vidarlo:

Nei, jeg var klar over disse poengene. Jeg er enig i at fengselsstraff overfor et individ fungerer best når straffen er liten til middels, og at sjansen for å bli tatt og sosial fordømmelse har enda større betydning. Trusselen om dødsstraff har mindre betydning om et individ vurderer en forbrytelse, om denne vurderingen i det hele tatt blir tatt. Enig og enig.

Men jeg har alt argumenter tidligere i denne debatten at dødsstraff tjener en annen funksjon enn avskrekkelse for individet. For å gjenta:

Seen this way, revenge provides a great cultural benefit — leading to more cooperative, and therefore productive, societies — in exchange for its great personal costs. This larger function takes three forms, McCullough and his coauthors argue. The first is through direct deterrence. Simply put, revenge directly discourages an aggressor from subsequently performing the same offense. The second effect of revenge is indirect. By avenging specific actions, a person can establish a general definition of acceptable conduct and, in the process, avoid future confrontation. In this sense, reputation precludes revenge.

The third adaptive function of revenge goes beyond simple deterrence of negative behaviors and actually coerces beneficial ones. To understand this idea, says McCullough, it helps to envision life as an early human. Suppose in that existence you and a neighbor must take turns guarding your camps from jaguar attacks. If you fall asleep one night and the animal kills a neighbor’s child, this negligence, in the eyes of natural selection, is functionally similar to killing the neighbor’s child directly. The threat of revenge in response to such failed cooperation — a concept known as altruistic punishment — would entice you to stay awake (with the expectation, of course, that your neighbor will do the same on his watch).


Mitt poeng var simpelthen at straffenivået må nå en viss grad før det er effektivt, noe jeg viste. En slap on the wrist vil ikke være nok.