The ultimate coercive sanction

HRAF Press • New Haven, CT • Published In • Pages: 1-164 •
By Otterbein, Keith F.

Abstract

The author presents a comprehensive study on the prevalence, presentation, and motivation of the "ultimate coercive sanction": capital punishment, or the "death penalty". He begins by examining capital punishment across all 53 cultures for which data was present in the Probability Sample Files, and finds that capital punishment is overwhelmingly present. After discerning some general trends, the author examines how capital punishment presents itself across different kinds of political systems, and uses the results to voice support for various theories on why the capital punishment is practiced. The study concludes by stating that the capital punishment may be something that human society may never be truly rid of, but greater societal stability may be able to reduce its prevalence.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
Probability Sample Files (PSF)Researcher's OwnAll data

Hypotheses (14)

HypothesisSupported
Capital punishment is a cross-cultural universal (p. 45).Supported
Capital crimes are most likely to be offenses that directly threaten individuals (homicide, stealing, religious violations, and sexual offenses) (p. 45).Supported
The most frequently cited reason for capital punishment will be disposal of a wrongdoer (p. 45).Supported
Most members of a community will tend to accept capital punishment as an appropriate sanction (p. 45).Supported
"Despotic" states are likely to be younger than "mature" states (p. 79)Partially Supported
Centralized political systems are more likely to incarcerate criminals (p. 91).Supported
Centralized political systems are more likely to torture criminals (p.93).Supported
Centralized political systems are more likely to have public executions (p.96).Supported
Centralized political systems are more likely to torture criminals to death (p.98).Supported
Despotic states are more likely than other societies to utilize capital punishment for a wide variety of crimes (p.104-105).Supported
Centralized states are more likely to have political leaders decide sentencing for capital crimes (p.104-105).Supported
Weapons are most likely to be used as a means of execution (p. 104-105).Supported
Despotic states are likely to have a large number of ways of carrying out capital punishment (p.104-105).Supported
Despotic states are likely to use the death penalty to show the power of the king (p.104-105).Supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: erik.ringen  abbe.mccarter  jacob.kalodner