CAPITAL PUNISHMENT THE DEBATE: TRUE DETERRENT OR OUTDATED SANCTION? DANIKA GLEESON

BACKGROUND  Is it right? Can the benefits of a severe deterrent really outweigh the punishment of taking someone’s life?  Australians sentenced to death in Bali – two countries have a rift between them now which could affect the history of relations  More research is needed

LITERATURE REVIEW  Akers & Radelet 1996 – Leading American Criminologists have concluded that the death penalty perhaps increases violent crime rates, rather than deter them.  Mocan & Gittings 2003 – Found that each execution decreases homicide rates by five, and for every removal from the death penalty, the public will see another murder  Durlauf, Fu & Navarro 2013 – Investigated the conflicting findings of research on deterrence due to capital punishment. They found that linear models nearly always showed a positive deterrence effect, while all other models predict negative deterrence effects  Vander Pol 2000 – Proposes a mercy admissibility plea in cases where the death penalty is in place, to ensure fair sentences are carried out, while protecting the victims family from contributing to another death

RESEARCH QUESTION  Capital punishment  Deterrence  Does capital punishment act as a deterrent for potential crime?  Is the death penalty an outdated sanction, or a necessary punishment?

METHODOLOGY  Criminologists  Police officers  Magistrates  Survey  Crime statistics  Death row statistics  Quantitative research design

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS  Occupations of those involved should help to ensure no physical, mental, emotional or psychological harm is experienced  Magistrates may have some legal issues commenting on matters involving law and opinion  Informed consent will be assumed on voluntary participation in survey