ABSTRACT
The grim prospect of death by execution dramatically affects the human environment of death row, sharply dividing guards, who work in service of the death penalty, and inmates, who hope desperately to live. The possibility of execution, for example, gives rise to intense preoccupation. There is a “domino theory” of capital punishment espoused or endorsed by many inmates, where the execution of one person will lead to the executions of others. Anxieties about execution are nourished by various experiences, some seemingly benign. With anxiety and imagination working in tandem, the incoming prisoner may imagine that he is being prepared for a proper execution. For some prisoners, even thinking about the death sentence can aggravate fears and set in motion an obsessive reaction bordering on anxious panic. The prisoners’ reflections on the death sentence often center on the uncertainty that characterizes their condition.
