2 Essays: Death Penalty & Choosing a Mate

In spite of a number of challenges, capital punishment has been affirmed by the Court and continues to be enforced. There is considerable public support for the death penalty, much of it related to a general trend toward demanding harsher penalties for criminals because of a fear of street crime and violence. The death penalty is held out as a deterrent, and yet there is a relative balance in the evidence supporting and denying that effect. Though proponents and opponents of the death penalty may argue over such data as can be found on issues of this sort, a more basic question is simply whether capital punishment is the right sort of thing for an advanced society to use. If an automatic death penalty were instituted for all cases of first degree murder, this change would not be likely to have the effect that proponents of the death penalty might hope.

One proponent of capital punishment argues that the death penalty can be seen as consistent with the principles of a constitutional democratic society. Berns notes that our criminal justice institutions impose punishments only as a last resort and with the greatest reluctance (McKenna and Feingold 174). He also sees the death penalty as an affirmation of life rather than a denial, since it is directed at those who have taken a life.

Many proponents of the death penalty believe that it would be a deterrent if this punishment were certain and swift, and they find that lengthy appeals and other delays undercut the value

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and cogent reasons for opposing the death penalty--uncertainty: "We know enough to say that this or that major criminal deserves hard labor for life. But we don't know enough to decree that he be shorn of his future--in other words, of the chance we all have of making amends" (McKenna and Feingold 180). People seeking swift and sure death for murderers are making claims that cannot be supported. They are suggesting an easy solution to a complex problem, and such solutions are always doomed to failure. Works Cited McKenna, George and Stanley Feingold. Taking Sides. New York: Dushkin Publishing, 1987. Being a proper husband is difficult at any time, but in the 1990s it can be especially difficult given the many forces in society tearing at marriage and the family. The tendency may be to seek advice and to try to impose rules from counselors, religious leaders, psychologists, or others. What should be faced is that every case is different and that what is most important about behaving as a good husband is to match the needs of the other partner in the relationship, the wife. Determining the characteristics of the best wife and best husband can be undertaken within certain parameters but is an impossible task as

Category: Psychology - 2