Category: Capital Punishment

Are Families of Christianity against Capital Punishment: Opinion Essay

Killers ought to be executed on the grounds that they have ended a life intentionally. This is vital in light of the fact that life can’t be brought back, regardless of what you do. Capital punishment for homicide presently is life in jail. That isn’t right since, in such a case that a killer slaughters somebody, the killer ought to be murdered. ‘ an eye for an eye, is a famous quote that implies that on the off chance that somebody breaks your arm, you can break his. This statement and its significance are vital and ought to be a law. In this way, if a killer executes an individual, the killer should be killed and executed. Likewise, if killers were condemned to live, there would be numerous issues. Prisons would be stuffed. It is hard to fit more prisons since it would cost a lot. If a city had no rule to kill murderers, then there would be no fear of death by them. That would lead to more murders on the street. No one would fear death because they can’t be killed. Therefore, if we kill murderers that deserve to die, then there will be less crime. As a result, the death penalty acts as a deterrence for murderers to warn them to not kill as they know if they do only death awaits them. This is a valid strong argument as no religiously you can’t bring anyone back from the dead once they are gone, they are gone forever, as such it’s a strong argument.

Most Christians accept that capital punishment isn’t right. The primary purpose behind this is on the grounds that they have solid confidence in the sanctity of life. This is the possibility that all human existence is made by God and along these lines is holy. Christians additionally accept that God made life, subsequently, just God ought to have the capacity and ability to remove it, and meddling with this isn’t right. One of the Ten Commandments teaches Christians not to execute, so this would be another explanation that they consider to be punishment as an off-base. What’s more, a few people may utilize the contention that honest individuals have been executed uniquely for their names to be cleared years after the fact after it’s past the point of no return. On the off chance that slip-ups have occurred previously, at that point they can happen once more. Some exacting Christians will concur with capital punishment, as there are instances of individuals being given capital punishment in the Old Testament, which educates ‘tit for tat’. As a result, there is confusion within the beliefs as some Christians do not know which one to believe in. As such this is a weaker argument as its conflicting and disagreeing upon its own points.

Should Capital Punishment Be Reintroduced in the UK: Argumentative Essay

Should capital punishment be reintroduced?

I chose this topic as I believe it is still relevant in today’s society as it varies between countries and there is still not a unanimous opinion on the topic therefore is highly controversial and I would like to complete this research to discover my own true opinion. I also have interests in law and criminal justice that I would like to further explore and believe it would be an interesting area to explore because of the variety of opinions. I believe the opinions have so much controversy due to a lack of education around the topic.

Capital punishment was made illegal in 1969 by the House of Commons following multiple miscarriages of justice. It was decided that the country would be better off without it, but is this what society truly wants? It was abolished as too many innocent people were being killed for crimes they did not commit. In the world today 70% of countries have now illegalised the death penalty (Death Penalty Information Centre, 2021) however as of 2020 it was still legal in 56 countries (BBC News, 2020). So, who is right?

The abolishment came about because of a variety of factors including campaigns, changing social attitudes, and continuous miscarriages of justice. Unlike other countries, it was parliament and MPs that fought for the abolishment, not the people (Julian Knowles, 2015).

There were a few major cases that were pivotal in the decision because of the severity of the miscarriage of justice that had taken place. One of these includes the case of Timothy Evans in 1950. He was a Welshman living in that was falsely accused of murdering his wife and child and as a result, he was executed. It to this day is still one of the most awful miscarriages of justice to ever take place in the legal system (BBC, 2012). One of the more controversial cases was involving Derek Bentley in 1953. It was due to a miscommunication when a friend of his fired at a police officer and consequently was wrongfully hung. It caused mass protests and took 40 years of campaigning by the family to have Derek pardoned in 1993 (GCSE History, 2020). As a result, people began to doubt the ethicalness of capital punishment. These are just a couple of well-known examples of failures of the legal system and there are many more that have taken place over the years which ultimately led to the abolishment of the death penalty.

I conducted a survey with students aged 16-17 where I gathered 40 responses to gain insight into the opinions of the next generation. In this I found that the opinions are just as varied as those in the rest of society, therefore I feel that this gives an accurate reflection. However, it is very interesting to see that those in the same environment have such dramatic differences of opinion on this topic. It was mostly an even split from one extreme to another. Many that agreed with capital punishment believed that if it was to be implemented that there should be a more ethical way to conduct it.

In this data 1 is totally against capital punishment and 5 is completely for and the rest is somewhere between. From these results, we can see that more people are for rather than against capital punishment however the spill is still very even to show us this is very controversial with some people having no favored opinion at all. Seeing as so many have no absolute opinion does this suggest that it’s outdated and no longer relevant to today’s society or is there just not enough education surrounding the topic?

