Of Guilt, Defiance, and Repentance: Evidence from the Texas Death Chamber

Emotions and terrorism research: A case for a social-psychological agenda

“…In effect, a transition from discourse related to the "body" of the terrorist (i.e., his or her historical, social, and political positioning) to one focused on intrapsychic and interpersonal emotional processes will best ensure alignment with Sherman's (2003) "emotionally intelligent" paradigm of justice (relatedly, see Bouffard & Piquero, in press;Rice, Dirks, & Exline, 2009). As such, attention should be drawn to the constellation of variables which relate to one's ascribed and temporal characteristics (of birth and of epoch, respectively) and how these structural characteristics interact with street level, ad-hoc emotives.…”

Death Row Confinement and the Meaning of Last Words

“…Like Eaton and Theuer [18], Rice, Dirks, and Exline also found no statistically significant difference between those who did and did not make final statements based on offender demographic or case characteristics ( [20], p. 307). The nearly 300 statements analyzed were more likely to contain conventional sentiments that suggest sensitivity to the concerns of victims (such as guilt and repentance) rather than expressions of innocence, pronouncements of capital punishment as unjust, or claims that the legal system is biased and unfair ( [20], p. 309).…”

“…Like Eaton and Theuer [18], Rice, Dirks, and Exline also found no statistically significant difference between those who did and did not make final statements based on offender demographic or case characteristics ( [20], p. 307). The nearly 300 statements analyzed were more likely to contain conventional sentiments that suggest sensitivity to the concerns of victims (such as guilt and repentance) rather than expressions of innocence, pronouncements of capital punishment as unjust, or claims that the legal system is biased and unfair ( [20], p. 309). As noted by the researchers, and by Eaton and Theuer [18], this finding is at odds with a great deal of reintegrative shaming research, which suggests that serious offenders develop of variety of barriers against feeling responsibility for their actions and go to considerable lengths to deny their guilt and find fault with the justice system, if not the entire world [21].…”

“…Perhaps the most enlightening finding of Rice et al's study, however, is that this preference for expression of victim-sensitive themes is heavily influenced by the presence of the victims' family at the execution ( [20], p. 310). For instance, before homicide victims were allowed to attend executions in Texas (December 1982-January 1996), less than 6% of offender statements expressed repentance, as compared to 41% in the years in which victims' families were allowed to attend executions ( [20], p. 314).…”

Execution ritual : media representations of execution and the social construction of public opinion regarding the death penalty.

“…Expressions of defiance are less common in this setting (Schuck and Ward 2008, Rice, Dirks & Exline 2009, Heflick 2005. What is interesting about these statements is their lack of defiance in most cases.…”