Release - Vol. 4, No. 1
Periodical profile published 1979
Epp, Edgar; Epp, Leola (eds.)
Publisher: Mennonite Central Community, Saskatoon, Canada
Year Published: 1979
Pages: 15pp Resource Type: Serial Publication (Periodical)
Cx Number: CX928
Release is a monthly publication directed to readers who are interested and involved in the Church's ministry in the corrections services in Canada and United States.
Abstract:
Release is a monthly publication directed to readers who are interested and involved in the Church's ministry in the corrections services in Canada and United States. This particular issue is focused on the question of capital punishment - abolition or retention - presenting the abolitionist viewpoint.
One article outlines the views of a former Corrections Administrator. He argues that in his experience murderers seldom repeat their criminal act. The small number who are repeaters are emotionally disturbed persons who are in need of treatment. The author questions the need for a whole society to choose capital punishment to keep these few persons under control. Further, he notes that it cannot be proved using criminal statistics that capital punishment serves as a deterrent.
Another article, "What some Criminologists and Sociologists Say" excerpts Donald T. Lunde's study Murder and Madness, which points out that only those persons who are consciously suicidal consider the consequences of taking another's life. Of those who commit murder, only two out of forty represent suicidal persons. The remaining thirty-eight persons commit their crimes in fits of passion, with no thought to the consequences. This issue also contains a detailed bibliography of literature on the subject of capital punishment.
