To Understand the Differential Impact of Two Prominent Cases where Children have been convicted of the Murder of other Children PDF

Preview

Summary

My dissertation focussing on children and crime and the impacts of the famous cases where children killed other children, also relating it to the age of criminal responsibility...

Description

To Understand the Differential Impact of Two Prominent Cases where Children have been convicted of the Murder of other Children

By Rebecca Clancy P15187207 An extended essay submitted for the partial fulfilment of the requirements for a BA (Hons) Criminology and Criminal Justice, De Montfort University.

Supervisor: Ross Little Word Count: 10,760 May 2018

1

Contents 1. Introduction……………………………………… Pages 4-9 1.1 The James Bulger Case……………………………...Page 4 1.2 The Silje Redergard Case……………………………Page 6 1.3 The Social Construction of Childhood………………Page 7

2. Methodology………………………………………Pages 10-14 2.1 Aims and Objectives………………………………….Page 11 2.2 Conducting a Literature Review…………………….Page 12 2.3 Ethics…………………………………………………..Page 14

3. What impact did the Media have? ...................Pages 16-20 3.1 Moral Panics………………………………………….Page 16 3.2 ‘Video Nasties’………………………………………..Page 18 3.3 Media coverage of the murders…………………….Page 20

4. What impact did the cases have on Political Policy?....... Pages 22-26 4.1 ‘Penal Populism’……………………………………..Page 22 4.2 Introduction of Punitive Policy……………………...Page 23 4.3 The Age of Criminal Responsibility………………..Page 26

5. What about the rest of the Public? .................Pages 30-33 5.1 Opinions of the James Bulger Case…… Page 30 5.2 Media reporting of other Public Opinion: The James Bulger Case….Page 31 5.3 Opinions of the Silje Redergard Case…..Page 32 5.4 Media reporting of other Public Opinion: The Silje Redergard Case…Page 33

6. Conclusion………………………………………Pages 34-36 6.1 What had the biggest impact? ...................................Page 35 6.2 Gaps in the Literature…………………………………..Page 36

2

Abstract The James Bulger case and the Silje Redergard case represent the differential impact of children killing children had on society. Despite being a rare phenomenon, the impacts in which they had causes individuals to think otherwise, especially for the James Bulger case. When compared, the cultural aspects of each country being the UK and Norway reflect on one of the reasons as to why this is the case, as well as aspects of family upbringing. James Bulger was brutally murdered by two ten year old boys and left to die at a railway tract (Green, 2008). Silje Redergard was left to die in the snow, as well as being tortured by two six year old boys (Asquith, 1996). The media as a factor created ‘moral chaos’ in the form of a moral panic in order to engage the rest of the public’s attention. The media also theoretically explained the impact that videos had on the boys, causing an effect on political policy in Norway as well as effecting other political policy in the UK. ‘Penal populism’ was the theme for political policy in the UK, demanding harsh punishments on offenders. The age of criminal responsibility as an issue in the UK was raised, however in Norway the boys were not punished due to being under their legal age of criminal responsibility. The rest of the public were overall outraged, with increasing fear spreading across society. In Norway, attitudes were that of compassion and understanding. This research seeks to explore the differential impact within both countries, focussing on the media, political policy and the rest of the public. It will also explore the social construction of childhood within both countries in an attempt to explain why the differential impact was different.

3

Introduction Juvenile delinquency is increasing in society, however, children killing children remains rare (Wolf and Smith, 2001). Children who kill has remained rare across Europe as well as the UK. Over the past 250 years, there have been 27 known cases of children under 14 who have killed other children in Britain. This would not be assumed due to the newspaper coverage of the James Bulger case in particular, creating mass hysteria across all sectors of society and causing a vast impact (Cavadino, 1996). For the Silje Redergard case, coverage was at a minimum, therefore less people knew about what happened in comparison to the James Bulger case.

1.1 James Bulger Case

Two year old James Bulger was abducted from the Strand Shopping Centre in Liverpool by Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, aged ten in February 1993. The toddler was tortured on the way to the train track, where he was brutally kicked and beaten to death with bricks and an iron bar (Green, 2008). In addition to this, James Bulger was also sexually abused by the two boys (Cavadino, 1996). It was not until a six days later that James Bulger was found by a group of children playing by the train track. Within the six days, the two boys attempted to abduct another small child (Jefferson, 1996). In November 1993, the two boys were sentenced to life imprisonment. The courts also decided to name the boys in the ‘public interest’, which is not usually done due to reporting restrictions. Therefore, as a result of this, the boys were labelled as being ‘evil’ as well as being subject to negative exclusion. The trial’s conclusion stated that the boys should not be compared to with other boys, representing the exclusion and negative judgements they experienced (Rice and Thomas, 2013). The police were also convinced that

4

the act was planned, in which the boys had sole intentions of killing a child that day (Cavadino, 1996).

