OverviewThe paper presents the assumptions people have that punishing criminals with death will deter future crimes. The paragraph further explains how human behavior is linked to criminal acts. The essay gives an example from Canada. How crime has not been deterred by the imposition of the death penalty as a tool used by the justice system. The essay presents some of the research that has been conducted in an attempt to prove that capital punishment can deter crimes. This article highlights the effects and imposition of capital punishment for criminal activities. The document finally draws a conclusion on the issue of capital punishment as a deterrent. Introduction Many people assume that the death penalty will prevent crime, but if this were true, then crimes would not be committed in fear that the guilty will be prosecuted and put to death. History and human behavior have revealed that normal human instinct does not prevent people from committing crimes, because if it did, there would never be a need for capital punishment. People would have been informed of the consequences of breaking the law and everyone would have been afraid of committing crimes. Unfortunately, when people commit crimes, they don't seem to care about the consequences; therefore, whether capital punishment is in effect or not, crimes will be committed. This article therefore presents a strong argument that capital punishment does not deter people from committing crimes. The justice system is not obligated to use the death penalty as a tool to deter crime. Canada is a good example of a country where statistics have proven that the death penalty does not act as an effective deterrent to crime. In 1975, the number of homicides committed was 721 a...... middle of paper ......rg, JS, Feinberg, PD, & Huxley, A. (2010). Ethics for a brave new world. Wheaton, sick: Crossway. Wilson, R. (2013). Death penalty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Milward, R. (2012). Kimberly's death sentence. London: Faber and Faber. Hess, KM, Orthmann, CMH and Drowns, RW (2010). Juvenile justice. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Rogers, A. (2008). Murder and the death penalty in Massachusetts. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. Nagin, D., Pepper, J., National Research Council (United States), National Research Council (United States), National Research Council (United States) and National Research Council (United States- United). (2012). Deterrence and death penalty. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Mandery, EJ and Mandery, EJ (2011). Capital Punishment in America: A Balanced Review. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning..