Does the Death Penalty Deter Potential Murderers?

Abstract One argument in support of the death penalty holds that this form of punishment deters others from committing heinous crimes. The idea of deterrence is explored in this chapter. Although deterrence is seemingly self-evident—if the potential punishment for a particular behavior is great, people are likely to avoid that behavior—research shows that capital punishment does not deter people from committing murder.

As early as the 1840s, research showed the deterrence effect to be not only illusory, but actually counterproductive. Rates of crime often surge in the period surrounding an execution. More modern research that compares US states with and without the death penalty confirms the finding that the death penalty does not have a deterrent effect on crime.