Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems
- The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems
- Copyright page
- Contents
- About the Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Problems Related to Health, Safety, and Security
- Part II Problems Related to Crime and Violence
- Chapter 12 The Problem of Crime
- Chapter 13 Corporate Malfeasance as a Social Problem
- Chapter 14 The Construction of School Bullying as a Social Problem
- Chapter 15 Rampage School Shootings
- Chapter 16 Understanding Sexual Violence: The Role of Causal and Precipitating Factors in Sexual Offending
- Chapter 17 Critical and Intersectional Understandings of Campus Sexual Assault as a Social Problem
- Chapter 18 Child Abuse and Neglect
- Chapter 19 Family Violence
- Chapter 20 Juvenile Violence
- Chapter 21 Gangs and Gang Violence
- Chapter 22 State Violence
- Chapter 23 Hate Crime
- Chapter 24 Police Brutality
- Chapter 25 Capital Punishment/Death Penalty
- Chapter 26 Wrongful Convictions: Comparative Perspectives
- Part III Problems of Global Impact
- Index
- References
Chapter 25 - Capital Punishment/Death Penalty
from Part II - Problems Related to Crime and Violence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 March 2018
Edited by
Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems
- The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems
- Copyright page
- Contents
- About the Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I Problems Related to Health, Safety, and Security
- Part II Problems Related to Crime and Violence
- Chapter 12 The Problem of Crime
- Chapter 13 Corporate Malfeasance as a Social Problem
- Chapter 14 The Construction of School Bullying as a Social Problem
- Chapter 15 Rampage School Shootings
- Chapter 16 Understanding Sexual Violence: The Role of Causal and Precipitating Factors in Sexual Offending
- Chapter 17 Critical and Intersectional Understandings of Campus Sexual Assault as a Social Problem
- Chapter 18 Child Abuse and Neglect
- Chapter 19 Family Violence
- Chapter 20 Juvenile Violence
- Chapter 21 Gangs and Gang Violence
- Chapter 22 State Violence
- Chapter 23 Hate Crime
- Chapter 24 Police Brutality
- Chapter 25 Capital Punishment/Death Penalty
- Chapter 26 Wrongful Convictions: Comparative Perspectives
- Part III Problems of Global Impact
- Index
- References
Summary
By any measure, the death penalty is in steep decline worldwide. In 1977, only 16 countries had abolished the death penalty, but that figure had increased to 140 by 2016. In this chapter we focus on the United States, where, as of mid-2015, the death penalty was authorized in thirty-two states and approximately 2,900 men and women are housed on death row. While a dwindling number of Americans view the death penalty as a social problem because they want to expand its use, a growing number are seeing it as a social problem because they believe it is no longer justified and want it to be restricted or even abolished. In this chapter we describe the arguments used by both sides, and conclude that the long-term trend away from the death penalty is unidirectional and further eroding of its use is inevitable.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems , pp. 433 - 448Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2018
References
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