Alternatives of Death Penalty [a Psychological Approach]

 

Alternatives of Death Penalty [A psychological approach]

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Introduction:-

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In the mid November of last year [2007] the Un has passed a resolution
calling for a moratorium on death penalty. The vote rate was 99 in favor,
53 against, and 33 abstentions. India, China, and United States oppose the
resolution and poled against the moratorium saying that, it is the right of the
country to decide what kind of punishment has to be given to it’s law
breakers and criminals. India hold the position that we execute very few
criminals [official data is another] and for the rare of the rarest cases.
The Amnesty India, tried it’s best, to make consensus of people who oppose
death penalty, collected votes to present it to the President of India. The
attempt was highly appreciable. Arab countries opposed the moratorium.
The first person that said against the UN resolution is Mr. Vanu Gopala Menon
ambassador of Singapore. He said that this is not a human right issue but one
leading with law and order. Even now, this is a very sensitive issue, and has
to be discussed at large. We have to see an option, than taking away one’s own
life [ie.the right to live] and at the same time there should be a reduction of
crime rate in each country. This article aims at discussing the present problem
and suggesting few options. Our aim is ultimately more ethical and humanitarian
living in each country.

More discussion on the subject

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Each country has it’s own law system; it’s own way

of interpretation and the punishment is offered for the modification of -

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behavior.

Whatever it may be, we should hold the position that;

modification of the deviant behavior should and can be made by sincere

effort [we will discuss this point later]. On the other hand the most

cruel and inhuman way of punishment is the death sentence. Three types

of judiciary killings are common, which are by hanging, lethal injection,

and electric cushion. By killing either by a sadist psychopath, by the way

of communal riot, or under judiciary sentence results in taking away

one’s life or that closes the possibility of his modification. We know that

‘Valmiki’ who wrote great epic ‘Ramayana’ was once a dacoit later he

modified and uttered “ ma nishada” – meaning of that poem is ‘don’t kill’.

Fulan Devi in India was a dacoit at Chambal forest. Mrs. Ajitha in

Kerala leading a settled life. She is a good mother and wife. Those who

read the Bible could understand that St. Paul in the Bible, once persecuted

others for the sake of religious belief and later he also modified, led an

exemplary life.

Death penalty does deter crime. For example we can study the

rate of criminal offences reported in the countries, that which abolished capital

punishment. The rate is not reported higher later. And if the prevention method

[which I say later in this discussion] will accept, the rate of crime will decrease.

In fact take the case of five countries, which has highest rate of judiciary killing.

[Reported in 1998] 1. China- 1067, 2. .DR Congo- 100,3. USA- 68,4. Iran- 66,

& 5.Egypt- 48. My question here is that, by executing, is the crime rate in these

countries lower than that of the countries, which adopted no death penalty?

In fact we get a reverse picture. In India we claim that the execution number.

is 55 till 2005 April, but as reported by the Amnesty India the figure is

1442 execusions from 1963-1973[up date number is not available] this is very

high rate for ten years.

People like V.K.Krishnamenon, former chief justice, Supreme Court

of India, are against to the execution. He has written an article of which heading

is given “ Death sentence on death sentence is an inviolable command of

Compassionate culture”. He ends up the article by saying that “no civilized state

shall have authority to inflict death penalty even in the rarest of rare cases, lest

it be condemned as guilt of the barbarity and devoid of humanity”.[Article published by theAmnesty India] The European commission president Mr. José Manuel Barroso said, “ The death penalty is against human dignity. [CEDP annual report2007]

We want to give visibility to the efforts of the many non governmental organizations and individuals who strive day after day, towards the abolishing of death penalty”. Bishop Most Revd.Desmond Tu Tu while writing letter to the CEDP [Campaign to end death penalty] said he is against to the death penalty.

The Criminal Behavior

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The antisocial or criminal behavior of a person or a group of people

manifested in the for of robbery, kidnap, theft, sexual molestations & killing.

When there is a communal riot people in name of cast, creed, ideology,

and social discriminations, kill others. This is because they feel that their opinions

are not heard in the political decision-making and thus they are rejected.

