Life in Death’s Waiting Room: An Existential Analysis of Death Row Prisoners

By Alanah Maskell | March 11, 2021

The death penalty is legal in thirty states in America and activists have long called for its abolishment. These people are given the worst punishment the criminal justice system has to offer but are also forced to spend around twenty years awaiting their death.1 The thought of death is uncomfortable for anyone, but in the case of death row inmates, they are faced with the burden of waiting for a societally-determined death. This topic becomes even more important when we consider wrongful convictions. One hundred and seventy-two innocent people have been exonerated from death row since 1973, often having spent many years, even decades, waiting for their death.2

Terror Management Theory (TMT), inspired by the works of Ernest Becker, argues that the human awareness of death is an uncomfortable experience.3 To cope, humans have developed anxiety buffers which seek to manage the awareness of death.4 TMT can provide insight into how death row inmates deal with the knowledge of their scheduled demise. TMT posits that people manage the awareness of death through self-esteem, cultural worldviews, and interpersonal relationships. TMT has accumulated a large body of evidence, primarily through the Mortality Salience (MS) hypothesis, which argues that death reminders heighten the need for these defenses. As life on death row presumably represents a continual reminder of one’s death, one might expect that these defenses are observed in the behaviors of death row inmates. Indeed, analysis of their last statements appear to reflect these defenses. For example, a 2005 study analyzing last statements of Texas death row inmates identified six themes: forgiveness, innocence, love, activism, afterlife belief, and silence.5

First, death row inmates often expressed strong beliefs that they would be going to another “place” after death. Most commonly, death row inmates demonstrated beliefs in a physical afterlife or immortal soul by praying to God to thank them for their afterlife. This suggests that religious faith is a common defense to manage death awareness among death row inmates. TMT research has shown how religion can offer a defense to death thoughts, for example, by showing that providing evidence of an afterlife reduces cultural worldview defense after being reminded of death.6

Of course, Becker (as well as TMT) argues that immortality can also be gained symbolically by contributing to social entities (i.e., groups, causes) that will outlive their mortal self.7 Activism for social causes was a theme among death row inmates’ last statements. Brandon Bernard, who faced the death penalty in December 2020, worked with outreach programs to prevent others from turning to crime during his time in prison.8 Perhaps death row inmates, faced with their impending death, turn to activism as a way of attempting to achieve a legacy, by fighting to make the world a better place.

Additionally, death row inmates often make references to interpersonal relationships in their final statements. For example, a 2008 analysis of statements of death row inmates found that they made references to relationships and being connected to others.9 Similarly, the 2005 study identified love and forgiveness as a common theme.5 This may suggest a desire to strengthen their interpersonal relationships to gain a sense of security that manages the awareness of death. TMT research has identified that relationships serve as an important way in which people manage the awareness of death.10 For example, relationships may often be a source of self-esteem and “felt security,” which provides a sense of comfort and support.11 Consequently, relationship references could represent a defense by increasing inmates’ self-esteem and felt security through having close relationships.

It should be noted that last statements are often premeditated and delivered in front of reporters, family, friends, and victims.5 Therefore, perhaps these statements may represent impression management rather than terror management strategies. However, it is also possible that despite these statements being a case of impression management, they nonetheless represent a final attempt to gain symbolic immortality by being remembered as a good person. Of course, without further analysis of the statements in relation to their speaker, it is impossible to identify if these defenses are a product of death row or if they existed prior to incarceration.

While analysis of death row inmates’ final statements may reveal the ways in which they manage their fate, we might also understand how inmates manage their sentence by examining the case of Death Row Syndrome (DRS). DRS is caused by the long-term imprisonment and psychological uncertainty of waiting for death. Although not a psychologically recognized disorder, DRS is marked by feelings of emptiness, fear, powerlessness, and emotional apathy.12 Becker (1973) argued that knowledge that one is powerless over death can lead to depression.13 DRS may reflect a particular form of depression that death row inmates experience as they become aware of how powerless they are over their fate.

Additionally, death row inmates such as Philip Takedi who have been exonerated have been left with PTSD symptoms.14 According to Anxiety Buffer Disruption Theory, an off-branch of TMT and Becker’s work, PTSD marks a breakdown of the anxiety buffers by which people manage the awareness of death.15 As death row inmates live with constant salience of death, which for some might be a traumatic experience, this may overwhelm their anxiety buffers, leading to the powerlessness and apathy that is characteristic of DRS. Additionally, anxiety buffers may break due to the sentence itself causing a substantial threat to their worldview. Inmates who believe in a just world may experience a conflict, if they do not accept their sentence as fair.5 This dissonance may shatter their worldview, which leaves them vulnerable to the awareness of death. In accordance with Anxiety Buffer Disruption Theory, inmates in these cases may experience the onset of PTSD, such as with Philip Takedi.

Death row inmates provide an interesting case study regarding the ways in which the knowledge of one’s imminent and impending death may influence our lives. Analysis of final statements of death row inmates resonate with existential theorizing regarding how we manage the prospect of our own death. Additionally, the phenomenon of DRS may also represent the psychological consequences of being defenseless against one’s fear of death. Perhaps existential psychotherapy could help those with a death sentence better come to terms with their fate.16 While such a suggestion may be viewed by some as unwarranted concern for those who have committed heinous crimes, we should be mindful to remember that there has been a large number of individuals on death row who have been subsequently exonerated. Given that every incarcerated individual has the right to appeal, it would seem at the very least reasonable to owe them due diligence to help them manage their sentence.

Alanah Maskell is a third year Psychology BSc student looking to pursue a career in Forensic Psychology. She has a passion for helping those who have been affected by the criminal justice system and have recently become interested in the ways Terror Management Theory can inform those experiences. She has been studying Ernest Becker and Terror Management Theory as part of her degree, as well as completing a research project based on the theory, all under the guidance of Dr Samuel Fairlamb.