Death Row Inmates in Southern US More Likely to Apologize for Their Crimes

  • 10 years ago
Southern hospitality in the US means that people in southern states are just more polite and hospitable than most people from other regions of the country. A recent study examined the final words of prisoners on death row, and the results show that the 299 convicts in southern states that were part of the study were twice as likely to apologize for their crimes than the 60 death row inmates in other parts of the country.

Southern hospitality is synonymous with a warm and welcoming demeanor, perhaps more so than anywhere else in the US.

A recent study examined the final words of prisoners on death row, and the results show that the 299 convicts in the southern states were twice as likely to apologize for their crimes as the 60 death row inmates in other parts of the country.

The study took into account not only if the inmate apologized, but also if they took responsibility, asked for forgiveness and showed regret and remorse.

Judy Eaton, a professor from the Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario who worked on the study is quoted as saying: “The absence of any other indicators of remorse in the Southern sample suggests that their apologies, while more frequent than those of non-Southerners, were not necessarily more heartfelt. These findings are notable in that they provide further evidence of the Southern culture of honor using a nontraditional sample.”

Another consideration when looking at the results of the study is that it didn’t factor in where the prisoner was from, just the state where they were executed.

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