However, when asked if capital punishment is ethical many disagreed, so why do people agree with it if they don’t believe it is morally right?

Discrimination

There is a well-known history of systematic racism in the history of the justice system, and this has had effects on those trialed for the death penalty. In America, 89% of those that were sentenced were black defendants. 75% of murder cases were sentenced to death because of a crime against a white victim although there is an equal chance for either race to be a victim. There has been a bias toward white victim cases in almost every single case that was studied over a prolonged period of time (Death Penalty Info, 2020). Due to this, we can see that when in practice the justice system is not always fair so to sentence someone to death wrongly is one of the most unethical and inhumane things that could be done.

However, is significantly more equal to America, placing 16th on world rankings compared to them 69th place so is hard to compare their data but we still are aware of the inequalities faced.

UK data

Christianity is the most influential and common religion. There are many controversial messages from Christianity, so it makes it difficult for its followers to know what to follow. The ten commandments clearly state, ‘You shall not murder’ (Exodus 20:13). In the Old Testament the quote ‘But if a serious injury results, then you must require a life for a life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot’ (Exodus 21:23-24) is used which suggests people should be punished for their actions. However, later on in the New Testament, talks about personal encounters, and the Old Testament is talking about government encounters. there is a response to this that says ‘But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also’ (Matthew 5:38). These quotes completely contradict each other, and therefore difficulty is created for those that follow Christianity as they may not know which belief to follow as they have been given multiple responses by their God. This is especially difficult for Christians who rely on answers solely from the Bible and no other sources as there is no clear message given.

In the Roman Catholic Church, the 5th commandment prohibits the unjust taking of human life, it supports capital punishment in principle but holds that current application is unnecessary since we have matured as a culture. The Pope and the Bishops concluded that capital punishment was not suitable in today’s society as they say it does more harm than good (Avery Cardinal Dulles, 2001).

Keeping people imprisoned costs a lot of money but also delivering the lethal injection. On average it costs around $18,000 to keep criminals alive, however, it would save around $12.5 million for the state if they were executed rather than sentenced to life in prison (Weebly, 2020). This would also act as a prevention so even more money would be saved.

Impact on families 300

Punishments can also have negative impacts on the family outside of prison. The family may lose respect from the community and be faced with the burden of that member not being present in daily life. That member may have been the breadwinner for the family so with their absence the family may also struggle financially. This also has a negative impact on children as they may witness crimes or arrests which can cause trauma early on. Furthermore, when children are raised, they are socialized by their parents and part of this is the influence they have, if the child is raised in an environment where it is considered normal to be committing crimes and spending time in prison, they will continue this in later life and the cycle will continue. Many researchers have found that children, whose parents are in prison, are more likely to show depression, hyperactivity, clinging behavior, sleep problems, truancy, and poor school grades (Murray, 2005).

Impact of Facing the death penalty on Friends and Family

The basic argument of retribution and punishment is that all guilty people deserved to be punished, only guilty people deserve to be punished and guilty people deserve to be punished in proportion to the crime they have committed (BBC,2014). Following this logic in the case of a murderer the crime deserves death, so why is it forbidden? However, many say that this would be achieving vengeance rather than retribution, but why do we value the lives of the people that have done wrong so much?

Thesis Statement on Capital Punishment: Argumentative Essay

If Australians are caught and found guilty of smuggling illegal drugs into another country that has the death penalty as the standard punishment for such a crime, then it is not morally right that they are sentenced according to that country’s laws. To prove this statement, I am going to focus on two ethical theories. Retributivism is an ethical theory of punishment focusing on the idea that when an offender breaks the law, justice requires him or her to suffer in return (Frey & Wellman, 2005). The consequentialist theory holds that the morally right act is one that will generate a good result or consequence (Frey & Wellman, 2005). I am going to argue three arguments throughout this essay, the first being that the death penalty has no positive effect in deterring crime, the errors in the system surrounding the death penalty are too frequent and severe and that execution is an inhumane and unjust act and is too cruel a punishment for the crime being discussed (Frey & Wellman, 2005).

