The Perception about Effectiveness of Capital Punishment as A Determining Factor in Punjab

Abstract

Public perception about capital punishment in Pakistan has changed in the last few years. This perception is determined by numerous factors i.e., awareness about crimes and punishment. Capital punishment is very dangerous form of punishment which is used to control the serious crimes and consider as deterrence for the potential criminals. The risk of innocent execution and flaws in the police investigation system were also reason to oppose the capital punishment. It is quantitative cross-sectional study. According to Pakistan Crimes Statistics, crime rate is increasing day by day. Existing Literature on crime occurrence in Pakistan shows that crime rate is increasing rapidly due to poverty, urbanization, inflation and economic inequality among every field of life. The present research is quantitative in its nature. It is conducted in five district bar associations of Punjab Province. A sample of six hundred lawyers is randomly selected data is collected through self-administered questioner and statistically analyzed. The results of descriptive and inferential analysis shows that majority of the respondents supported capital punishment on account of many reasons while many other respondents opposed it on some other grounds. Multivariate analysis results pointed out a strong relationship between severity punishments and less cases of homicide. However, there was no relationship between the awareness of capital punishment and perceived effectiveness of capital punishment. There was an inverse relationship between reasons to oppose capital punishment and perceived effectiveness of capital punishment. The multi regression analysis revealed a strong association of awareness about punishment, crimes against person, crime against state and reasons to support capital punishment with effectiveness of capital punishment.