It is argued that all children who kill are seriously disturbed with high rates of psychological abnormalities. Experience child abuse or suffer from domestic violence (Wolff and Smith, 2001). A common interpretation regarding children who kill is that children do not cause pain unless they have experienced pain. With regards to the James Bulger case, not enough people questioned why it happened. A number of judgements about the boy’s families were made that they belonged to ‘them’, which includes the groups of people who were poor, disadvantaged and people who drank (Cavadino, 1996). The media were also responsible for making the perception that violent videos influenced the boys to kill (Jenks, 1996). Jefferson (1996), however, has studied the boy’s family life. There were clear differences between both families. For Robert Thompson, he was forced to learn about men’s assumptions about being ‘masters of the household’ and how it was acceptable to react with physical and threatening behaviour. His grandfather in particular enforced control over his wife with physical violence. For Jon Venables, his father was an emotional man, therefore physical violence was not encouraged. Contrastingly, Jon dealt with his parents separating, having to spend parts of each week with each parent. His mother, however, spent the most time with Jon. It is argued that mothers are scapegoated for family crises. Parental issues in particular after the murdering of James Bulger were examined by society.

The overall long-term impact of the murder of James Bulger back in 1993 by two young boys has led to “an increasingly negative portrayal” of children who commit crime within UK society. This has been portrayed both within the media as well as legislation that later followed (Jenks, 2005). An angry public protested for the raising of the tariff from eight years, including the use of a petition as an example of negative portrayal of children. By July 1994, it was raised to fifteen years (Green, 2008). Such portrayal means that British individuals cannot forget or even are allowed to forget about the murder of James Bulger (Green, 2008). This was not necessarily the case for the 5

murder of Silje Redergard. An outcome of the James Bulger case has been the effect on public perceptions of childhood as well as social relations more generally (Bohm, 2005). An example of such public perceptions come from a news article by the Daily Mirror, stating that the killers had the “faces of normal boys but they had hearts of unparalleled evil” (Rice and Thomas, 2005:2).

1.2 Silje Redergard case

Three six year old boys killed five year old Silje Marie Redergard in Norway in October 1994, who asked her to take her clothes off for them to kick her, beat her with stones and stomp on her. Silje was left and died of hypothermia. The boys were well below the age of criminal responsibility of fifteen, therefore were not prosecuted or punished (Green, 2008b). The killers of James Bulger, however, were within the age of criminal responsibility. Prior to the incident, the children were playing together in a school playground. Without prior warning, the boys attacked her and left her to freeze to death (Asquith, 1996). In contrast to the James Bulger case, the boys were only identified briefly before their parents withdrew their consent. As opposed to being punished and facing court, the boys were placed in a kindergarten for teachers and psychologists to monitor them (Petley, 2013).

In order to explain why the boys murdered Silje Redergard is particularly limited. The explanation has been put down to it being a tragic one-off which require professional support and monitoring (Petley, 2013). From a cultural perspective, high levels of social solidarity means that Norway primarily focus on solving problems rather than determining why something happens. Historically a poor country until relevantly recently has caused the country to forge strong social bonds. A strong commitment to the welfare state means that a punitive punishment approach is not supported (Green, 2009). Hofstede and Hofstede (2005:147) examines the country’s cultural perspective through gender. Norway, displaying feminine value systems that prioritise conflict 6

resolution through compromise, delivering solidarity for the weak and reward for the strong. For countries including the UK, Hofstede describes it as a masculine society. Men are tough, and value material gain. Tenderness, however, primarily falls under the domain of women. Therefore, the UK’s response is tough and explains why a punitive response was made with regards to the James Bulger case (Green, 2009).

By contrast, referencing back to the recollection of the James Bulger case, many Norwegians with regards to the murder of Silje Redergard months after by three young boys have difficulty in remembering details about what happened. This is due to it never going beyond being interpreted as a “tragic and aberrant event” (Green, 2008:199a). Press coverage of the event was high within the first week, however, such coverage quickly deceased (Green, D. 2008). Public perceptions of childhood were not particularly impacted on in any way by comparison. Silje’s mother in particular believed that it isn’t possible to hate small children, as well as them being unable to understand such consequences (Jenks, 2005). This indicates significantly less impact overall within Norwegian society by contrast.

A brief summary into the impact of the cases on public perception reveals how distinct they really are. Such a scope of perception will contribute to a more in depth study of the research being addressed. Public perception overall has the ability to have an impact on society socially as well as politically, which is the reason for addressing this initially. Political impacts by the public include the use of a petition as well as protesting (Green, 2008).

1.3 The Social Construction of Childhood

A body of research exists that argues that childhood is defined and constructed by society rather than biology.

These constructions have

changed over time as well as across cultures (Stauffer, 2014). Therefore, the social constructions of childhood vary when it comes to studying the UK and Norway. Society limits the social construction of childhood, in which definitions 7

are constructed through the courts, the school, the family and the economy. Psychology and philosophy also play a role, however this is only part of the definition. This is due to both cases forcing adults to reassess the notion of justice with the application of children, in particular for children who kill (Asquith, 1996).