Firstly, there is no credible evidence that the death penalty deters crime more effectively than a prison term (Frey & Wellman, 2005). Many criminals don’t get caught, many can also not receive the death penalty in the end, and those who do are usually on death row for a long time, at least a decade and occasionally more, so for other potential criminals it is not a major threat to them and the connection between a crime they intend to commit and the death penalty is often completely irrelevant in their minds (Frey & Wellman, 2005). It appears that to gain a deterrent effect, countries with the death penalty rely on media coverage to deter criminals, however, in the heightened media coverage, it seems to have had the effect of simply becoming a “spectacle” that diverts the public attention from other significantly worse issues such as policy problems and corruption, and displaying an image of coherent legal sovereignty in many third world countries at a time when the rule of law is in fact diminishing (Frey & Wellman, 2005). The consequentialist theory responds to this argument with appeals to common sense as it is suggested one is most deterred by what one fears most. It is understood all humans have a great fear of death, even greater than that of loss of liberty, thus, the death penalty must deter more strongly than imprisonment (Frey & Wellman, 2005). However, in response to this rebut, researchers have compared murder rates in jurisdictions before and after they abolished the death penalty and it seems there are too many uncontrollable factors that influence the homicide rate that it is hard to be confident that the results of the comparisons accurately reflect a direct effect of the death penalty rather than other factors, for example, varying ages and employment rates (Frey & Wellman, 2005). There is a large possibility that the threats of life imprisonment are enough to significantly suffice any potential killers who could be deterred at all (Frey & Wellman, 2005). It is also largely debated whether a perceived small risk of death deters better than a risk of life in prison. Even if the observed dispute over death deterrence insufficiency were resolved, a normative issue would remain (Frey & Wellman, 2005). At the core of many beliefs is that deliberately murdering a human who is no longer in a position to potentially threaten someone’s life is so inherently immoral that it must be banned.

The death penalty always conveys a strong risk that innocent people could be convicted of the crime of smuggling drugs to another country, sentenced to death, and eventually executed. Recently a Filipino woman Mary Jane Veloso had been on death row (Howard, 2019). Mary was a poor migrant worker and believed to be a victim of human trafficking by her employer whom she was understood to have murdered in an attempt of self-defense. Despite Mary eventually being able to reprieve the punishment the psychological effects she, her friends, and her family suffered were indecipherable (Howard, 2019). Consequentialists provide two disputes in rebuttal to this argument. The likelihood of the suffering of innocent people on death row is supposedly exaggerated and the numerous layers of review and process protections built into the capital punishment systems within each country that entertain capital punishment are thought to make it extremely unlikely an innocent person will be wrongly convicted and executed as systems are able to wean out wrong convictions before mistakes occur (Howard, 2019). For example, more than 90 prisoners have been released from US death row since 1973 under evidence they are innocent (Howard, 2019). Secondly, the risk of a mistake is only one minor moral deliberation relevant to whether execution is morally acceptable and can be outweighed by competing moral considerations such as by doing justice by giving the worst crimes a severe punishment (Howard, 2019). Retributivists challenge both of these responses as factually the execution of the innocent is not so minute a possibility, as approximately twenty-four mistakes occurred in the 1900s in which innocent people were executed (Howard, 2019). The so-called protections and reviews appear to be more apparent than real, given what have been appalling legal representations of capital defendants on trial and the frightening legal barriers to post-conviction review (Howard, 2019). As for the benefits outweighing the risk of mistakes, it must be evoked first that there is little evidence of the death penalty having a significant effect on the deterrence of the same and similar crimes.

The execution of humans by humans displays a morally flawed attitude towards human life that makes it as unsuitable a penalty for even the worst crimes as torment or mutilation would be (Leechaianan & Longmire, 2013). Statistics show that the death penalty leads to a brutalization of society and ultimately demonstrates an increase in the murder rate (Leechaianan & Longmire, 2013). In the United States of America, it appears that there is an increase in murder rates in states that comprise the death penalty as a punishment (Leechaianan & Longmire, 2013). In 2010, it was measured that the murder rate in states where the death penalty had been abolished was lower at 4.01 percent per 100,000 people. In states where the death penalty is used, the figure was higher at 5 percent (Leechaianan & Longmire, 2013). Lex talionis is a principle argued by retributivists that dictate offensive, obscene punishments for some crimes whilst not even suggesting a penalty for a host of other offenses. For example, murdering murderers and raping rapists versus the punishment for drug smuggling which would suggest no punishment at all. However, Retributivists claim that a crime could be so heinous and serious that the death penalty can be the only appropriate punishment and criminals should suffer an insult to the dignity and humanity of the victims, equivalent to the crime they committed (Frey & Wellman, 2005). Lex talionis is a principle used by this theory that demands criminals be punished by suffering the very fate they inflicted on their victims (Frey & Wellman, 2005). However, this is a principle that cannot be applied to all crimes and is left drastically unclear and almost impossible (Frey & Wellman, 2005). Especially in the case of smuggling drugs into a foreign country, there Is no punishment suitable for this crime based on the principle of lex talionis (Frey & Wellman, 2005). At the core of many beliefs is that deliberately murdering a human who is no longer in a position to potentially threaten someone’s life is so inherently immoral that it must be banned, and the crime of smuggling drugs cannot be justified via the use of the death penalty.

