A recurrent flaw marks the work on the impact of executions on homicide: awareness of executions usually is left unmeasured. The present study addresses this, inspecting the effect of publicized executions on homicide. Data from South Carolina are employed. Homicide drops 17.5% in months with publicized executions. In contrast, little publicized executions are unrelated to homicide. The effect is reduced when publicized executions for rape enter the analysis. Alternative assumptions regarding the length of the effect are tested: the death dip decreases with the use of an instantaneous effect period; it becomes nonsignificant with a lengthy incubation period. The findings, however, can be interpreted from several different theoretical perspectives: deterrence, normative validation, and victim mobilization. Hence, policy implications remain tenuous.
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