Does the Death Penalty Deter Homicides?

Abstract

This study assessed the long debated question over the death penalty’s deterrent effects. The majority of the empirical research on this topic is dated and does not display the current status of capital punishment. The death penalty argument is divided between criminologists who suggest that capital punishment holds no deterrent effects and criminologists who suggest that it does. This examination revisits the argument with an analysis of state panel data and executions between the years of 2000 and 2014. The findings suggest that the application of the death penalty does not deter would be offenders from committing homicide.