A Reasoned Judgement

A reasoned judgement

Come to a reasoned judgement as to how likely it is that violent films lead to violent behavior.

Corroboration and conflict

Corroborative evidence:

-  The “Sun” and the “Daily Mail” claimed that the boys had been watching violent horror videos when they were bunking off school.

·        - The boys watched Childs Play 3 before the murder. The Sun and other tabloids claimed that there were significant similarities between scenes in the film and the killing of James Bulger.

·      -   Elizabeth Newson, a professor of child psychology concluded that there is a strong link between violent films and real-life violence and that violent films can lead to violent behavior.

Conflicting evidence:

·         - Pollice detectives rejected any suggestions that “horror” videos had influenced the boys’ behavior.

·        - The police found no evidence to indicate that the boys had watched Child’s Play 3. They looked at all the movies in the house and checked a list of their rentals from shop. They didn’t find Childs Play 3.

·        -  Elizabeth Newson´s theory was the other way round. A violent home background can lead to violent behavior which, in turn, is likely to lead to a preference for violent films.

Balance of Evidence

Sources which support the conclusion that the homicide was produced because of violent films:

·         Daily Mail had been conducting a campaign against “video nasties”-violent horror films which they claimed had a harmful effect on children.

·         Judge mentioned that one of the stepfathers had a collection of violent videos.

·         The Sun and the Daily Mail claimed that the boys had been watching violent horror videos.

·         The stepfather of one of the boys had rented a copy of Child’s Play 3 a week before the murder.

·         The Sun explicitly stated that the boys had watched Child’s Play 3 before the murder (similar as the violent event)

      Sources which support the conclusion that the homicide was produced because of violent  background:

                -   The two boys had troubled backgrounds with their families.

·                                          -   Both families lived in poverty. Both boys were neglected by their parents and resented                          their brothers and sisters. Both had been put back a year at school and frequently                                   truanted.

·                                            -   Police detectives rejected any suggestions that “horror” videos had influenced the boys’                       behavior.

·                                             -   Police found no evidence to show that the boys had watched Child´s Play 3

·                                                Team of psychologists concluded that a violent home background can lead to violent behavior, which is likely to lead to a preference for violent films.

Weight of evidence

More likely(4):

·         Stepfather with collection of violent horror movies

·         The two boys had troubled backgrounds with their families

·         Police detectives rejected that horror videos influenced in the case

·         A violent home background can lead to violent behavior.

Less likely(3):

·         Sun and Daily Mail said that the boys had been watching horror videos at home

·         Stepfather rented Child´s Play 3 one week before the murder

·         The Sun stated that the boys watched Child´s Play 3 before the murder

Quality of evidence

·         Police found no evidence that they watched the movie

·         Conclusion from group of psychologists

·         Both boys have family serious problems (violence,alcohol,etc.)

Judgment

As a final judgement I would say that the horror movie has nothing to do with this violent case. In the first place there is no evidence that the movie was rented. However, as both kids were from families with alcohol, violence and legal problems, this has a clear consequence in their psyche. That is a basic explanation of why those kids committed the violent homicide, leaving aside the option of the horror movies.