Impacts of the Death Penalty on Homicide Crimes Literature Review

Impacts of the Death Penalty on Homicide Crimes Literature Review The concept capital punishment, that is, the death penalty, is surrounded by philosophical, ethical, and religious issues concerning its use and effectiveness in reducing the rate of homicide crimes in the society (Chalfin & McCrary, 2017). The support and opposition of capital punishment come almost in equal measures. However, the effectiveness of capital punishment in deterring murder crimes should be determined using empirical data (Lee & McCrary, 2017). This paper presents an exploration of the existing literature on capital punishment deterring murder crimes as well as an evaluation of the causal relationship between the death penalty and murder crimes.The Theory of Deterrence The theory of deterrence in homicide murder is based on the idea that if a state imposes sufficiently severe sanction costs, then the criminal activity would be discouraged (Ehrlich, 2017). With this in mind, countries, and states that practice capital punishment finds the executions as a worse fate than life imprisonment. Notably, severity alone cannot deter homicide crimes. It is through making it possible that the sanction will have to be incurred in the event the homicide crime is repeated. The success of this idea is achieved through apprehending homicide

crime offenders and successfully prosecuting and sentencing them through the judiciary (Lee & McCrary, 2017).Unfortunately, none of the successive stages of persecution through the criminal justice system is certain. This brings the concept of certainty of the punishment. Many studies of capital punishment concerning deterrence of the homicide crimes try to estimate the effect the death penalty has on reducing the rates of homicide. However, the effect of the death penalty on deterrence is affected by variation in the diverse measures of the probability of execution beyond the chances of apprehension and conviction.In many social disciplines, the concepts of severity and certainty have been made key in research on deterrence in diverse ways (Lee & McCrary, 2017). In the seminal economic formulation of decision making for criminals, their perceptions of severity and certainty are assumed to be in correspondence with reality. There is an assumption that the decision to commit a homicide crime corresponds with a set of axioms that are precisely formulated in rational decision making (Ehrlich, 2017). Notably, criminal decision-making models are less mathematically formalized and they place great emphasis on the role of perceptions in individuals on certainty and severity. The models acknowledge that these perceptions are heavily influenced by the experience the individuals have with the criminal justice system (Lee & McCrary, 2017).

Another concept in the theory of deterrence is celerity, that is, the speed at which the death penalty is imposed. Based on the data from the Bureau of Justice, the average time taken before execution is 10 years from 1984 to 2009 in the United States. Notably, these statistics only apply just for a minority of individuals who have been actually undergone execution. Only 15 % of death sentences have actually been imposed since 1976. This is a clear indication that some persons could be on death row for decades and actually end up dying out of other causes before they are executed. In fact, there were 416 cases of such deaths from 1973 to 2009. For such offenders, their sentence was equivalent to a life sentence (Lee & McCrary, 2017).The research studies reviewed reveal very little on the mechanisms that generate the causal relationship between capital punishment and the rate of homicide crimes in the United States. It is possible that the relationship between the two presents a reflection of social processes that are different from deterrence in a narrow sense. Some scholars such as Packer (1968) and Andenaes (1974) assert that the laws themselves may reduce the incidences of homicide crimes through moral education as well as related social processes (Chalfin & McCrary, 2017).The mechanism through which the death penalty may impact on the rates of homicide has implications for the time frame when the effect operates. The socialization process that Packer (1968) and Andenaes (1974) discuss may take years or even decades for them to be effective.When a change is gradual, it is extremely difficult to measure convincingly. It is also difficult to

determine how long it takes for perceptions of severity and certainty to be developed in criminals. A change in policy may further prolong the time taken to form perceptions as well as effect socialization processes (Chalfin & McCrary, 2017).Notably, some proponents of the death penalty in deterring homicides are inspired by utilitarianism (Pandya, 2016). Here, the idea is that any pain and negative impacts associated with capital punishment must be exceeded by the benefits accrued. Such quoted benefits include homicide crime prevention through deterrence. The benefits must be enjoyed by the greater part of the population. The utilitarian approach is tired to the consequences the death penalty causes to specifically the happiness it brings to the society (Chalfin & McCrary, 2017).Capital Punishment in the United States The use of capital punishment has been common in the United States. However, what needs to be established is whether it is effective in deterring homicides in the country. Notably, the use of capital punishment varies from one state to another. Empirical data from 1973 to 1984 indicate that the rates of homicides in states that did not practice capital punishment were consistently low as compared to the state that practiced it. The states practicing capital punishment averaged 63 percent. Clearly, there is no much deterrence of homicide because of the practicing death penalty. Other several things may affect homicide rates and therefore the