Political groups for their success, use paid killers. When we kill those persons

often the brain behind the act is escape, or even be in the ruling party of power politics. There are sociological areas were more people engaged in thefts, fighting etc. From those places, come more criminal records in the police sociologically. Medias unknowingly promote aggressiveness of people AND there by the crime rate can also be increased. The causes of crime are not merely this. It can be said that the bad upbringing, insecurity in the family, illegitimacy, one parent families, often quarreling parents etc. are some of the causes in which a faulty learning happens in early childhood of a person, which usually can cause delinquency. Somehow or other there may be fixation in the early development stages because of the aforesaid reasons. The conflict in the unconscious is the main reason; that psychologist suggests; is the cause of crime. Let me quote a portion from the book of Glover, [1960] The Roots of Crime, “ Manifest forms of sadism and masochism are commonly associated with beating activities or sense of punishment in early childhood but, as with other varieties of infantile sexuality, the largest part of sadistic and masochist impulses remains unconscious in the state of repression. Repressed sadism or masochism is strongly reinforced by any emotional situation of frustration giving rise to anxiety, envy, jealousy, or hearted. These repressed sado- masochist components have an important role being on the degree of cruelty and aggression practiced by the group and naturally are mainly responsible for crime of sexual violence”. It further develops and he further says that “ Not only are the pathogenic fixation points in delinquency earlier in the development sense, but one faulty fixation is followed by another; with the consequence that the ego itself is in a constant traumatic state of dysfunction”.

The TV scenes and other medias give negative message to children.

Programme for Modification

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If the situation is this, what can we do to deter crime or for the modification of asocial or antisocial behavior? Here I suggest threefold intervention programmes to reduce They learn how to break law, how to react violently, and develop their aggression. So the society has a role in the making of a recidivist. Studies says that young men are more in numbers than that of rather women or elderly people who are anti socials. This shows that some kind of permission, in the family and in the society is for men than women to engage in criminal activities. For example, I should say that in India, and in Kerala state, I have not watched a girl who smokes in the streets or college campus, but there are many young men. I haven’t seen a girl who quarrels in the city under the influence of intoxication but there are men. So again we should say that the societal attitude and belief is very strong component in the making of a criminal. A person is born in the world with a blank pre-child mind. In a newborn baby there is affect of genetic components only. What we have as our behavior is learned from this world, from the situation where we lived. No child on the very first day of his/her birth told a lie or engaged in a criminal activity. So we should admit the fact that what all things we have learned can be unlearn or reeducate.the criminality.

1. Identifying and educating the child delinquents.

a. The first thing we have to do is to identify development of delinquent behavior in a child. In my clinic I have seen parents coming with their children, saying that this child is rebellious, reckless, unyielding, problem child etc. Parents can identify the behavioral deviations of their child. They should be informed to report it to the child psychologist where behavior modification programmes are being made.

b. Schoolteachers with the help of anecdotal record can report the behavior deviations to a school counselor. Very important thing is that each government has to have a definite programme for the same.

2. Modification through Jail and delinquent homes

The second main area is a modification programme, to do with jail and child delinquent homes. There should be specific programme for the behavior modification in each jail and delinquent homes, under careful supervision of a criminal psychologist. With the criminal psychologist there should have few psychologists along with therapists or social workers. There should be a therapist for at least 100 persons. Group therapy in the form of mass relaxation programme, and verbal skill training can be offered along with yoga, songs and chanting. [For example let all hear a sweet melodious song in every morning, which makes positive effect in their mind]. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy should be given to each person to remove deep-rooted conflict in the UN conscious. So the ego can be strengthened. Guilt and associated emotions should be eliminated by individual psychotherapy. The programme should aim at identifying the problem, assessment of ego strength of each person and modification programmes of psychotherapy.

3. Community interventions in specific locations

Locate area where there are more thefts, sexual assaults, and criminality. And in that area, there should be some kind of planned intervention to study the situation. Understands why it happens, whether it is of racial discrimination, in which some groups have no say in the political decision making system of the society, it happened because of poverty or wrong belief system etc. Social reformers, social workers, psychologists etc. can join for identifying, planning and implementing the correction methods.

Concluding remarks

A recidivist under the influence of his psychological problem and conflict in the unconscious, perform an antisocial activity at the same time a police men, if he is suffering from the same problem in the unconscious will release his libidinal energy by persecuting ruddily that criminal and a jury if he is suffering the same conflict, will make a decree after the trial, to kill that recidivist and get re leased his unconscious conflict. If we examine the unconscious roots of, even the urge to punish we can see that there is relationship between death sentence and man’s sadistic urges. A fair trail also may not get if the criminal if financially poor. Evaluation, and modification of the pathological deviations, may be tiresome and expensive. But it is the duty of the government to stop the age-old killing method, which can be replaced by little more humanitarian approach. It is right of every citizen to cure his psychopath deviations as like as a patient to treat his bodily ailment.