American Death Penalty Attitudes

Abstract

Public support for the death penalty is something of an American tradition. Yet the bases of the American tradition of support for the death penalty are not well understood. An understanding of American attitudes toward capital punishment is important, not only because the United States is again executing criminal offenders, but because it provides a rough estimate of the level of maturity of American civilization. This study critically examines the reasons and processes by which Americans come to support the death penalty.