Introduction
For years there has been controversy over the death penalty, not only in the United States, but all over the world. Over the course of this project the topic of the research has stayed consistent. The death penalty is a very controversial topic and it has been since the late 1600s with the Salem Witchcraft Trials (Douglas, 2009). People would accuse individuals of practicing witchcraft and being witches. The community would then sentence the individual to death, usually by handing them. That strong opinions people have when it comes to the death penalty is still around today. Some people believe that it is cruel and unusual punishment and other believe that it gives the families of the victim’s closure and justice. Other believe that the death penalty is down right to expensive and other alternatives should be put into place for a more cost efficient way to punish someone to the extreme. In this study research has looked at whether more males support the death penalty over females, as well as, republicans favoring the death penalty significantly more over democrats. Over the course of the study the hypothesis original looked at the knowledge of individual genders understanding the overall monetary impact the death penalty has on taxpayers. Due to the complexity of the research the hypothesis was simplified and was changed to look at the controversial stance that genders take when choosing sides of the death penalty. When redefining the hypothesis availability of studies was considered as well as the amount of time allotted to gather information. Literature Review Peer-reviewed articles influenced the research of the death penalty a great deal. Articles talked about Race, the gender gap, gender gap in other countries including the United States, the death penalty being a new abolitionism, and deterrence from committing crimes. These articles helped understand different views of peoples when it comes to choosing sides, as well as, whether the death penalty has any deterrence from people committing harsher crimes. The article “The gender gap in death penalty support: An exploratory study” was selected to be included into my research because it closely relates to my hypothesis. In this article it talks about the gap within the difference of opinion with males and females when it comes to supporting the death penalty. There have been surveys administered over the last fifty years that strongly show that males support the death penalty time and time again over females. Studies have shown that there are five different areas that help people understand why there is a gender gap when it comes to the support of the death penalty. The studies included do not just focus on the gap of difference between gender on capital punishment, but also on right-to-life, gender inequity, and other social issue. The “frameworks” (Cochran, Page 3) that are within the article suggest that some of the difference are because of different life experiences, as well …show more content…
This helps break up the data even more by gender so that you can look at what gender race also supports or does not support the death penalty. It also helps to look at the data presented in other articles to understand a person’s culture and race to determent the results of their support for the death penalty.
“The gender gap in capital punishment attitudes: An analysis of support and opposition” talks about the scientific study of the differences in opinion between males and females. The article talks about several explanations as to why there is a difference in opinion among males and females. Gilligan, a researcher mentioned in the article talks about how women tend to be more empathetic when it comes to sentencing than males. Women tend to believe that a person had to live with their selves while incarcerated knowing that they for example murdered someone.
The researchers from this article found that 80% of Males strongly supported the death penalty, whereas, only 65% of women supported the death penalty. It also found that 25% of women were in favor for life in prison and only 13% of men were in favor of that. Unfortunately, there was some data in the research that was missing. There were also key points on page 8 that talked about deterrence and the support of each
For years there has been controversy over the death penalty, not only in the United States, but all over the world. Over the course of this project the topic of the research has stayed consistent. The death penalty is a very controversial topic and it has been since the late 1600s with the Salem Witchcraft Trials (Douglas, 2009). People would accuse individuals of practicing witchcraft and being witches. The community would then sentence the individual to death, usually by handing them. That strong opinions people have when it comes to the death penalty is still around today. Some people believe that it is cruel and unusual punishment and other believe that it gives the families of the victim’s closure and justice. Other believe that the death penalty is down right to expensive and other alternatives should be put into place for a more cost efficient way to punish someone to the extreme. In this study research has looked at whether more males support the death penalty over females, as well as, republicans favoring the death penalty significantly more over democrats. Over the course of the study the hypothesis original looked at the knowledge of individual genders understanding the overall monetary impact the death penalty has on taxpayers. Due to the complexity of the research the hypothesis was simplified and was changed to look at the controversial stance that genders take when choosing sides of the death penalty. When redefining the hypothesis availability of studies was considered as well as the amount of time allotted to gather information. Literature Review Peer-reviewed articles influenced the research of the death penalty a great deal. Articles talked about Race, the gender gap, gender gap in other countries including the United States, the death penalty being a new abolitionism, and deterrence from committing crimes. These articles helped understand different views of peoples when it comes to choosing sides, as well as, whether the death penalty has any deterrence from people committing harsher crimes. The article “The gender gap in death penalty support: An exploratory study” was selected to be included into my research because it closely relates to my hypothesis. In this article it talks about the gap within the difference of opinion with males and females when it comes to supporting the death penalty. There have been surveys administered over the last fifty years that strongly show that males support the death penalty time and time again over females. Studies have shown that there are five different areas that help people understand why there is a gender gap when it comes to the support of the death penalty. The studies included do not just focus on the gap of difference between gender on capital punishment, but also on right-to-life, gender inequity, and other social issue. The “frameworks” (Cochran, Page 3) that are within the article suggest that some of the difference are because of different life experiences, as well …show more content…
This helps break up the data even more by gender so that you can look at what gender race also supports or does not support the death penalty. It also helps to look at the data presented in other articles to understand a person’s culture and race to determent the results of their support for the death penalty.
“The gender gap in capital punishment attitudes: An analysis of support and opposition” talks about the scientific study of the differences in opinion between males and females. The article talks about several explanations as to why there is a difference in opinion among males and females. Gilligan, a researcher mentioned in the article talks about how women tend to be more empathetic when it comes to sentencing than males. Women tend to believe that a person had to live with their selves while incarcerated knowing that they for example murdered someone.
The researchers from this article found that 80% of Males strongly supported the death penalty, whereas, only 65% of women supported the death penalty. It also found that 25% of women were in favor for life in prison and only 13% of men were in favor of that. Unfortunately, there was some data in the research that was missing. There were also key points on page 8 that talked about deterrence and the support of each