Presenter(s): Lydia Giersch
Faculty Mentor(s): Noah Glusman
Poster 168
Session: Social Activism ARC
In our research, we analyzed the role that gender plays in correlation to capital punishment in Oregon. Our research started through an abolitionary point of view in regards to the death penalty; we examined gender and its intersections with age and race. After taking a deeper look at gender, we found a multitude of diverse viewpoints. However, the facts are that women only account for 2-3 percent of those executed while they make up 10 percent of those convicted. Our research and project centers around the reasoning behind these facts. We found that women’s cases were greatly impacted by cultural narratives, unlike male convictions which encompass the mass majority of death row cases. For example, when a woman is convicted of murder, she is more likely to be sentenced to death if the murder is of a loved one, such as an intimate partner, family member or child. We believe that this stems from a break in our cultural norms as women are supposed to be caretakers, gentle and loving. The judicial system generally empathizes with women until they break these cultural norms, in which case women receive harsher punishments. When these cultural roles and their correlation to the death penalty are examined for men, it seems as though men are being sentenced to death at a higher rate than women.