What information and statistics do you have regarding the death penalty and very punitive sentences deterring crime?

I really don’t believe the threat of punishment enters into people’s mind when committing a crime. I think it’s more a matter of a sense of right and wrong that keeps people from committing acts, or “my needs are greater” that allows them to do something.

I did a report on the death penalty a long time ago when I was a senior in high school. At the time world crime statistics showed that there was a negative correlation between the murder rate and presence of the death penalty – in other words, there was no deterrent at all.

I agree with you that it is a mix of culture and life circumstances that contribute to murder rates, not the presence or absence of the death penalty. It certainly hasn’t lowered crime rates in Texas.

@zenvelo Did you click on the link for the graph? You might find it interesting.

Yes, but what area is that for? Worldwide? US?

I would assume US.

I agree that the stats alone are probably not going to tell us everything. However, at the very least they cannot be used as evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent. Here are a couple of things….

this

and

this

The countries who still have the death penalty are quite a rough bunch.

From Wikipedia:

2010 – The following 23 countries carried out executions in 2010:
– Bahrain (1)
– Bangladesh (9+)
– Belarus (2)
– Botswana (1)
– China (2000+)
– Egypt (4)
– Equatorial Guinea (4)
– Iran (252+)
– Iraq (1+)
– Japan (2)
– Libya (18+)
– Malaysia (1+)
– North Korea (60+)
– Palestinian Authority (5)
– Saudi Arabia (27+)
– Singapore (1+)
– Somalia (8+)
– Sudan (6+)
– Syria (17+)
– Taiwan (4)
– USA (46+)
– Vietnam (1+)
– Yemen (53+).

2011 – As of 5 May 2011 executions have been reported in the following 9 countries during 2011:
– Bangladesh
– China
– Iran
– North Korea
– the Palestinian Authority
– Saudi Arabia
– Somalia
– UAE
– USA

That’s embarrassing.

I had to smile at the caption to Cruiser’s graph which reads “the death penalty saves lives”.

@tom_g All sorts of lists the US is on that are bazaar.

The, we won’t adopt metric list: Burma, Liberia, and the US

The we don’t have universal health care list, where we fall on education compared to other countries, etc.

I definitely do not believe in the death penalty. I mean, who can respect their government when they kill people? Us killing these criminals for their crimes is no different than the criminals committing crimes in the first place. We can’t tell people not to kill then turn around and kill them if they do. It doesn’t even make sense!! It’s just like public schools where they suspend kids for skipping school. Think about it. Doesn’t it kind of defeat the purpose to make them stay home from school for staying home from school? I personally find it ridiculous. The death penalty is the same way. I cannot take my government seriously when they’re such hypocrites. I mean we all are, to an extent, but they’re supposed to be setting an example for us. How is killing people setting a good example??

I was getting ready to ask a similar question, and this thread came up. I really do think that culture and economic circumstances have almost everything to do with how people behave. Punishment is only an issue after the fact. The way children are brought up, along with their enviromental conditioning are very important things to consider when trying to determine whether certain punishments would deter crime or not.

The examples in your own question actually verify what I’m saying above: that different punishments will have different results depending upon the culture of those involved. Personally I prefer the latter scenerio that was mentioned in the OP. Many cultures actually breed violence by the seeds they plant, especially the extremely masculine ones. Europe has lower crime rates because unlike in America they have a culture that is more compassionate towards its people. Critical thinking also plays a major role in reducing violence in my opinion.