The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment

The Deterrent Effect of Capital Punishment

Since 1977 when capital punishment was reinstated by the Supreme Court, the U.S. has executed 1,099 people. There is much dispute about whether or not the death penalty is an effective deterrent of crime and the way the punishment affects the families involved. Some say that capital punishment provides closure for the victims' families and prevent future crimes from occurring. Others are greatly opposed to capital punishment; they say that crimes are going to occur whether or not the death penalty exists. Also, in many cases the death penalty does not provide closure. In fact, studies have shown the punishment prolongs the suffering for the victim and the families. Not only is the death penalty painful for the family of the victim, but it is distressing for all who are involved with the process. "The death penalty's impact reaches far beyond the victim and the executed. All who cross its path shoulder the burden of participating in the death of a human being." (Executions create more victims). Witnessing an execution can be detrimental to the health of the families involved and the guards that participate.

Capital punishment is designed to provide the families of the victims with closure. Knowing that the inmate suffered the same fate as their loved one is supposed to provide a sense of justice for the families. In reality though, capital punishment just prolongs their suffering. Capital punishment "forces a family to relive the murder with every appeal" (VICTIMS' FAMILIES & THE DEATH PENALTY), instead of taking the time to cope with the loss, the families are put through years of appeals. The process makes it difficult to get on with life when the families are constantly reminded of the loss. Not only does capital punishment extend the suffering for the victim's family, but it also provides a distraction from their real needs, not a solution. For those members of the family that only seek retribution, when the inmate is finally put to death it may leave them feeling angrier than ever. The inmate died, but to some this is the easy way out. After the death of a loved one, different people react in different ways. Some may only grieve the loss, while others will try to avenge it. When the beliefs of the family members are different, it often tears the family apart when they need each other most. Capital punishment may have started as a way to give the families of the victim's closure, but actually may "revictimize those families" (Goodwin An Argument Against Allowing the Families of the Murder Victims to Witness Executions).

Another controversial argument concerning the death penalty is whether or not it provides justice to the families of the victim. Though capital punishment is often viewed as barbaric, commonly "families believe the executed got off to easily" (Goodwin An Argument Against Allowing the Families of the Murder Victims to Witness Executions). The inmates get a spiritual guide and a choice of a final meal; their victims do not get any of that. Frequently after the killing, family members realize that "the execution did not eliminate the suffering or frustration" (Goodwin An Argument Against Allowing the Families of the Murder Victims to Witness Executions) they may have felt beforehand, often it leaves them angrier. Instead of taking time to heal, "after an execution, some families have felt disappointment and increased vengeance rather than closure" (Goodwin An Argument Against Allowing the Families of the Murder Victims to Witness Executions). Capital Punishment does not provide justice for the families of the victims like it is intended to; instead it only creates false hope.

Capital punishment is difficult for the family of the victims to endure, but it is even harder for the families of the death row inmate. The families of the victims lost a loved one, but so will the family of the condemned inmate. Like the families of the victims the "family of the executed have been made orphans, widows, and childless." (A Brief Background on Capital Punishment). No matter what they did, the death of a loved one is the same heartache for everyone. Losing a family member is traumatic, but watching a loved one die right in front of your eyes is even worse. In many states there is a room in the death chamber, separate from the victims' family, where the family of the inmate can watch and support them. Though the support may make the execution a bit easier for the inmate, for the family, watching a son, daughter, parent, sibling or relative die is one of the hardest things they will ever have to endure. Tina Duroy, the sister of a death penalty victim, stated in an interview '"Watching my brother die was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life."'(Sheffer, creating more victims). To the family of the executed, the inmate was not a horrible monster; they were a loved one that was stolen away