More and more serious crimes seem to be committed each year. Some think that the death penalty is the best way to deal with this problem while other people think different measures are more likely to be successful. Discuss both options.

There is an ongoing debate about the most effective ways to deal with heinous crimes

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as murder, torture and rape. Advocates of capital punishment claim it is the most appropriate response, while more liberal-minded experts put forward a range of alternatives. These differing approaches clearly need to be examined. Those who advocate taking the lives of convicted killers and rapists make several points. They remind us that a prisoner who has been put to death can never re-offend.

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is certainly not true of other forms of punishment. They

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claim that the death penalty acts as a deterrent: would-be killers decide not to carry out their plans because they fear the consequences. Again,

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cannot be said of strategies like rehabilitation programmes.

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, proponents suggest that it is far cheaper than other approaches to serious crime

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as imprisonment or re-education. Opponents of capital

punishment reject

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some of these arguments and put forward others. They dispute the assertion that the death penalty is comparatively inexpensive, citing legal cases which have gone on for decades and proved immensely costly.

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, they believe that the prospect of being hanged or electrocuted rarely deters villains and point to findings by psychologists which support

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view. They often state that using prison is by far the most effective policy and that attempting to rehabilitate inmates so that they can become law-abiding and productive citizens is the only humane way of dealing with horrific crime. In conclusion, it seems fair to say that

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issue is complex and agreement between victims, lawmakers and criminologists is unlikely. There are vehement-held views on both sides. I would urge governments to carry out extensive research into the effects of different punishments in order to try to reach a definitive understanding of the consequences of these different approaches.