Why does prison time and/or the death penalty not deter crime?

Rubber Cranium

Ah! SO glad you asked!

don't worry, folks, I've got this one...

That, my dear, is because people are STUPID!

Scott B

Because nobody thinks they will get caught when they are committing a crime. Also, for some(gangs) being in prsion is a status thing. Lastly, some people have been in prison for so long, it is just a way of life and what they are used to so going back doesn't matter.

I think many of the people that end up in these institutions are a product of thier enviroment. They go back b/c they really have no family or they end up institutionalized.

Sweet Tea & Lemons

Prison time might deter crime if it where really a punishent. Some of our prisons are jokes. (not all) The death penalty would be more effective if people wher not aloud to set on death row for 20 years.

blades_going_round

Name one person who has been executed that ever committed another crime.

Chuck

At the moment of commiting a crime, there are things going on chemically in your brain that prevent you from stopping your impulse. That impulse can last less than a second, and all the time before that moment and all the time after that moment, you can know that what you did/will do is wrong. That moment is not deterred by thoughts of the death penalty or jail time.

old-bald-one

It does deter crime. Have you ever heard of an executed murderer murdering anyone else ? Have you ever heard of someone sitting in prison mugging anyone on the street or robbing a house? You have to put the idea of deterrence in perspective. Prison is a real deterrent to those in it. Death row is a certain deterrent to those waiting there turn. If you expect to deter an angry husband from killing his wife I'm sorry but rage rarely gives time for clear thought.

Susan S

To act as a deterrent (keep others from committing the same crime) a punishment must be sure and swift. The death penalty is neither.

More than one of the people who answered your question are misinformed about what deterrence means. They are confusing it with incapacitation, which means to prevent a criminal from reoffending.

45 auto

There not enforced and prision life for some is better than life on the street>Death penalty they right a book>20 yrs still there>Might even get out>>

Becky J

Because there are a bunch of dumbasses out there

Freethinker

Many times, when the person is committing the crime, they are not thinking rationally. In crimes of passion, the assailant is not thinking about the penalty when committing the crime.

Others may think they can get away with the crime. Or perhaps they think the reward outweighs the risk of getting caught.

Frederick M

How do we really know that prison time and the death penalty do not deter crime? We never interview anyone who DIDN'T commit a crime! ("Well, Mr. Smith, your girlfriend cheated on you multiple times. Why didn't you kill her? Afraid of getting the needle?").

It would seem that tougher punishments DO deter crime overall. Over the last twenty years or so, sentences have become tougher, and crime rates have been going down.

But I know what you mean. A lot of crimes are committed in the heat of passion, or in the depths of desperation, when someone isn't thinking clearly, and so is not debating with him- or herself the crime vs the possible punishment. For a lot of others, crime is a career choice.

White lighting

I think they are not thinking about getting caught. They say some criminals are very smart. I think what they really mean is intellegent. Smart people go about life in a different manner.

Lisbeth

Keeps me from a life of crime, so it does work.

Get a Life

Prison is a joke. Prison should be the worst place on earth. Prisoners can get any kind of drugs they want and are pretty much running the prisons. It's hard to be a deterrent when criminals have it better in prison then in life out of prison. Prison should be a place that when you get out you wont spit in the street for fear of going back.

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