Sociology

The death penalty, also referred to as the Capital punishment, has become one of the largest awarded penalties in response to the crimes, over the recent years. But there is still a big question mark on its justification with regards to the rate to which it has been able to reduce the crime rate.

Death penalty as a Deterrent to Crime
There is a big question mark on whether death sentence has been able to reduce the rate of crime over the previous years. People are of a differentiating view regarding this aspect, some claim that it has while some insist on the fact that it doesnt. According to a research, about 80 of the Americans polled in favor of death sentence in 1994. (Michael L. Radelet, 1996) While a poll conducted recently in 2009 by Gallup showed this support to an extent of 64

As for the people who claim that it has been a deterrent to crime, a counter question can be that if yes then, why the crime rates have risen in the past years in U.S. One reason for this factor is that people who indulge in activities which would later result in death penalty already have an idea of what may happen in response to their act, therefore a majority of these people know they are getting themselves into.

Apart from the U.S., other countries have had variable responses to the issue of death sentence. Countries like Australia, Canada and most of Western Europe have shown a great disregard to this way of penalization.

Personal Opinion
When it comes to the personal opinion regarding the death sentence, there are mixed feelings regarding it. If such a penalty is totally removed from the society, it will give more opportunity and free hand to the criminals to commit crimes without fear. Criminals would have no reluctance because the worst penalty they would have to face will be life imprisonment.

It is an arguable fact that is it just that a person who has committed just one murder and a person who has committed a series of murders, i.e. a homicide, be awarded the same penalty (Schaefer, 2008)

Another aspect of this issue is that of the finance that has been put up for cases requiring capital punishment. In this regard states like Idaho and Texas have introduced bills to allow their states to pay counties for murder trials that are expensive. (The Christian Science Monitor. Boston, Mass, Feb 25, 1999)

Death Penalty in Case of Youth
In case of youth, the subject of death penalty is more aggrieved This is also because the youth are more involved in these activities which lead to a death penalty or a capital punishment. The youth should rather be awarded an imprisonment compared to the death sentence as this would reduce the factor of the youth being more exposed to crimes that they believe would result in their own casualty.

Conclusion
It is a highly debatable topic as to whether death penalty be awarded or not, but leniency should be given to the youth in this regard.