NCJ Number
174649
Journal
Criminology Volume: 36 Issue: 4 Dated: November 1998 Pages: 711-733
Date Published
1998
Length
23 pages
Annotation
This study extended the Cochran et al. study of Oklahoma homicides by considering important death penalty variables not considered in the earlier analysis (the levels of execution and media coverage of executions during 1989-91); examining the immediate (within the week) and possible delayed deterrent/ brutalization effects of the death penalty for the various types of murder; and incorporating the execution and selected sociodemographic variables into a multivariate time-series regression analysis.
Abstract
A replication and extension of a weekly ARIMA analysis (1989-91) by Cochran et al. (1994) confirmed that Oklahoma's return to capital punishment in 1990, after a 25-year moratorium, was followed by a significant increase in killings that involved strangers. Moreover, a multivariate autoregressive analysis, which included measures of the frequency of executions, the level of print media attention devoted to executions, and selected sociodemographic variables, produced results consistent with the brutalization hypothesis for total homicides, as well as a variety of different types of killings that involved both strangers and nonstrangers. No prior study has shown such strong support for the capital punishment and brutalization argument; however, there is also a suggestion of a possible lagged deterrent effect for the level of media coverage of executions for nonfelony murders that involved strangers. The analysis shows that the impact of capital punishment in Oklahoma during the 1989-91 period was much more extensive than suggested by the earlier study. Recommendations are offered for additional research that would examine other jurisdictions and time periods to determine the generalizability of the patterns found for Oklahoma. 6 tables and 18 references