The death penalty and the closure myth: "naive, unfounded, pop-psychology"

[Bluebear]

Of all the arguments in support of capital punishment, perhaps the most emotionally compelling is that it provides "closure" for the loved ones of murder victims. Prosecuting attorneys, politicians and journalists commonly refer to how executions allow family members to "move on" from their pain, providing a sense of relief at knowing that "justice" was finally served.

...Stanford University psychiatrist David Spiegel believes that the theory that executions provide closure is "naive, unfounded, pop-psychology." Contrary to expectations, Spiegel says, witnessing executions not only fails to provide closure but also often causes symptoms of acute stress. "Witnessing trauma," he says, "is not far removed from experiencing it."

Spiegel has concluded that "true closure is achieved only through extensive grief work." This process requires families to acknowledge and bear their loss as well as to put it into perspective. It necessitates a network of support systems: counselors who will sit with, listen to and work with survivors; work environments flexible enough to accommodate counseling sessions and the down time that is a natural result of grief and stress; and victim assistance programs that make sure those things happen.

In researching a novel on capital punishment, forgiveness and closure, I found that the promise of closure made by district attorneys and others often perpetuated the already long-lived pain that is endemic to violent loss. Typically, a death sentence results in years of legal wrangling as the defendant attempts to overturn the jury's verdict or the sentence. The process is costly and emotionally draining and usually waylays any true healing that might have taken place had there not been a constant reminder that justice had yet to be served. This is why many families of murder victims prefer that offenders receive a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Rather than focus on what could be a decades-long march to a death chamber, once a verdict is in, survivors can go about trying to put their lives back together.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/09/AR2009110902794.html

[imdjh]

1. "Closure" The 1990's are calling and they want closure (as well as this line) back.

[Orrex]

2. K&R

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. Rec.

And again, welcome back BB :hi:

[struggle4progress]

4. Watching Execution Brings No Closure (Clinical Psychiatry News | 2001)

... A 1994 study coauthored by Dr. Spiegel polled 18 media eyewitnesses to the California execution of convicted murderer Robert Alton Harris, who died in the San Quentin gas chamber. The journalists, who stood within 15-20 feet of the chamber, had an unobstructed view of the execution ...

Although researchers did not find evidence that witnessing that execution caused long-term negative effects in the journalists, the short-term effects were "considerable" ...

"We underestimate the profound negative effect <witnessing executions> has on people," Dr. Spiegel said ...

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4345/is_7_29/ai_n28856772/

[struggle4progress]

5. Closure? The Execution Was Just the Start (2001)

... These people have said that witnessing the death of this mass murderer will help them move on ... I doubt it ... That's what I discovered with my colleagues Andrew Freinkel and Cheryl Koopman when we examined the effects on journalists who witnessed the execution of Robert Alton Harris, the convicted murderer of two teenage boys, in the San Quentin Prison gas chamber on April 21, 1992 ...

Fifteen of the 18 reporters who covered Harris's execution agreed to participate in our study, the results of which were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1994. It was a small but significant sample: The reporters had been chosen by lottery and were thus random representatives of the much larger group that had applied to cover Harris's execution.

We found that these professional journalists suffered severe after-effects, at least in the short term. One was tearful for weeks afterward; several told us they felt listless and had difficulty concentrating; a number reported nightmares. Several sought counseling, and one quite ambitious reporter uncharacteristically declined to cover the Los Angeles rioting that occurred shortly after the execution.

These men and women were displaying many of the reactions usually associated with acute stress. They had difficulty managing the emotions that the execution aroused. More than half of our sample said they felt distant from their own emotions, a third reported that they felt "confused and disoriented," 60 percent were "estranged or detached from other people," and more than half said they tried to "avoid thoughts or feelings about the execution." One-third reported feeling "despair or hopelessness," and 20 percent felt "uncontrollable and excessive grief." I happened to speak to the wife of one of them some six months later. When I asked how her husband was doing, she replied: "He is a basket case. If he ever covers another execution, we're getting a divorce" ...

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/node/613

[Hannah Bell]

6. there is no closure on grief. it becomes part of you, it doesn't "close".

seeing someone punished for a crime might satisfy, sort of, some desire for revenge, but it doesn't close anything, & is ultimately unsatisfying. because it still *happened*.

[Selatius]

7. You wanna kill him? Throw him to wolves. This whole humane death penalty thing is absolute bullshit

If people here support the death penalty, then rip his body to pieces or stone the convict or behead the convict with a guillotine or have a prison guard officer and a bunch of wardens tie him up to a post or up against a wall and put a bullet in his head over a shallow grave. Take pictures of it. Record it. Plaster it all over the news. Announce the fucking executions like they do in Saudi Arabia.

If people want to seriously argue that the death penalty acts as a deterrent or acts as a form of closure, they might actually have a leg to stand on if everybody saw a person get executed. Have a law passed making execution dates a national holiday with the networks required to broadcast live and uninterrupted the killing of the convicted.

Wanna make it fun? Make it into a game. Teach a couple of kids to properly throw hand grenades. Then, tell them to throw the grenades at the convict who is tied to a post. Remember, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

[TicketyBoo]

8. Wow.

I'm against the death penalty, but many of these replies are so over the top that I'm rethinking my position.

[Selatius]

9. I can't but help think you're referring to my previous post.

For the record, I am morally opposed to the death penalty. However, the point of the post in particular was to highlight the peculiar insanity that animates the idea of "humane" death penalties. The person is going to die anyway. What difference does it make what form the execution comes in? Are pro-death penalty advocates going to seriously argue that lethal injection is "better" than a Chinese-style firing squad or a Saudi Arabian's execution sword for beheadings? There is nothing humane about a killing. If they are fiscally conservative as well, they should go the extra step of abolishing lethal injection in favor of putting a bullet in the person's head.

A bullet isn't that expensive. It's the preferred method of killing by dictators and oligarchs worldwide because it is cheap, fast, and effective.

[Bluebear]

10. Replies on an anonymous discussion board makes you rethink your position?

It wasn't a deep conviction, was it?

[Forkboy]

11. You must feel real strongly about an issue if random strangers can sway you from it.

Way to stand strong! :applause:

Of course, I think you're full of shit about being against it anyways.