NCJ Number
212691
Journal
International Criminal Justice Review Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: November 2005 Pages: 115-130
Date Published
November 2005
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study explored the direct and conjunctive effects of social, political, and economic conditions on whether a country has retained capital punishment in the 21st century.
Abstract
Social scientists have long been interested in the relationship between state-imposed punishment and the structure of society. Of the different types of state sanctions in contemporary society, capital punishment has received wide attention from academics and international human rights organizations. However, with this wide attention, minimal research has examined the social, political, and economic conditions in the retention and abolition of capital punishment. This study explored sociopolitical variation in the current legal status of capital punishment in 185 nations using existing theories of punishment and society for a conceptual framework. It examined the unconditional and net effects of religiosity, economic development, citizens’ voice, political stability, and extrajudicial violence on the likelihood of a nation’s retention of legal executions for ordinary crimes. In addition, the nature of variability in death penalty laws among nations with similar sociopolitical structures was explored. Data for the study were derived from various secondary sources. Three separate analytic strategies were used to examine the sociopolitical predictors of the retention of capital punishment. Correlations were found between a nation’s retention of legal executions for ordinary crimes and its level of economic development, primary religious orientation, citizens’ voice in governance, political stability, and recent history of extrajudicial executions. Tables, references