Citation

Thompson E. Homicide Stud. 1997; 1(2): 110-128.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1088767997001002002

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

For several decades, the debates and research regarding the death penalty and deterrence have focused on whether the assumed deterrent effects were real. The rise of brutalization theory, and the growing evidence in support of the theory, poses a dilemma with a different significance: It appears that executions cause more homicides than they prevent and thus increase homicide rates. This study of deterrent and brutalization effects of an Arizona execution partially replicates and extends a study that used a naturally occurring quasi-experimental situation to assess the impact of an Oklahoma execution on different (i.e., disaggregated) types of homicides in Oklahoma. The findings are consistent with those of the Oklahoma study, and indicate that Arizona's first execution in more than 29 years had no deterrent effect on Arizona homicides, but instead, led to increases in several types of homicides consistent with the predictions of brutalization theory.