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Abstract

The role of pain and the wishes of families of those involved in death penalty cases are germane to addressing the Supreme Court's call to take into account whether executions are consistent with what constitutes a “decent” punishment, a judgment that inevitably evolves over time. In a convenience sample of 133 college students and restaurant employees, 59% sanctioned the infliction of pain during lethal injections while 53% approved of victims' families having discretion to potentially choose life imprisonment without the possibility of parole over execution. Thirty-eight percent of males and 53% of females claimed that trauma experienced by victims' families may weaken their support for capital punishment, implying that family trauma may be relevant to conceptualizing “decency.” As general support for the death penalty weakens, respondents are more apt to be swayed by the trauma experienced by the victim's family, suggesting that awareness of the limited ability of executions to function as retribution could alter adherence to lex talionis.

Keywords

victim's family trauma retribution lethal injection

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Humane Executions? Assessing the Role of Families in Death Penalty Cases

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