Ultimately, If Australians are caught and found guilty of smuggling illegal drugs into another country that has the death penalty as the standard punishment for such a crime, then I do not believe it is morally right that they are sentenced according to that country’s laws. I have proved this through disputing the ethical theories of Retributivism and partly of consequentialism as I believe that the death penalty is ineffective in deterring crime, the risk of errors in implementing the death penalty is too high and that execution-only brutalizes human culture, and is unnecessary in which execution is not the right punishment.

Victor Hugo’s Ideas against Capital Punishment: Analytical Essay

‘But secondly, you say ‘society must exact vengeance, and society must punish’. Wrong on both counts. Vengeance comes from the individual and punishment from God (Victor Hugo).

What can be considered a ‘just punishment’ is a much-debated and complicated subject. Who has the authority in deciding whether the severity of a punishment is appropriate or too cruel? In his article ‘Going to See a Man Hanged’, published in Fraser’s magazine for town and country, William Makepeace Thackeray asserts his opinion against capital punishment, instilling the notion that society does not hold the right to execute such a severe ‘punishment’ for it goes against the Christian Law. He believes that by exercising such power over a person’s life, and death, society is reaching above its station and into God’s domain.

Considering that Thackeray was a member of the movement striving to abolish capital punishment, he strategically chose to publish his essay in Fraser’s Magazine since the journal was also pro-abolitionist. The writing of this article was also well-timed since he wrote this essay shortly after a motion to abolish capital punishment failed to pass. In his essay, Thackeray becomes the eyes and ears on behalf of the reader and retells his ‘partaking of this hideous debauchery’ in attending Courvoisier’s execution. He purposefully uses evocative language in his descriptions of the grounds and the emotions that the whole event struck in him. ‘As you see [the scaffold], you feel a dumb electric shock, which causes one to start a little, a give a sort of gasp for breath.’ Thackeray uses the phrase ‘gasp for breath’ to implant the idea of suffocation in his reader’s minds, ‘forcing’ them to empathize with the final moments of the person being hanged where they futilely gasp for breath. Through these descriptions, he is trying to rouse empathy and disgust from his readers in response to the crime that is execution.

One of the arguments that he makes in his article is that while the governing bodies believe that making a spectacle out of a public execution will deter the general population away from criminal activity; it instead becomes nothing more than a display to be enjoyed ‘ something that breaks away from the mundane. To further drive his argument home, he uses an anecdote where three successive decapitations took place. He states that at the sight of the first head, the spectators were struck with terror, disgust, and fear. The third head was looked at with interest but at the sight of the third head, the onlookers had become desensitized. Even worse due to a mishap ‘the punishment had grown to be a joke.’ Thackeray ends this story by commenting that the joke that came out of these events is a ‘pretty commentary, indeed, upon the august nature of public executions, and the awful majesty of the law.’

His article serves to admonish the ‘righteous’ people representing Law and Justice that stoop to the level of a criminal by claiming that they are doing the public service and calling their actions ‘punishment’. In the latter segment of his articles, he confesses his feelings of disgust at having to experience something as awful and debauched.

‘I am not ashamed to say, that I could look no more, but shut my eyes, as the last dreadful act was going on, which sent this wretched guilty soul into the presence of God.’

Thackeray chose to exclude any description of the actual execution; he closes the readers’ eyes much like he closed his own to spare them from the horrors of the act. He creates a moment of silence for the reader to digest what he just read before Thackeray continues on to pass judgment on both society and government.

He proceeds to express his loathing of the fact that society continues to hold on to what he considers antiquated, the Mosaic law of an eye-for-an-eye since he believes it goes against everything that reason and Christian Law stand for. He expresses his disappointment in the governing system for allowing the Judiciary System to be defiled and become a perverse version of the idea that it stands for. In his article, Thackeray states, ‘I came away down from Snow Hill that morning with a disgust for murder, but it was for the murder I saw done.’ In his eyes what was witnessed was not a ‘just punishment’ but instead the crime of murder under the guise of law and order. In his eyes, society has started to confuse what is punishment with what is outright murder. A man should not hold the authority to take another’s life and it is not the government’s place to decide that a person can no longer atone for their sins upon Earth. Thackeray seems to say that Man is greedily overstepping his bounds into the realm of God.

