Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Capital Punishment and Gender A Multivariate Study Introduction: As America enters the 21st century the role of women in society and at home has changed dramatically. Women participate more in society today than ever before. Therefore it is important to look at their opinions on mainstream controversial issues. Additionally, as political lines have begun to be drawn between men and women as more and more women enter the political arena, it is crucial to examine how and why women differ on certain issues. Capital punishment has jumped to the foreground in America as one of the hottest issues and useful insight could be derived from an analysis of women’s views on this issue. The General Social Survey revealed that out of 2832 respondents, 73.3% reported that they were in favor of the death penalty. (GSS, 1998) This data sets a good benchmark for the analysis of women’s views on capital punishment. However, there are numerous variables that could effect whether or not women are in favor of the death penalty. This study included marital status, education level, and political philosophy. Although there are a multitude of variables that could affect women’s views this study attempted to isolate those that ha