Death Penalty
Death Penalty.
The debate about the implementation of the Death penalty for sure has been one with complicated issues in between. For example, the moral and the jurisdiccional. What is right, and what is fair?
The death penalty is the punishment given by the government when really serious crimes are commited. In the United States some of the crimes that could be punished with death penalty are murder, attempted muerder or large scale drug traffiking. (“Crimes Punishable by Death”)They may lead to the termination of the criminal’s life. But is this the real solution? Has the implementation of the death penalty shown beneficial statistical reduction in crimes?
I have a strong disagreement position about the implementation of the death penalty. I consider that this is inhumane and it is not the solution we should be aiming for to prevent and eliminate this type of crime. To this day studies in criminal cases have shown no reduction in criminal rates. Here is an example. Acording to the death penalty information center the last 20 years have demostrated that the homidice rates has been 44 to 101% higher than the homicide rate in states where death penalty is not implemented(Death Penalty Information Center). Given the statistics we can tell that Death Penalty had done nothing to reduce crimes. Governments implement death penalty so that the crimminals are aware and think twice before commiting a crime expecting that their fear of beeeing sentenced would lower the crime rates. However, a criminal is not thinking about what their punishment would be while commiting the crime because while doing that he or she would be led by their instincts and the adrenaline would block the rational thinking of the brain. The amygdala, the part of the brain that controls fear, aggressiveness and social interaction has a major role in crimes. A study led by Dustin Pardini demonstrates that men with lower amygdala levels are more prone to be aggressive or have criminal thoughts(“The Criminal Mind”). When The adrenaline and instincts are gone when criminals would try to hide what they did and they might be caught or not but the atrocity would be already committed and there is nothing to do that could change that.
Other reason why Death Penalty is not letting society to progress ib because the high cost and long time periods that it takes for one case to be studied and punished with death penalty. Why are governments taking all of the resources and time on killing the criminals? When there could be other options to help us improve as a society. Death penalty costs are 70% higher than pusishments where it is not implemented. I see it this way, punishment institutions are spending all time and money into someone that would get killed. Where is the investment there? Governments should create more institutions in which the criminals learn more values that would help them to reintegrate to a society again. What about the victims and their families? They should be the ones who all resources and time should be spent on. I considered that psychological accompaniment is what these families and victims need in order to overcome these harsh situations. Governments should also be thinking about how to avoid the crimes. Schools and families should strengthen the implementation of values and ethics in their studies every year not only when they are in kindergarten. It proves that making this campaigns more often shows a reduction in juvenile crime and also in a general criminalistic view. This could raise awareness and send better people to the world.
This is the reasoning I provide to state that death penalty would not do absoluttley nothing to lower the crimes. It is just inhumane practice that is not taking us anywhere. As a society we should think in implementing different ideas rather than death penalty which is not the solution. We should think outside the box and give an end to this problem. Solving this means living in a community where fear has no control over us.
Bibliography:
“Crimes Punishable by Death.” Death Penalty Information Center, 2018, deathpenaltyinfo.org/facts-and-research/crimes-punishable-by-death.
Death Penalty Information Center. “DPIC | Death Penalty Information Center.” Deathpenaltyinfo.org, 2011, deathpenaltyinfo.org/.
“The Criminal Mind.” Apa.org, 2020, www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/criminal-mind#:~:text=The%20amygdala%20%E2%80%94%20a%20part%20of.