SAGE Journal Articles

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Denver, M., Best, J., & Haas, K. C. (2008). Methods of execution as institutional fads. Punishment & Society, 10(3), 227–252. doi:10.1177/1462474508090227

Abstract

The history of capital punishment in the USA reveals a cyclical pattern: critiques of existing methods of execution inspire the adoption of a new method that is presented as more humane and less problematic; this in turn leads to a new round of criticism. The historical shift from hanging to death by electrocution, gas chamber, and — most recently — lethal injection reflects an institutional fad cycle.

Farr, K. A. (1997). Aggravating and Differentiating Factors in the Cases of White and Minority Women on Death Row. Crime & Delinquency, 43(3), 260–278. doi:10.1177/0011128797043003002

Abstract

An examination of the cases of 35 women on death row in 1993 indicated both between-and within-gender differences. Unlike men under sentences of death, the White women on death row were highly likely to have murdered loved ones, most often male husbands or lovers. The most aggravated cases involved White women, portrayed as seductive or lustful, who were implicated in multiple killings of White victims. Overall, the murders committed by women of color were more likely than those by White women to be in the less aggravated categories and to have been motivated by anger or revenge. Most of the murders were intraracial.

Lambert, E. G., Camp, S. D., Clarke, A., & Jiang, S. (2011). The Impact of Information on Death Penalty Support, Revisited. Crime & Delinquency, 57(4), 572–599. doi:10.1177/0011128707312147

Abstract

In 1972, former Supreme Court Justice Marshall postulated that the public was uninformed about the death penalty and information would change their support for it. There is some indication that information about the death penalty may change people’s level of support. This study re-examines data used by Lambert and Clarke (2001). Using multivariate analyses, the impact that information has on death penalty support is tested, along with level of prior knowledge about the death penalty, personal characteristics (gender, age, political affiliation, race, being a criminal justice major, academic level), and religious factors. The results suggest that information on both deterrence and innocence leads to a reduction in death penalty support and views on the death penalty. Furthermore, the results suggest that the information presented may have varying effects among different subgroups of people.

Vito, G. F. (2004). Dangerousness and the Death Penalty: an Examination of Juvenile Homicides in Kentucky. The Prison Journal, 84(4), 436–451. doi:10.1177/0032885504269628

Abstract

As in several other states, Kentucky passed legislation to get tough with juveniles and battle a rising tide of delinquency and violent crime. The necessity of this policy was unquestioned. This analysis examines national juvenile crime statistics and data on juvenile homicides in Kentucky. It uses the Barnett scale to examine whether juvenile murderers were more deliberate, random, or vicious killers over time. The results of the study do not support the get tough movement or the continued availability of the death penalty for juveniles in Kentucky.