The Main Arguments in Favor of the Death Penalty

As a form of punishment, the death penalty is one of the oldest forms of punishments meted out against criminals guilty of grave crimes. In the modern world, many nations practise death penalty as the ultimate form of punishment for heinous crimes.

Despite the widespread use of death penalty as a form of punishment, however, a critical look at death penalty shows that death penalty is not an effective form of punishment.

This is because studies in social sciences have revealed that death penalty is not an effective form of punishment. This paper gives an argument in support of the view that death penalty is not an effective form of punishment.

An objective and critical look at the main arguments advanced in favour of death penalty shows that the arguments are flawed and not based on facts. For the purposes of objectivity, let us critically analyse the two main arguments advanced in favour of death penalty. To begin with, let us critically look at the argument that death penalty deters crime.

This argument is actually one of the main arguments advanced by the proponents of death penalty in support of their view that death penalty is an effective form of punishment. The proponents of capital punishment contend that, by killing criminals through capital punishment, we deny the criminals any other opportunity to commit crime, hence reducing crime in the society; also, the proponents of capital punishment argue that through subjecting criminals guilty of grave crimes to capital punishment, we scare other potential criminals from committing such crimes in future.

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A critical view at this position, however, shows that capital punishment does not deter crime. This is because there is absolutely no scientific proof that capital punishment deters crime. On the contrary, studies in social sciences have shown that there is actually no correlation between death penalty and crime; studies in social sciences have actually shown that death penalty does not deter crime (Goel, web). For this reason, therefore, death penalty is an ineffective form of punishment because it does not deter crime.

The second argument advanced by the proponents of capital punishment is the argument that death penalty is an effective form of punishment because it ensures that justice is done to both the offended party and the offender. The main argument here is that heinous crimes are extraordinary forms of injustice to the victims of the crimes; for that reason, it is only an extra-ordinarily grave form of punishment that can compensate for the grave crimes and ensure that just has been rendered to both the offender and the offended parties.

The main presumption in this argument is the idea that capital punishment is the gravest possible form of punishment that can be meted out against a human being. Critical view of this punishment, however, shows that death penalty does not render justice to either the offender or the offended parties. This is because, first, the offended party does not get back what was taken away from them through the death of the offender. Secondly, it is not true that capital punishment is the gravest form of punishment that a human being can be subjected to.

This is because, from experience, we have seen some people commit suicide when they are faced with difficult situations; this fact means that death is actually a form of solace for some people and not the worst form of punishment. For this reason, therefore, capital punishment does not render justice to the offenders.

In conclusion, a critical analysis of the two main arguments upon which the idea of capital punishment is based has shown that the arguments are flawed and not based on fact. For this reason, therefore, the concept of capital punishment is premised upon false and erroneous ideas. For this reason, therefore, death punishment should be completely abolished since it is an ineffective form of punishment.