UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN HONG KONG
http://www.hku.hk/sociodep/crime_punish/
CRIMINAL JUSTICE PORTFOLIO
Assignment 7: Crime Control and the Death Penalty
Capital punishment is an issue that will not disappear. Criminologists have literally written
volumes on the subject and it has been the object of continued public debate. It has often
been argued that the death penalty is applied in a discriminatory and arbitrary manner, and
that life on death row constitutes an insidious form of psychological torture. The arbitrary
nature of the death penalty becomes especially obvious if one starts to look at penalties
associated with the control of drugs or corruption in different parts of the world. In the
People’s Republic of China serious cases of corruption or drug trafficking may result in
execution while in the Hong Kong SAR (which does not have the death penalty) the exact
same case would get imprisonment and/or a fine.
What I would you to do in this assignment is examine both sides of the debate about capital
punishment. Once again it might help if you could work in study groups. Once part of the
group could chose to look at the arguments supporting the death penalty and the other could
deal with the arguments against.
You might ask yourself some of the following questions:

There is little question that punishments vary widely but is this fact a persuasive
argument against the death penalty or other less extreme forms of punishment?

The death penalty may represent a form of psychological torture but is this offset by
the need of society of protect itself?

There is little evidence that the death penalty has much deterrent effect on crimes like
murder but this a persuasive argument for abolishing it? However, there is the
possibility that it may have an important symbolic value in society and it may work
for some crimes and not others.

Is it possible that the death penalty might ‘work better’ for some crimes than others?

What about others forms of punishment? In particular, corporal punishment such as
caning was used in Hong Kong until relatively recently. Do you think it had any
influence on the rate of crime?

If you have time you might also look cross-national variations in the use of the death
penalty. How many countries still have the death penalty and how many countries
actually use it?
I strongly suggest that you try using some of the resources on the internet. There are a large
number of sites which are concerned with capital punishment and an equally large number
that deal with sentencing, imprisonment and corrections. I have included some of this
material with the assignment. However, I am sure you are capable of finding such material
for yourself.
This is one assignment where I would like you to write a ‘very short’ essay which summaries
some of the material you have found. You can argue for or against the death penalty or you
can present both sides of the argument. Or you could simply compare the use of death
penalty in different parts of the world. Or could deal with the deterrence aspect of capital
punishment. Is there any evidence that it deters crime? What you do is up to you. I basically
want to see some indication that you have tried to find relevant material and that you have
given the issue some serious thought. As for the length of the ‘very short’ essay: Two or
three pages will do but I would to see this supplemented with additional material that you
have collected on the subject.
Readings
Gaylord, M. & J. Galliher, 1994. Death Penalty Politics and Symbolic Law in Hong Kong
Kappler, V., Blumberg, M. & Potter, G. 1993. The Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice,
Chapter 11, Debunking the Death Penalty.
Note: Copies of the above reading are available on the 12th Floor of the K.K. Leung
Building, Department of Sociology