places within the Old Testament. For example, in the Book of Deuteronomy we read, " Life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."(8:12) However, even with these early philosophies of justice, punishment was not merely meant to serve as revenge for the victims and their relatives. Instead, punishment was intended to make life and property more secure by reducing the likelihood of a person committing a crime or a second offence.This aspect of social control is called deterrence: the use of punishment to deter people from deviance. As Plato expounded 2,300 years ago, "Punishment brings wisdom; it is the healing act of wickedness."(199) This occurs, Plato explained, "because the
"I was 17 years old when I committed the offense for which I was sentenced to die, Charles F. Rumbaugh prior to his execution September 11, 1985 and I didn't even start thinking and caring about my life until I was at least 20." In examining the deterrent effect of the death penalty from a sociological perspective, studies have shown that in certain countries the brutal tactics presented by the death penalty contribute quite successfully to deterring criminals. An annotation released last year by the F.B.I supports this theory. The annotation focused on recent statistics between Singapore and Los Angeles. Both have approximately 3.5 million inhabitants and imposed the death penalty as their most severe sentence. During the study period of 1993, Singapore reported fifty-eight murders, and eighty rapes, while Los Angeles reported an astounding 1,100 murders, and 1,855 rapes. (qtd. in Bonner, part 4) Singapore's sanctions are severe, but their statistics show that this form of punishment is an effective deterrent in their particular culture. Whereas, the astronomical rates acquired by Los Angeles was a direct reflection of their system of sanctions. Obviously, the system, which Los Angeles has employed, was not as effective for their diversified population. One's outlook on life is greatly influenced by their culture. The Los Angeles' populace lives a drastically different lifestyle then the populace of Singapore and, therefore, the success of the death penalty in Singapore does not prove that the death penalty in Los Angeles will be a successful deterrent. Isaac Ehrlich is also part of the Pro Coalition of the death penalty. Ehrlich conducted a study in the 1960's regarding the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent. Ehrlich found conclusive evidence that the death penalty was an effective deterrent. He further claimed that for every execution there were 7-8 criminals that were deterred. Ehrlich's study concluded that for every execution 1 to 8 lives were saved.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Bureau Investigation, Steven Goldberg, Book Deuteronomy, Los Angeles, North Americans, Criminal Code, Death Penalty, death penalty, Independent Study, Deters Steven, Pro Coalition, deterrent effect, los angeles, ven den haag, death penalty deter, den haag, ven den, penalty deter, capital punishment, north americans, effective deterrent, homicide rates, penalty effective deterrent, aspects mind criminologists', mind criminologists' views,
Approximate Word count = 2252
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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