We have covered how the funding of the capital punishment could be better used for the protection of society. No we will cover how the large amount of money spent on the death penalty could be better spent on prevention of deviant behavior. Men commit a large percentage of all crime. The reasoning for this fact contains the answer to preventing crime. Men and women are socialized differently according to their gender roles. Males and females receive differential treatment during childhood. Boys are expected to be tough, strong and independent, whereas the girls are expected to be soft and dependent. Because of this, boys are allowed to stay out until after dark, while girls must go home before sundown. Parents have more confidence in their male children that they can be on their own and that girls need more parental guidance. The difference continues into adulthood. While acts of physical violence are relatively rare among both sexes, they are very much common among men. Differential parenting styles result in the great disparity among men and women. Although more women are committing crimes, the nation must develop a way in which we can raise children without gender differences (Glietman 559-561). The rise in women criminals is due to the present transition in gender roles. ?Many parents are trying to raise their children with fewer preconceived notions about how males and females ?ought? to behave? (Weiten 312). This new transition is what we need in order to create a safer nation. The money used to implement the death penalty could be used to educate parents, teachers, and other agents of socialization on how to socialize children irrespective of gender roles. Social critics view this period of transition as a ?healthy trend? (Weiten 312).
The laws pertaining to the death penalty need to be abolished throughout the entire United States. Hopefully, the Justice Now (JN) organization realizes the potentially deadly mistakes that the death penalty has for the country (Mac Farlane 14779). Many people are affected by the death penalty, not just the prisoner on death row. Everyone needs to remember that by executing the murderer we may relieve some of the grief that is felt by the victim?s family, but by doing so we are giving the family of the prisoner additional grief. Executions do not result in a win-win situation, especially if the prisoner is an innocent victim. Anyone can be sucked into the judicial system just by being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
By abolishing the death penalty entirely, throughout the United States, hundreds of millions of dollars could be used to improve the judicial system. Life sentences without parole will be used instead of the death penalty for a fraction of the cost. The excess money can guarantee that all convicted criminals will serve the full term of their sentence by providing additional correctional facilities and officers. By opening more facilities, abolishing the death penalty creates more employment opportunities. The eradication of the death penalty will mean more funding will be provided for social programs which have the potential to create a better society. The extra funding can also be used for the prevention of crime by reducing the differential treatment that is evident in children rearing. The death penalty poses many problems for the nation. If we can get the majority of the population to believe that life imprisonment without parole is a better method for capital punishment, then the United States can join the industrialized nations that have abolished executions and become a much safer country. But because the United States has used the death penalty throughout the course of history, many are having difficulty understanding the advantages that come with the abolition of the death penalty. Everyone agrees that risking the lives of innocent people is a damaging effect of the death penalty, but the majority cannot come to terms on a better alternative. Life sentences without parole can guarantee that no one will be wrongfully executed, while saving the nation hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on other more beneficial social programs.
WORKS CITEDBarkan, Steven E. Criminology: A Sociological Understanding. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997.
Bedau, Hugo A. ed. The Death Penalty in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Civiletti, Benjamin. ?The Death Penalty is Still Seriously Flawed.? Christian Science Monitor. Aug 1997. Ebsco host. Cerritos College Norwalk, CA. 3 Nov 1999 (http://www.epnet.com).
?Execution Reconsidered.? Economist. Jul 1999. Ebsco host. Cerritos College Norwalk, CA. 4 Nov 1999 (http://www.epnet.com).
Gleitman, Henry. Psychology. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1995.
Hook, Donald D. and Lothar Kahn. Death in the Balance: The Debate Over Capital Punishment. Lexington: Lexington Books, 1989.
Mac Farlane, Theresa. International Organizations. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997.
Montague, Philip. Punishment as Societal Defense. Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers: 1995.
Radelet, Michael L., Hugo Adam Bedau and Constance E. Putnam. In spite of Innocence. Pennsylvania: The Maple Press, 1992.
Radin, Edward D. The Innocents. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1974.
Stewart, David O. ?Dealing With Death?. ABA Journal. Nov 1994: 50-53.
United States Department of Justice. Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin: Capital Punishment. 1995. Washington: OJP, 1996.
Weiten, Wayne. Psychology: Themes and Variations. 2nd ed., brief version. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing, 1994.
Yanich, Danilo. ?Making Movies Real: The Death Penalty and Local TV News.? Crime Law and Social Change. 26 (1997): 303-328.