Death penalty

Question 1

what is this policy??

Answer 1

biological theory of crime and policy development

Question 2

Explain the death penalty policy??

Answer 2

• is the state authorized execution of convicted criminals deemed to dangerous to allow to live or ‘deserving’ of death
• the policy is often provided for the most severe offences such as murder and fulfills an aim of punishment called retribution

Question 3

what are the different methods of the death penalty? (part of explain the policy)

Answer 3

hanging, electric chair, lethal injection and firing squads

Question 4

when was this policy used or stopped in the UK? (part of explain the policy)

Answer 4

was used in the UK until 1965 when it was abolished and the last criminals were hanged in 1964 at 8:00 am on April 13th

Question 5

How does this policy link to biological theories?

Answer 5

• from a biological perspective criminals are biologically abnormal and genetically predisposed to crime
• therefore, by using this policy to execute serious criminals it prevents the individual from committing crime again
• Also, execution also helps remove the biological abnormality and criminal gene pool
• this means that these are less likely to be passed onto the next generation which reduce number of criminals in future

Question 6

What are the arguments for the death penalty working?

Answer 6

• has a 100% success rate for preventing offender from committing further crimes
• therefore, does work to prevent crime on an individual level

Question 7

what are the arguments against the death penalty working?

Answer 7

• statistics from USA show that murder rate is lower in states without the death penalty since in 2015, murder rate was 25% higher in death penalty states
• suggests that the policy is not a deterrent at all. often people attack in the heat of the moment