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Boundary maintenance and capital punishment: A sociological perspective
Author(s) -
French Laurence A.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
behavioral sciences and the law
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.649
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1099-0798
pISSN - 0735-3936
DOI - 10.1002/bsl.2370050406
Subject(s) - capital punishment , adjudication , punishment (psychology) , boundary (topology) , perspective (graphical) , dilemma , foundation (evidence) , criminology , social capital , capital (architecture) , law and economics , race (biology) , process (computing) , criminal justice , positive economics , economics , social psychology , law , sociology , political science , psychology , computer science , geography , mathematics , geometry , artificial intelligence , operating system , gender studies , mathematical analysis , archaeology
Capital punishment represents a sociolegal dilemma in the United States. While there is seemingly popular support in the country for the death penalty, a clear discriminatory bias exists challenging the foundation of American justice–that of fair treatment before the law. A review of sentencing practices and executions indicates major regional (south/non‐south) differences regarding the proportion of executions in terms of both numbers and race. This social process is explained in terms of societal reaction/boundary maintenance model. One means of avoiding these regional biases and to ensure a more objective adjudication process would be to make capital crimes a federal offense.
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