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Death Penalty and Crime Rates:

Length: 1242 words (3.5 double-spaced pages)

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Death Penalty and Crime Rates

The question I chose for this survey was, "Do you think the death penalty deters crime or lowers the crime rate?" I chose this question because it was the most applicable question to my field of study and world of work, which is law. I think this was an interesting question to ask for two reasons. First, it has been an issue that has been hotly debated since capital punishment was incorporated into the United States' criminal justice system. Secondly, because of the two groups I focused on, I thought the answers would yield wild and controversial results.

I chose to target two specific groups for my survey. The first group, made up predominantly of women, was my Monday night SNL class, Criminal Justice, Criminal Violence. I chose this group because the course content at the time dealt with the causes of criminal violence in America: poverty, lower IQ, drugs, race, broken families, etc. I felt that this group would be the more liberal of the two groups. I predicted that an overwhelming majority of the class would respond "no."

The second group I targeted was a group at the company where I work which consisted primarily of men. I chose this group because my company is soundly conservative and I thought that the overall tenor of the company would accurately reflect the beliefs of individual employees. I predicted that this group would answer "yes."

Further breaking down my predictions, regardless of which group the "questionee" fell into, I expected the overall response of the African-American respondents to be "no." I also expected the majority of Caucasian respondents to say "yes" with a few dissenters. Although I knew that most of the participants fell within the 25-35 year old range, I expected the few older participants (35 and above) to say "yes." I did not think marital status would have any effect on the answers. I expected the "yes" answers primarily to come from the men.

Finding people to answer the survey was relatively simple. I first asked my Monday night instructor for permission to survey the class. He seemed reluctant at first, because his concern was that the class may not be educated enough on the subject matter to give accurate answers. After I explained what the paper was about and gave him a copy of our class handout, he agreed. The second group of people was at work. They were easily accessible, eager to participate, and fit the criteria of the group I wanted to target. I know all of the people in this group professionally; approximately half of them personally.

Of the thirty people I surveyed, (eight African-Americans, twenty Caucasians, two Hispanics) seven believe the death penalty deters crime or lowers the crime rate and twenty-three believe it does not. The numbers within the genders were similar to one another: four women and three men said "yes." Six of the seven "yes" answers fell in the younger male and female (35 and under) groups. In addition, six of the "yes" answers were given by Caucasians, with the seventh "yes" by a Hispanic. Three of the thirteen single people surveyed said "yes"; three of the 15 married people said "yes" and the two divorced people were split.

While conducting the survey amongst my peers at work, after reading the question someone said to me, "Gee, I really never thought about it before." A group discussion then ensued. I was surprised to learn that although this is an issue that I believe is embedded into society (crime statistics, news specials, etc.) by the media, a few of the questionees really had to sit down and think about their answer for a while. While there may have been hesitation in their answer, the majority of the participants eagerly participated, and were almost anxious to see my results.

The overall results starkly contrast my predictions. There were many fewer "yes" answers (three) in my work group and more "yes" answers (four) in my school group than I had expected. The reason there may have been more "yes" answers in my school group is because of the studied subject matter. The class has read statistics