Assisted Suicide and the Death Penalty: Examining Attitudes towards State Sanctioned Death

In this study, we test Durkheim’s (1897) conceptualization of suicide as a pattern of suicidal behavior caused by sociological conditions and its effects on attitudes towards state sanctioned death through examining support for assisted suicide and the death penalty. Using secondary-data and quantitative analytical methods, we empirically examine personal attitudes towards assisted suicide for oneself and its relationship to supporting assisted suicide for medical reasons and the death penalty as a punishment for others. The primary goal of our analysis is to determine whether Durkheim’s (1897) theory of suicide is a relevant theoretical model for specifying the sociological factors influencing attitudes towards state sanctioned death. Findings from our analysis indicate that the sociological factors, such as, gender and religious beliefs influence attitudes towards support for assisted suicide and the death penalty.