Death Penalty and Criminal Behavior Social Sciences Essay (Essay Sample)

Death Penalty and Criminal Behavior
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Most criminologists cite death penalty as one of the ways of deterring criminal behavior. However, the question that lingers in the minds of most us is whether or not death penalty as a form of punishment would be effective in taming crime. Death penalty is a sentence by execution often used against perpetrators of serious crimes such as high-degree murder and robbery with violence in some states. Traditionally, death by hanging was the common method used to the death penalty. However with the development of judicial systems in most countries, this practice has been phased out and methods such as the use of lethal injection and a gunshot have been introduced. Although criminals convicted of serious crimes ought to be punished severely, criminologists have not proven that indeed death penalty deters criminal behavior.