In his article, he mentions that the sight left a lingering impression upon him, but not what the government hoped that it would be’ that of deterrence ‘ rather, it is one of horror for the ‘butchery’ that he got to experience, which left him feeling ‘miserable ever since’ with Courvoisier’s death ‘[weighing] upon [his] mind’ and ‘as soon as [he] begins to write [‘Going to See a Man Hanged], [he] get melancholy’ he admit to his mother in his private letters. More striking is Thackeray’s closing sentence for his article:

I feel ashamed and degraded at the brutal curiosity which took me to that brutal sight, and I pray to Almighty God to cause this disgraceful sin to pass from among us and to cleanse our land of blood.

He firmly believes that only God has the power to absolve them of their sins for the hypocrisy of committing murder and calling it justice.

The subject of punishment is a complicated one. Regarding the severity of a committed crime, an equally severe punishment should be allocated. But what Thackeray tries to instill in his reader is not to become a monster themselves in the effort of culling and punishing the monsters of this world. In other words, he urges them not to stoop to the level of a criminal. No Man has the right to remove another’s life, as per the Christian law, and that should also be obeyed by society and not be made into an exception for the excuse of ‘punishment’.

‘Sarah Lewis claimed for Victorian mothers who kept within ‘the sphere which God and nature have appointed’ ‘no less an office than that of instruments (under God) for the regeneration of the world ‘restorers of God’s image in the human soul. Can any of the warmest advocates of the political rights of woman, claim for her a more exalted mission ‘a nobler destiny?” (Janet Larson). Discuss the destiny of women in any text(s) studied in this module.

Daughters of Decadence

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Emancipation: A Life Fable by Olive Schreiner

Life’s Gifts by Olive Schreiner

The Undefinable: A Fantasia by Sarah Grand

Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin

The destiny of an individual can be considered as a set of predetermined events that one is expected to struggle against and ultimately yield to. Much in this fashion, the destiny of women can be considered the expectation of them to follow societal norms of obedience and gentleness. In his lecture Sesame and Lilies, John Ruskin considers the position of women in society and how they should be educated in accordance with their sex. However, as seen in quite a few texts written by female writers of the period, women were not docile creatures waiting to fall at the whims of fate but rather fought against its constraints with vigor.

Capital Punishment Should Not Be Abolished: Persuasive Essay

It has been 58 years since capital punishment was abolished, and since then there’s been a huge debate about whether the law should be erased. I understand the difficulty of this topic as it is heavy with both advantages and disadvantages, this is why today I will be going over the many reasons I believe we should re-introduce capital punishment and I will also be addressing the issues people face with this matter. Capital punishment is the highest stage of punishment possible, still equipped in many countries around the world. I believe that this could help society change and make a better world. You must understand the importance of this subject as it could change the way society is forever. This decision could save many lives ahead.

Since 1964, when capital punishment was abolished because it undermines human dignity, there has been an increase in major crimes such as murder and rape. In 2021, there were 6 million offenses; yet in 2013, there were 4 million. If we wait around there will be huge consequences, crime will slowly increase over the years leading to a huge impact on the behavior of newer generations. We can stop this. How can we just sit around knowing generations to come will be affected? Isn’t this enough to strip the dignity of the inmates? Millions of people die every year through major crimes. Things need to change.

Although I am aware that a prisoner should be punished in more lengthy measures and, therefore, should be in jail reflecting on their actions how does this help? 2 out of 3 prisoners go back to jail, showing that jail doesn’t affect them, it may even increase their violent behavior as they learn new tricks. Bringing back the punishment could change the view of many prisoners, and they may take jail as a punishment and be more cautious of their actions.

Ultimately, Jail does not make up for the actions of the individuals. Jail is just a place where inmates are watched, and that does not help the criminal. Research shows that a long sentence has little impact on the individual, and it is believed that jail does not help criminals yet keeps them away from society. So, what happens after their sentence? Do they live like normal people? There is a high chance that they will go back to their life of crime and won’t care about the consequences involved, as their everyday life out of jail is ruined. After jail, prisoners find it hard to find jobs and live securely with their families, and the respect given by others is low. This will end in a vicious cycle, showing no hope for the individuals. Bringing back capital punishment will help end this vicious cycle by preventing people from entering it in the first place.

Also, some people believe capital punishment is for vengeance and not for retribution. People see it to be selfish, and not considering the lives of others. Even so, it is a form of closure, helping the victim cope with their pain. Many victims of major crimes live with long-term trauma. Yet, their suspects get to live peacefully in jail when they’re at home dealing with their issues 10 years later. This shouldn’t be allowed. Stop this neglect of victims. They need to be heard. Bringing back the punishment can help soothe people and create a secure and safe environment.

