Hypothesis
Men are more likely to agree with the death penalty.
Literature Review
A study on ideology, race, and the death penalty (Walsh & Hatch, 2017) applying the theory of lies, damned lies, and statistics applies the concept of race as an influencer in the death penalty to reveal the extent to which the social problem is charged by emotional content. The study noted how statistical evidence gets manipulated and misinterpreted to give an advantage to a particular ideology at the expense of the actual truth. The study further noted that white defendants and black defendants tend to receive a proportionately similar death penalty verdict. The analysis applied comparable data from different conclusions, plus advanced analysis techniques like propensity score matching and failed to find significant evidence connecting death penalty race bias. The study concluded that death penalty bias should be argued regarding financial variations, morals, and innocence claims rather than race as a factor (Walsh & Hatch, 2017).
Another study takes the case of Japan’s death penalty comparison with homicide deterrence (Muramatsu, Johnson & Yano, 2017). The Japanese officials hold a perception that the country retains and utilizes capital punishment because it prevents homicide. The study by Muramatsu, Johnson, & Yano (2017) uses monthly data from the National Police Agency of Japan on homicide cases to empirically extract whether the death penalty prevents homicide or robbery-homicide. The study applied vector autoregressive models (VAR) to analyze extensively and found that the death penalty does not deter homicide.
According to Boateng & Dzordzormenyoh (2021), factors exist that anticipate public support for the death penalty in Brazil. Brazil has the death penalty in cases involving genocides, war crimes, crime against humanity, and terrorism (Boateng & Dzordzormenyoh, 2021). The study applied the approach of cross-sectional data analysis on data from the American Barometer survey and found significant results purporting that the majority of Brazil’s citizens support the death penalty. The study also affirmed that factors like sensitivity of insecurity, rate of murders, and the legitimacy of the institution of justice would likely affect the decision to the death penalty. In addition, religious affiliations and ethnicity influence people’s attitudes towards the death penalty (Boateng & Dzordzormenyoh, 2021).
Argument
The reviewed studies have majored in the factors that influence the justification of the death penalty in different countries. The studies have applied different methodology in data analysis with results obtained to justify the significance of the death penalty in regulating severe criminal offenses. Some of the factors derived from the studies suggest that the death penalty is not informed by racism, while the intensity of the crime committed does call for the action of the death penalty. The law applies randomly without any bias on gender as what matters is the consideration put on the crime committed. The literature does not explain gender, which type, males or females, has faced the death penalty with the highest number in history. The literature also omits the actual descriptive statistics showing the trend in death rates among the countries or within a country by providing the mean, mode, or median number to explain the pattern of the death penalty. In the course to explore further studies on the death penalty and its justification, this paper will apply simple data analysis that will show the pattern taken by descriptive statistics of the death penalty numbers in the United States with a purpose to clarify whether men are likely to agree with the death penalty.
References
Boateng, F. D., & Dzordzormenyoh, M. K. (2021). Capital punishment in Brazil: Exploring factors that predict public support for the death penalty. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 104398622110343. https://doi.org/10.1177/10439862211034345
Muramatsu, K., Johnson, D. T., & Yano, K. (2017). The death penalty and homicide deterrence in Japan. Punishment & Society, 20(4), 432-457. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474517706369
Walsh, A., & Hatch, V. (2017). Ideology, race, and the death penalty:” lies, damn lies, and statistics” in advocacy research. Journal of Ideology, 37(1), 1-34. https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=ji
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