Examination of the Death Penalty: Public Opinion of a Northeast Tennessee University Student Sample.

<p>How society views the use of the death penalty as a means of punishment greatly affects the decisions of lawmakers, politicians who use it as a platform for election, and the criminals who commit the crime of murder. This study used 40 different vignettes involving real-life murder scenarios in order for participants to form a more precise opinion of what the correct punishment for the crime should be. Given a choice between the death penalty, life without the possibility of parole, a prison term of their choosing, or other, participants were asked to assign a sanction for each vignette. Respondents were asked to answer demographic questions about themselves in order for these variables to be regressed to examine how their status relates to their opinion of the death penalty as a punishment for murder. Statistical analysis showed income level, political affiliation, and religious affiliation to be significant variables. Analysis of the vignettes themselves revealed substantial variation in individual's willingness to apply the death penalty across various types of murder.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MA (Master of Arts)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis - unrestricted

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Criminal Justice and Criminology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Burgason, Kyle Aaron

• Death Penalty
• Capital Punishment
• Public Opinion
• Murder
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance
• Sociology

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright by the authors.

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1744

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-3099