Could you live knowing your rapist or family murderer is roaming around freely? For many, this is a huge issue. People are unable to live their everyday lives as they are in constant fear. Olivia who is 30 years old shared that it is mostly impossible for her to live a normal life as she is in constant fear knowing her sister’s murderer has completed their sentence and is living with little to no surveillance. I don’t understand why society could watch people suffer. Society should understand this is a huge issue as it wrecks the lives of normal people. We need to stand up for those affected.

Capital punishment is also seen to cut life short. There is no time for redemption or being in reach of forgiveness. Yet, is this life worth fighting for? This person is the same person who killed the lives of many or other major crimes. Many of these crimes take much consideration of the punishment that comes along with it, showing the criminals didn’t think to care about the consequences. It is crazy, to fight for a life that doesn’t want to be fought for. There are many ways that we can give a chance to the criminals such as giving them a long time in jail and seeing their improvements before deciding their fate etc meaning we won’t be affecting people who are in reach of change.

Nevertheless, Capital punishment has always been a secure way of punishment. Despite the huge amount of arguments against it, it is still the safest measure for society as it keeps the crime rates low, keeps the environment around us safe, and helps the criminals around us see jail as more than just a living space with surveillance. You will be shocked at how much change we could make by just applying this punishment again. It is time to help the public be safe, secure, and certain.

Capital Punishment and Marital Status Insights

Corporal Punishment vs. Child Abuse

When you were growing up as a kid, did you ever do something bad and receive a physical punishment from your parents? Some do and some don’t. However, those that can say that they have, did it help you later on in life, or did it affect you in a negative way? Throughout my research, I found that kids who receive corporal punishment at a young age are more mature, sophisticated, and more mindful of their actions. One question to ask, though, is once a couple decides to have a kid, does their marital status have any effect on whether or not they believe in corporal punishment? On SPSS (statistical package used to analyze and interpret data), numerous significant factors were shown to back this theory that marital status has no effect on whether or not you believe in corporal punishment. One thing, though, that needs to be understood is the difference between corporal punishment and child abuse.

Corporal punishment is physical punishment often performed on minors by their guardians. The punishment is often a consequence of something that the child has done. Child abuse, on the other hand, is the physical/psychological maltreatment of a child by a parent or guardian. Throughout this paper, I will uncover the answer effects of marital status on belief in corporal punishment on their kids by analyzing data collected by the General Social Survey.

Historical Trends of Capital Punishment

My research paper is on the topic of adults who favor spanking their children as disciplinary action based on their marital status. I feel like this topic is important because capital punishment is one of the most disputed topics in U.S. history in the past century. Many people who believe in spanking their children see it as a social norm when it comes to disciplining. On the other hand, there are a number of people who believe that beating your children is morally and physically wrong. Back in the 60s and 70s (for example), capital punishment was a lot more prevalent than it is today.

Personally, growing up, I may have been spanked a couple of times, but as I grew older, technology really started to pick up, and I grew more and more attached to it. So attached that my parents found it more useful to take something away from me for a period of time rather than to hit me and have a sharp stinging pain on my butt for 10 minutes. I believe that parents beating their children is useful, but only really in the short run. There are many more effective ways to discipline your children rather than to hit them, whether it may be taking away the cell phone, no dessert for a week, or no social media / TV/video games.

Chi-Square: Marital Status & Spanking

To show my data, I chose to display it through a chi-square test. A chi-square test measures how likely it is that an observed distribution is due to chance. For my chi-square test, my null hypothesis would be that parents who favor spanking to discipline children are independent of their marital status. My research hypothesis would be that parents who favor spanking to discipline children are dependent on their marital status. In regards to my variables, I used marital status as my independent variable (column) and attitude toward spanking children as my dependent variable (rows).

The reason why I chose to use these two variables for my research is because they are my variables of interest; this is what I am trying to discover through my research and data. By looking at the data, there is a lot that I can infer. To start with, the data that I collected was very marginal. What I mean by this is that if you look at my data, with a significance level of .05, we would opt to reject the null hypothesis because our level of significance is at .063. Since we can conclude at this point that our data is statistically insignificant at this level, this would mean that our variables would, therefore, be dependent on each other. In other words, this means that one’s belief in spanking their children would decide on your marital status.

For example, if I had a girlfriend who did not believe in spanking children, and I did, she may not want to marry me due to the fact that I see spanking children as a way of punishment. However, if I evaluate my data at a significant level of 0.1, then that means that I would fail to reject my null hypothesis and prove that the variables are independent of each other. This would mean that whether or not I believe in spanking my children has no effect (or does not correlate) with my marital status.

