The death penalty is used in 53 countries including China and 31 US states to punish capital crimes. The death penalty was abolished in Britain in 1965, but there has been much debate as to whether it should be reintroduced. This report will explore the arguments for and against the death penalty. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay One ideology that supports the death penalty is retribution. This is the view that criminals deserve to be punished in proportion to their actions; if you kill, then you should be killed. Another ideology that supports the death penalty is deterrence. This is the belief that understanding the punishment for crime can deter would-be offenders. One of the biggest arguments for the death penalty involves the ideology of incapacitation, or the idea that execution prevents criminals from committing any other crimes, which protects the public and allows prisons to be safer. «A dead man cannot commit any more crimes. Someone in prison can commit other crimes inside the prison.' Another reason why the UK should reintroduce the death penalty is that this would reduce prison costs. According to the thinking, "the government should spend our resources on the elderly, the young, the sick, rather than on the costs of long-term incarceration." In America, it costs more to execute a criminal than to keep him in prison due to the number of appeals, however, when Britain used the death penalty in 1900, only one appeal was allowed, allowing execution within 3-8 weeks. If the UK were to maintain this number of appeals, prison costs would be high: criminals would not serve life sentences, so the money could be used elsewhere. Another argument in support of the death penalty is that some execution methods are humane. A 2008 documentary, "How to Kill a Human Being" by Michael Portillo, investigated how the execution is carried out. It was found that nitrogen hypoxia (lack of oxygen through breathing pure nitrogen) allowed the criminal to die without pain or discomfort, which allowed for a feeling of peace before losing consciousness and ultimately dying. This method is not currently used to execute humans; however, it is used to kill animals in the agricultural sector and scientific trials and tests have been carried out to prove that this is as humane as possible. Reasons for supporting the death penalty include cost, deterrence, public safety, and the seriousness of the crimes. I believe it is extremely important to find humane execution methods and prevent criminals from reoffending. These arguments for the death penalty are strong and have valid arguments behind them, the arguments against the death penalty are equally powerful and thought-provoking. One ideology that opposes the death penalty is rehabilitation. This is the view that all behaviors can be changed and improved, meaning that criminals should be given the opportunity to become better people and change their ways instead of automatic execution. One of the most important arguments for why the UK should not reintroduce the death penalty is that lives should not be taken. The death penalty is clearly a denial of the human right to life. This opposes the ideology of punishment because, although the criminal may have committed a serious crime, no one deserves to be killed. “The value of the offender's life cannot be destroyed by his crime, even if he killed someone.”. Another argument against the death penalty is.