The "death row community": a community psychology perspective

The extant literature on the death row process and its relationship to inmate execution is limited. One way to interpret the association is to examine those groups constituting the death row community. In this study, we argue for the existence of an execution community composed of several related membership groups: the prisoner awaiting death, the inmate's family, the correctional personnel working the unit, and the victim and the victim's loved ones. In order to assess whether, and to what extent, a death row community in fact exists, we rely on several principles found in community psychology. By grafting a "sense of community" model onto the behavior of those membership groups identified, we demonstrate how the death row community phenomenon cohesively operates. We conclude by tentatively exploring the implications of our analysis for purposes of future research on the execution experience and life on death row.