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The death penalty has been an area of focus in several academic disciplines, yet modest literature has been generated which examines the sanction from a sociological perspective. Most of the sociological interest in capital punishment is directed at examining and explaining racial disparities in sentencing, its effectiveness as a deterrent to violent crime, or its use as a mode of formal social control. Although execution methods have changed frequently over time in the United States, there is a paucity of research examining this phenomenon through a sociological lens. The extant literature identifies changing societal ideologies regarding the use of institutionalized violence as the impeti for legislative shifts in methods of execution. While these studies are useful in partially explaining method changes through time, there is a dearth of work which specifically addresses the dialectical process by which meanings attached to methods of punishment are socially constructed and negotiated, what social agents are engaged, and how this process occurs with respect to historical context. This dissertation examines the legislative changes in execution methods at two points in time in North Carolina's history, 1935 and 1983. Grounded in a hybrid theoretical foundation of functionalist and interactionist perspectives, this study is a qualitative analysis of historical primary and secondary data. One goal of this project is to identify how social context informed ideologies of state-sanctioned death. Furthermore, this study attempts to reveal some of the various social agents who engaged in the process of negotiating meaning, how this process manifested itself, and how historical context may have influenced differences in legislative motive during the two transition years. A comparative analysis of the data reveals that deference to the institutions of science, technology, and medicine was vital to the process of socially reconstructing and redefining methods of execution at both points in time. However, findings also indicate that public exposure to an existing method of execution as well as historically relative ideologies concerning state-sanctioned death greatly affect how the negotiation of meaning transpires. / Ph. D.

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Die Konstitusionele Hof het ir:i S v Makwanyane besluit dat die doodstraf nie versoenbaar is met die Grondwet nie en dit ongeldig verklaar. Die kritiek teenoor die regbank en die openbare mening oor die doodstraf was nog altyd s6 prominent dat die hof nie anders kon as om hieraan aandag te skenk nie. Die hof besluit dat die openbare mening nie 'n rol speel in die hersieningsproses nie. In hierdie verhandeling word die hof se standpunte en red es daarvoor ontleed. Ek kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die hof korrek bes I is het. Die open bare mening is onseker. Daar is 'n verskil tussen die aard van die waardes in die Grondwet en die aard van die open bare mening. Die kritiek op die uitspraak is te wyte aan die gebrek aan insig en begrip onder lede van die gemeenskap oor die nuwe bestel en die rol van die regbank daarin. / The Constitutional Court in S v Makwanyane declared that the death penalty was inconsistent with the Constitution. The criticism on courts and the public opinion on the death penalty have been so severe that the court could not have but considered these issues. The court concluded that public opinion is not relevant in constitutional review. In this dissertation, I analyze the court's viewpoints and the reasons therefor. My conclusion is that the court made the correct decision. The public opinion is uncertain, and differs from values. The judgment is criticised due to a lack of understanding amongst the public as to the meaning of the new dispensation and the role of our courts therein. / Law / Thesis (LL.M.)--Universiteit van Suid-Afrika, 1996.

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in English and Afrikaans / Die Konstitusionele Hof het ir:i S v Makwanyane besluit dat die doodstraf nie versoenbaar is met die Grondwet nie en dit ongeldig verklaar. Die kritiek teenoor die regbank en die openbare mening oor die doodstraf was nog altyd s6 prominent dat die hof nie anders kon as om hieraan aandag te skenk nie. Die hof besluit dat die openbare mening nie 'n rol speel in die hersieningsproses nie. In hierdie verhandeling word die hof se standpunte en red es daarvoor ontleed. Ek kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die hof korrek bes I is het. Die open bare mening is onseker. Daar is 'n verskil tussen die aard van die waardes in die Grondwet en die aard van die open bare mening. Die kritiek op die uitspraak is te wyte aan die gebrek aan insig en begrip onder lede van die gemeenskap oor die nuwe bestel en die rol van die regbank daarin. / The Constitutional Court in S v Makwanyane declared that the death penalty was inconsistent with the Constitution. The criticism on courts and the public opinion on the death penalty have been so severe that the court could not have but considered these issues. The court concluded that public opinion is not relevant in constitutional review. In this dissertation, I analyze the court's viewpoints and the reasons therefor. My conclusion is that the court made the correct decision. The public opinion is uncertain, and differs from values. The judgment is criticised due to a lack of understanding amongst the public as to the meaning of the new dispensation and the role of our courts therein. / Law / Thesis (LL.M.)--Universiteit van Suid-Afrika, 1996.

The thesis is a comparative study of two campaigns waged against capital punishment. Specifically, it is an examination of the public arguments and legislative action which transpired in Oregon and Great Britain when their respective legislatures considered and then approved laws to abolish the penalty of death for the crime of murder -- Oregon in 1963 and Britain in 1965.

Since 25 January 1994, when the interim Constitution came into operation, South Africa's criminal justice system became subject to constitutional provisions, especially the Bill of Rights. All forms of punishment and treatment are subject to the provisions of the Constitution. The first casualties were the death penalty and corporal punishment, which were found to be unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. Since our criminal justice jurisprudence is still in the developing stage, a comparative analysis with the Canadian and American penal systems forms part of this thesis. Provisions of the Constitution, which will have an indirect influence on punishment include, access to information, just administrative action and state institutions supporting democracy. The following provisions of the Bill of Rights are expected to have a significant impact on punishment in all its facets, equality; human dignity; life; freedom and security of the person; freedom from slavery, servitude and forced labour; and the rights of children. Judgments of the Constitutional Court, which abolished the death penalty and corporal punishment are examined since they were the first indication the Court gave on aspects of punishment. The Constitution also deals specifically with the rights of arrested, detained and accused persons. It is within this provision that 2 the rights of prisoners are spelt out. Imprisonment as a form of punishment, has to conform to the provisions of the Constitution, and the Correctional Services Act is an attempt to render imprisonment compliant. With the abolition of the death penalty and corporal punishment, the effect of constitutional provisions on conventional forms of punishment and the overpopulation of prisons, the establishment of alternative forms of punishment, which would pass constitutional muster, is imperative. The Child Justice Bill is an attempt to establish a unique system for juveniles who commit offences / Penology / D. Lit. et Phil. (Penology)

Thesis (D. Lit. et Phil.)--University of South Africa, 2001.

This paper thoroughly examines the thesis film, Blood in the Grass. Each area of the film's production is carefully analyzed, including writing, directing, production design, cinematography, editing, sound, and technology and workflow. In addition to these areas, the background and ideology of the filmmaker provides a context for the choices made in production. This overall analysis discusses the effectiveness of the goals set by the filmmaker for the film to be an emotionally effective commentary on capital punishment, and to be conducive to the short film medium.