Just Revenge: Costs and Consequences of the Death Penalty - Hardcover

A professor of social psychology explores the history of execution in America, weighing its social costs, discussing its potential benefits and problems, and building a new model for understanding the politics behind the death penalty.

There are more prisoners on death row than ever in U.S. history. Social psychologist Mark Costanzo's intelligent, provocative, and historically grounded study of the death penalty in America takes an unblinking look at how the system really works--not just how it's supposed to work. Weighing the costs and benefits, Costanzo builds an important new model for understanding the politics behind the practice of capital punishment.