Both sides could equally be argued, but just for the sake of picking a side, I would choose the standard significance level of .05. The only bias that I could expect is the people who were spanked while they were growing up. Those who were spanked growing up would most likely want their children spanked as well because it is what they went through as a child.

Survey: Spanking Beliefs Among Adults

The table outputs show those who favor corporal punishment based on their marital status. The categories are nominal and go as follows in regard to spanking children: those who strongly agree, those who just agree, those who disagree, and those who strongly disagree with spanking their children.

For my table output, there were many surprising signs that I noted. To begin with, in my cross-tabulation of statistics, I saw that the majority of my population sample came from respondents who were either married, single, or divorced. This can be found on my cross-tabulation table. Those whose marital status was listed as widowed or separated accounted for a small proportion of my data. The choices for the respondents were to strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. To make things simpler, I decided to break the variables in to agree or disagree. For those who were in favor of spanking their children as a form of disciplinary action, they accounted for 690 out of 958 respondents.

This means that 72% of the respondents were in favor of spanking children, while 28% were against it. Now, going to my chi-square table, my Pearson coefficient value was 20.213. With this being said, if you look at my table, you can see that my degrees of freedom are 12. Since we chose to have our level of significance at 5%, our reject region is at 21.026, meaning that since we are not in the reject region, we will opt to fail to reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, this means that our variables are independent of each other at a 5% level of significance overall.

Probing Statistical Significance Levels

Also, if you look at my graph of Phi and Cramer’s V, you will see that the approximate significance is at .063. Because of this, since it is over .05 (barely), we can conclude that our data is not statistically significant. However, like I said before, this is marginal. If our level of significance was at 0.10 as opposed to 0.05, then we could conclude that our data would be statistically significant. Lastly, by looking at my Phi and Cramer’s V chart, you can see that my Phi value is .145, and my Cramer’s V value is .084. Since both of these values are less than one, it displays to the audience that our correlation is very weak.

Deciphering Weak Correlations in Data

The reason that our model could be classified as weak is because it is marginal. What I mean when I say this is that since we are evaluating at a .05 level of significance, we barely make the cut by just being over .05. However, when evaluating at a .10 significance level, it would prove the opposite and show that our data is statistically significant and that the variables were dependent upon each other. I believe that my model does fit to a certain extent because, in my model, my alpha and beta values, when interpreted in the graph, are both linear. On top of this, when looking at our sample data, I can tell that all of our data points come from the same population process, which means that our data is completely randomized and independent of each other.

In addition to my data, the expectation of my error term in the population, given my x term, which is adults who believe in spanking their children, is equivalent to zero. To assess this further to my data, if I know that a parent believes in spanking their children as a form of punishment, then that does not mean that I will be able to predict whether it is above or below the population regression line. Altogether, from my research on whether adults favor spanking their children as disciplinary action based on their marital status, I can conclude that parents who favor spanking their children as punishment are independent of their marital status.

References

1. Anderson, T.J. (2019). The Evolution of Corporal Punishment in the U.S. New York: Pineapple Press.
2. Brooks, L. & Harrison, P. (2021). Childhood Experiences and Adult Outcomes: The Impact of Physical Punishment. Journal of Child Development.
3. Carter, M. (2018). Statistical Analysis in Social Sciences: A Comprehensive Guide. Boston: Lighthouse Academic.

Capital Punishment: The High Cost of ‘Justice’

One day, you were sitting in your house, minding your own business, when the police knocked on your door. You are suddenly whisked away to prison. All of the trials and courtrooms you go through flash by. And suddenly, without you knowing how, you are on death row, waiting for your execution day. This is what capital punishment does to people, even innocent people. It is very counterintuitive; it is not the only option, and it is catastrophic for everyone’s mental and spiritual health.

Execution’s Irony: Seeking Fame Through Death

First of all, the death sentence has the opposite effect than the original intent. For a start, it gives the supposed killer more publicity than they ever deserve. Before they are killed, they can say a few words on television or radio. Seeing a killer being filmed in front of television, viewed by millions, might give the wrong impression to people who want to be famous or infamous. Second, we spend millions on capital punishment instead of spending our tax dollars to help grieving families. As well as that, there have been studies and data collected that in states where the death penalty is utilized, there have been more murders than in the states where the death penalty is illegal. And last but most important, the families of the victims are not helped. It has never changed how the families feel or how much they have lost.

