Sociological Imagination Paper Dori Lansbach Soc.

200 1/17/11 The death penalty, or capital punishment has been a controversial issue since the time it has come into existence. According to the New York Times article, Capital Punishment, 34 states now have the death penalty. While many people feel that it is unconstitutional and immoral, I am in favor of the death penalty. I feel that it is most definitely suiting for the horrible crimes that theses criminals commit. It is said that the way people behave is due in large part to the environment they grew up in, in other words their culture and location, according to James M. Henslin the author of Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach. Nothing is programmed into our brains at birth that tell us how we should act with other people or what views we should have on certain topics. Sociologist C. Wright Mills, believes that all of our thoughts are brought about to due to our sociological imagination. According to Mills, The sociological imagination (perspective) enables us to grasp the connection between history and biography. When Mills referred to history, he meant that throughout a persons lifetime they are a part of a timeline; every person encounters different events that make up the worlds history, therefore influencing their thoughts. Biography, is referring to the fact that an individuals ideas are shaped by their own personal experiences. There are many factors that can shape personal views in life, and by using the our sociological imagination, it is possible to examine them more in depth. The factors that I feel have shaped my views on capital punishment are: my family, location, political beliefs, religion, and our media. My dad has been a police officer for almost twenty years now, and I grew up listening to many of the stories about the heinous crimes people would commit, (of course not until I was older). Being in law enforcement my father meets and sees the worst of the worst in our society, consequently he does not necessarily feel sympathy for these mass murderers and child molesters, nor do I. If I had not grown up as a police officers daughter, my family most likely would not have had as much insight into law enforcement, and might not have supported the death penalty. I grew up in a fairly small, conservative town in northern Michigan called Traverse City, where the death penalty is illegal. The majority of our town always votes in favor of the republican views and is also against the death penalty. It is ironic that my views and my familys differ so greatly from the average citizen in our town, but it ultimately stems from my fathers job in law enforcement. When I

moved to California, where capital punishment is legal, my view is more supported because the majority of California residents are much more liberal. I believe that location and politics can greatly influence the way one thinks, but in my case my familys views have had the greater impact on me. As I have grown closer to God over the last couple of years I have sometimes struggled with the fact that the bible says An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It seems odd that God would wish death upon anyone or something so violent, but now I see the passage as justice, similar to the death penalty. God promises that anyone who disobeys him will be punished; he does not want anyone to harm his children that he loves. Although I dont necessarily agree with that passage in the bible for all aspects of life, because I dont think that revenge is something to strive for, I am in support of taking away the life of the criminal who had no right in ending an innocent one. The last aspect that I feel influences many people is the media. The death penalty is very prominent in television, movies, and even books. It seems that almost every crime show is in favor of the death penalty, and it is often easy to be influenced by the media making it more difficult to think for oneself. When I watch shows or movies that support capital punishment, it reinforces my beliefs on this issue. Seeing more examples of sick criminals harming innocent people, just makes me ask why the death penalty isnt enforced in all fifty states? I realize that my personal views might sound harsh and morally wrong, but they are a product of how I was raised. I not only feel strongly that murderers should be given the death penalty, but repeat sex offenders should as well. Molesters are sick people that cannot be helped and will only offend again; whats worse is when they harm children. A person has no right to rob someone of their life or to violate them. These are circumstances when I agree with the bible verse An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Sociologists must have the ability to separate their personal beliefs from the areas they are studying in order to have successful and accurate research. I realize this is a crucial aspect to the experiments and studies, but I feel that I would not be able to do that the majority of the time. If I was a sociologist and I was researching the costs and benefits of the death penalty, I would be able to remove my personal beliefs when looking at the facts, but if it came down to making a decision I would have to follow my heart and support capital punishment regardless of statistics, solely based on personal experience. I probably would have tough time being a sociologist because I am very strong willed and tend to go with my gut feeling rather than facts.

A person has no right to rob someone of their life or to violate them. These are circumstances when I agree with the bible verse An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Sociologists must have the ability to separate their personal beliefs from the areas they are studying in order to have successful and accurate research. I realize this is a crucial aspect to the experiments and studies, and I feel that I would be able to do that the majority of the time. However, if I was a sociologist and I was researching the costs and benefits of the death penalty, I would struggle with removing my personal beliefs when looking at the facts. When it comes down to making such a difficult decision as to whether the death penalty would be warranted or not, I would have to follow my heart and support capital punishment regardless of statistics, solely based on my education and personal experiences in life.