Views on the Death Penalty Among College Students in India

• NCJ Number: 222711
• Journal: Punishment & Society Volume: 10 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2008 Pages: 207-218
• Author(s): Eric G. Lambert; Sudershan Pasupuleti; Shanhe Jiang; K. Jaishankar; Jagahish V. Bhimarasetty
• Date Published: April 2008
• Length: 12 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined levels of support for India's death penalty among students at a large university in India, identified major reasons students supported or opposed capital punishment, and determined the influence of these various reasons on levels of support or opposition toward capital punishment.

Abstract

On the whole, a majority of respondents neither fully supported nor fully opposed the death penalty in India. Forty-three percent reported some degree of support for capital punishment, and 44 percent reported opposition to capital punishment to varying degrees. Thirteen percent were unsure of their position on capital punishment. A majority of students reported being angry when a convicted murderer did not receive the death penalty; yet a majority also reported feeling sad when any person was executed. Eighty percent believed that death sentences were sometimes imposed on innocent persons; however, this belief bore no apparent relationship with opposition to the death penalty. This may mean that they accept the execution of innocent persons as inevitable "collateral damage" under a policy that is appropriate for those actually guilty of a heinous crime that warrants execution as retribution. Retributive views were the strongest predictor of attitudes toward the death penalty. The next strongest predictor was the instrumental perspective, which "holds that people's attitudes toward the death penalty are driven primarily by their desires to reduce crime and protect society, and that the death penalty is a means to achieve this end" (Maxwell and Rivera-Vazquez, 1998). Although life in prison without parole is often proposed as a replacement for capital punishment, support for this sentence was positively associated with support for capital punishment. Implications are drawn for future research in this area. Survey participants constituted a convenience sample of students enrolled in 20 undergraduate classes required of all majors at a large (over 100,000 students) metropolitan public university. Of 450 surveys administered, 434 questionnaires were returned (57 percent male and 43 percent female). Respondents' ages ranged from 17 to 47. 3 tables and 20 references