NCJ Number
99523
Journal
Journal of Psychiatry and Law Volume: 11 Issue: 2 Dated: (Summer 1983) Pages: 151-181
Date Published
1983
Length
31 pages
Annotation
The main arguments usually advanced by those who desire to abolish capital punishment are analyzed.
Abstract
The conclusion reached is that all these arguments are seriously flawed -- so much so, as to cause one to wonder whether the abolitionists who espouse them are moved by unrecognized unconscious motives. The abolitionists, it is suggested, may unconsciously identify themselves with the criminals whose lives they seek to protect, rather than with the victims of these criminals, as do most law-abiding citizens. It is urged that the law concern itself not with meeting the presumed atypical unconscious emotional needs of the abolitionists, but with fulfilling the demands for justice of the vast majority of citizens. (Publisher abstract)