Death Penalty in the USA

Essay from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1-, University of Potsdam (Institut fur Anglistik/Amerikanistik), language: English, abstract: Various attitudes and passions like racism, revenge, religion and political power have supported the imposition of the death penalty. The aim of this paper is answer the question whether the media, Christian religion and the policy of the United States of America bear full responsibility for the existence and the ongoing justification of the death penalty. These three institutions possess huge influence on the peoples opinions and form the three pillars of US pride. I will try to find my personal answer through isolating these pillars and explaining their efforts to evade the often required abolition of the death penalty. There is no execution in the USA that is not accompanied by demonstrators - opponents as well as proponents. So it was only a matter of time until the popular press recognized the controversial topic death penalty as their new pecuniary resource. When citizens are confronted with the issue of capital punishment, be they jury members or other by standers, they decide if death as punishment is applicable in that single case, or, more broadly, if it is in the interest of society at all. By standers are not, in fact, neutral or impartial. As human beings they are shaped by their world outlook. As we all know the media plays a major role in this outlook and it is easy for them to indoctrinate peoples minds with their conviction of right and wrong. The media tells us, sometimes subtly, sometimes directly, what clothes to wear, what car to drive, what music to like and maybe also what monster to send to death row.