This was a requirement for my General Education and I chose Sociology because I've always found it to be intriguing learning why society is so important and what causes it to change all the time. I have the main paper of the class below, and I generally enjoyed this class.
Death Penalty and the theoretical perspectives.
The death penalty, otherwise known as capital punishment is viewed in many ways. Some see it as justice; others view it as a barbaric punishment that doesn’t really deter crime. Capital punishment is one of the most controversial subjects in American Culture, with many people from all walks of life coming together to either support or oppose this issue. The person who is sentenced to death is seen as an outcast, someone who has violated the rights of humanity and the rights to life. They have committed a crime against society and they are presented with a negative consequence for their negative action.
Death Penalty- Justice VS Barbaric Punishment
Society as a whole hasn’t quite decided on their stance on this controversial, well known, subject. Some view it as a simple, yet necessary mean of justice and others view it as a barbaric form of punishment that belongs in the past. These two groups come into conflict whenever a person is sentenced to death. News, or other media sources focus on the pro’s and con’s of capital punishment and where its true intentions lie. Not only are those two main groups conflicting but the convicted inmates are fighting against a system set on justice for a life sentence instead of being executed. According to the conflict theory, society is made of groups competing for resources that are hard to come by, and in this case, its life.
Generally society, or the people who make up the United States, are in favor of capital punishment and the idea of “an eye for an eye” as it is stated in the bible. (19:21 Bible) However, there are the few who are against the idea of “revenge” and protest repeatedly for life in prison without the chance of parole. Recently we’ve seen society come into conflict with the Ronnie Lee Gardner case where he was appealing for his life till the very last second. People, who included the family of one of the victims he had killed, were pleading for a life sentence instead of an execution date while others, including the family of the other victim he had killed were begging for justice and an execution. That is an example of conflicting interests as well as showing how society can be divided on certain issues.
Why is the death penalty beneficial to society?
The United States has created a justice system determined to be fair. Consisting of trials and appeals, the guilt or innocence of an individual is given many opportunities to be presented. Crimes lead to an arrest which leads to a trial by jury, which then leads to a conviction or a dropping of charges. The convicted the defendant is given the opportunity to appeal his case, including capital punishment cases. There are many pieces working together to create a fair, and just system we have, and a chance to prove innocence. Committing a crime is also a string of events that leads to a consequence as seen in the functionalism perspective, whether it be a positive consequence such as being cleared of all charges and proving your innocence, or being found guilty and sentenced to death which would obviously be a negative consequence.
So why is the death penalty necessary?
• Because negative actions require a negative consequence to deter society as a whole from duplicating the same action.
• It would remove a convicted killer from the streets of our community as well as deterring others from committing the taboo of killing another human being.
• As well as the obvious benefits of executions it saves tax payers millions of dollars by executing people who have been kicked out of society and are living off the hard earned money of the American people.
What’s bad about Capital Punishment?
• Costs a lot for the appeal process, millions are poured into the process and it takes years for all the appeals to be exhausted. Those years add up and doesn’t exactly provide closure to the families of those affected.
• Some view it as giving the Government a way to “play God” and to decide who lives or who dies and most religious organizations oppose the death penalty for this reason.
How do we as a community view convicted killers?
We view these humans as outcasts, people who have overstepped the boundaries and broken one of most important rules of humanity. We see them as murderers who don’t deserve to be here, to continue to live when they have taken that chance away from someone else. As said in the Symbolic Interactionism theory, society bases its interactions on labels and by comparing themselves to others. The label that has been placed on these people is “murderer” which is both an ascribed status because it has simply been placed on them, but it’s also achieved because they earned that title because of their negative actions against the community. If we were to enter a room where a convicted killer was to be sitting next to us, most of us would be very uncomfortable and wouldn’t want to associate with this person in the slightest way. In our eyes we see this person as someone who we are “above” and we view them as worthless.
In every perspective there are pro’s and con’s ranging from the conflicting emotions of both parties involved in the case, and emotions getting the best of you rather than what’s best for both parties involved; then leading into the positive consequences of executions and the negative consequences that were earned by that person accused and convicted of the crime. Its trials and appeals creating a system made for justice with checks and balances. With the very last perspective, symbolic interactionsim, labels are placed, and the attitudes of society are greatly influenced by these labels and the community would still avoid a person who was found innocent of murder but has had the label of killer plastered all over their image. In other cases, that may include symbols that could help society determine who is “good or bad” by placing an orange jumpsuit on a prisoner to help distinguish him or her from the other in the community. Wherever, you may stand on capital punishment and the reasons behind that choice, understand that there are many solutions to every problem.
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