CLA News / The Death Penalty Project: New research finds that the death penalty can deepen trauma for victims and their families
A new report from The Death Penalty Project and the University of Oxford’s Death Penalty Research Unit reveals that capital punishment often worsens the suffering of victims’ families rather than meeting their needs. While the death penalty is commonly justified as a deterrent, a means to satisfy public demand, or a way to help families heal, research has long shown that it fails to deter crime, garners mixed public support, and disproportionately harms marginalized groups.
Dr. Amelia Inglis’ study adds fresh insights by focusing on co-victims’ experiences. Through interviews, she found that instead of offering closure, the death penalty can retraumatise families by forcing them through prolonged legal processes filled with repeated trials and appeals. One participant described over a decade of legal proceedings as “ten and a half years of trials of hell,” highlighting the emotional and physical toll.
The study also shows that families’ views on capital punishment are diverse and can shift over time, meaning the rigid and lengthy death penalty process often disrupts rather than supports recovery.
The report concludes that the death penalty fails to serve victims’ families and instead deepens their trauma, reinforcing calls for more compassionate approaches to justice.
About
The author
Dr Amelia Inglis holds an MSc and DPhil in criminology from the University of Oxford. Her empirical research focuses on the experiences of murder victim family members in the United States. Challenging common assumptions held by proponents of the death penalty, her work reveals how the capital punishment system – particularly the protracted appeals process, which accompanies nearly all death sentences and is therefore experienced by most victims – can contribute to the re-victimisation of those it claims to support. Her findings suggest that the capital appeals process has the potential to exacerbate the suffering of bereaved families and to delay their grieving and recovery processes, casting significant doubt on the potential for capital punishment to provide therapeutic benefits to victims loved ones.
The Death Penalty Project
The Death Penalty Project (DPP) is a legal action NGO with special consultative status before the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Driven by a belief that the death penalty is cruel and often discriminates against the poorest and most disadvantaged members of society, the organisation works to safeguard the rights of those facing the death penalty and other vulnerable people. For over three decades, DPP has been working in more than 30 countries to end and restrict the use of capital punishment, protecting thousands of people from execution. DPP commissions, supports and publishes independent academic research examining attitudes towards the death penalty, using original data from public opinion surveys and other empirical research to engage in dialogue with policymakers and politicians, and to challenge popular misconceptions around the death penalty.
The Death Penalty Research Unit
Part of the University of Oxford’s Centre for Criminology, the Death Penalty Research Unit (DPRU) focuses on the retention, administration and politics of the death penalty worldwide. DPRU aims to understand the rationales for the death penalty, how it is used in practice and its diverse application and impact on communities. DPRU is committed to working with partners in various regions on collaborative production and dissemination of empirical and theoretical knowledge. This work is not only aimed at elucidating the law and practice of capital punishment worldwide, but at challenging it, with the explicit aim of abolition or, failing that, progressive restriction.
Contact : Kate Arthur, Communications Lead, The Death Penalty Project