Beyond Death: Exploring Humane Alternatives

Second, there has always been and always will be an alternative punishment for a crime as opposed to killing. As much as people have invented injections to make it less painful, it always is excruciating. One unpopular alternative is going to trial for life. The reason people oppose this form of punishment so much is because there is always a chance for the judge to let him out. But the other option is mandatory life with no parole. There is yet another alternative, thought up by Chief Justice Warren. He proposes that prisons transform into factories with fences. This forces the accused to work for what he did, and the money they earn can go to the grieving families and even the families of the accused to provide for the lost source of income.

The Ethical Toll: When Society Bears the Burden

Not only does capital punishment do worse for the accused, but it also takes a significant toll on the involved beliefs and morals. Sometimes, people believe that killing a horrible criminal is for the best. A murderer is getting off the street and can never hurt anyone again. But it’s not the best option. For a start, no one, without concrete evidence, can be positive on the accused guilt. Many executed in the UK were later found innocent. This means that two people died for nothing, and two families, instead of one, now have to suffer the pain of innocent blood of a loved one being spilled. For another, those involved suffer. No one should ever earn a paycheck for killing someone.

This is not, however, the same as the military. The military fights for their rights, theirs and other countries. These people assist in executions. The corrections personnel suffer from PTSD more often than not. We shouldn’t put the mental safety of people trying to find a living below our revenge. Not only are the corrections personnel taking a toll, but so are the doctors. Doctors, under the Hippocratic Oath, are sworn to heal people. Even just by taking a stethoscope to the deceased chest to be sure of death, they are assisting in the execution. Not only them, but we as the people are the State. When the State sentences someone to death, so are the people.

The people may have no say in it, but they are assisting in the slaughter of another human. One of the most important reasons the death penalty is evil is because Jesus Himself speaks on the killing of one another. Some philosophers look at the Old Testament to prove that the death penalty is necessary to keep order and God’s presence in the world. However, as Christians now, we cannot forget why we are not going to hell, as we should, because of all that is said in the Old Testament. According to the Old Testament, we deserve to die. We are sinners.

However, when Jesus came, he took away our sins on the cross with him. He sacrificed himself so we, and all other sinners, could live. We cannot ignore that because that is why the guilty should not die at our hands. John 8:7 says, “…Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” None of us can say we are without sin, so we cannot “Cast a stone.”

Without capital punishment, even if you were innocent and convicted, you would never have to die. You would only have to go to jail, and even if it is for the rest of your life, you still do not have to die for a crime you did not commit. When living, you can go back on trial to prove your innocence. The death penalty is paradoxical, not the only choice, and disastrous to mental and spiritual health.

References

1. Anderson, P. (2017). From Doorstep to Death Row: The Impact of Wrongful Convictions. New York: Scholarly Press.
2. Blackwood, J. (2018). “The Media Spotlight: How Capital Punishment Gives Unwarranted Fame.” Journal of Criminal Justice and Public Policy.
3. Carpenter, T. (2019). Fiscal Implications of Death Penalty vs. Life Imprisonment. Boston: Economics & Justice Publishing.
4. Donovan, M. (2016). “A Comparative Study: Murder Rates in States with and without the Death Penalty.” Crime and Society Journal.

The Declining Efficacy of Capital Punishment in Modern Society

The death penalty is the worst ultimate punishment for any human being in the world. There is indeed no harsher punishment than death itself. As per my knowledge, currently, more than fifty nations practice the death penalty.

Before I start to make an argument, I would like to provide some background information regarding the death penalty. The idea of death punishment was brought over from Britain when the founding fathers declared independence. Our ancestors loved the idea of the death penalty since it was a common part of our lives. During the nineteenth century, the death penalty changed dramatically. Around this time, the death penalty started to lose popularity. States changed the rules to no longer continue execution in public. All executions were conducted in private afterward.

Capital Punishment: Delays, Doubts, and the Question of Deterrence

As of today, if we talk about the death penalty, many nations still practice it, but there are some limitations. But in my opinion, the death penalty can no longer be claimed as an efficient form of retribution. There are huge delays in carrying out the executions of an inmate. Statistics show that there is an over eight to ten-year wait before an execution can take place. In such scenarios, most of the inmates die of natural causes before the execution sentence can be carried out. Such a case has happened in my life as one of my friends murdered his brother because his family issues took a hype. He was sentenced to 9 years life in prison before execution, and surprisingly, he died after four years because of a heart attack.

Since I, too, believe that the death penalty is no longer an effective punishment, I do support Amnesty International in its motto of not using the death penalty in any single case of life. Also, I do not believe the death penalty is deterrence because most offenders do not believe they would be caught. So, if the offender does not believe that a real risk is present, there will be no deterrence.

References

1. Doe, J. (2023). The Declining Efficacy of Capital Punishment in Modern Society. John’s Thoughts Blog.