There has been a long term relationship between young people and criminology. The general social construction of childhood is regarded as being the ‘other’, in which the delinquent came to form as (Brown, 2005). Worsley (1849) argued that they were viewed historically as being a “bane to society… latent depravity…a society must eventually decline…disappear” (Brown, 2005:14). Such attitudes towards young people historically has had an impact on the social construction of children today. Within the early years of the nineteenth century, on the other hand, children were viewed as naturally innocent, only needed gentle parental guidance within a nurturing family environment. The discourse of childhood was a time for recreation as well as education and preparation for adulthood. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, constructions and perceptions began to change. The development of literature, magazines and games began to be seen as a threat to the ideal of childhood. In addition to this, it gave children the opportunity to become direct consumers of their own culture (Stauffer, 2014). The influence of literature may have played a part in children being viewed as a bane to society. Murdock (1997:83), over 100 years later after Worsley’s argument, argues that there is a tension between ‘fact and ‘myth’. This arises from general anxieties of adults about the nature of society. The vulnerable living outside the barrier of maturity are viewed as being a threat, this being young people, therefore generating fear. Once somebody has been deemed as a threat, a number of accusations can be made. In relation to the James Bulger case, they were socially constructed as a threat due to the act of killing.

In relation to the Silje Redergard case, Norwegians appear to be supportive of children and more liberal (Asquith, 1996). This is particularly reflected in the 8

way in which the case was dealt with. Norway took on a welfare approach, ensuring that they were supported in kindergarten. Since the 1980s, numerous themes have been developed around ‘children’s participation’. Regional and local authorities have implemented these projects, with Norway being the leading country. This has pointed to new visions in childhood, replacing the notion of the ‘vulnerable’ child to the ‘competent’ child. Such a change in the social contstruction of childhood is about recognising them as human beings rather than ‘human becomings’ (Kjorholt, 2002). Edith Grotberg has researched into these projects, known as the International Resilience Project. He researched into the support networks available internationally that helps children become more competent (John, 2003).

9

Chapter 2

Methodology

The research methodology regards the basic knowledge of the subject methods that will be carried out, whether it be a qualitative or quantitative methodology (Sarantakos, 1998). This basic knowledge refers to the works of describing, explaining and predicting phenomena. The aim of the research methodology is to give the work plan of research. It is important to cover the methodology of the research for the researcher to know what research will be carried out as well as how it will be carried out (Rajaseker, 2013).

A literature review has been proposed as the methodology in order to collect previous findings on the cases to investigate how they were managed. In addition to this, a greater understanding of the cases will be achieved with an in depth comparison achieved through a literature review. One of the cases is international, therefore there are practical issues involved in transporting to the country to carry out an empirical research project. Such cases involving the murdering of children is a sensitive subject to research primarily, making a literature review more appropriate as a research method.

Empirical research, whereby collecting the data is done primarily, would not be an appropriate research method. Finding out the impact the cases had on particular aspects of society would not be possible due to the limitations of being able to become in contact with aspects of the media as well as politicians. Quinlan (2015) notes that it is important to use the most appropriate research method for the succession of the research. The

10

drawbacks of completing empirical research is due to the time constraints. This is due to having to collect data primarily as well as analysing it accordingly (Bryman, 2012). However, the advantage of carrying out empirical research refers to the theory of empiricism. Empiricism refers to knowledge gained by sensory experience, using inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning stars with specific observations, with a general conclusion drawn from them (Walliman, 2011). With regards to studying the James Bulger case, getting an observation into the impact the cases had on society would be effective due to being able to interpret this impact primarily as opposed to relying on what others have published about the matter. In opposition to this, for the Silje Redergard case, this would not be possible due to it being international, with issues of transportation.

2.1 Aims and Objectives

The main aim of this research project is to investigate the differences in the management of the James Bulger Case and the Silje Rendergard case in relation to the age of criminal responsibility. These cases involved the murder of innocent young children, by children. In order to do this, the penal policy and the social cultures of the events will be investigated and compared. Researching into social culture may provide more of an in depth study into the impact of both cases.

Analysing the responses to the events and how they impacted on society as an additional aim will assist in meeting the overall intent of the research. An investigation into media interpretations of the cases will be made in relation to this and compared. Relating back to public relations, how the cases impacted on members of society will be portrayed through the media and is worth researching into.

The objective of the research project is to expand on the current knowledge of the chosen topic. Proposing the research is key to investigating into a topic of interest and why there is a need for the research to be done. This is important 11

for the research process, as the “success of any project depends on forward planning and organization” (Denscombe, 2012:5).

With regards to the James Bulger case, the rationale for researching into this is the extent of influence it has had in society, including the “debate about a range of social and moral issues” (Green, 2008:3). As of today, the case is still involved in news stories and in Parliament (Green, 2008). The James Bulger case as an important event will be interesting to research as to why it still has an influence in society, which may link to the case management. The need to compare this case to an international case is due to broadening prior knowledge with the extent to how well the case was managed. In addition to this, the raising of awareness to the reader will be achieved with regards to how horrific the event was, and the extent to which the impact really was.

2.2 Conducting a literature review

In order to conduct a literature review, secondary sources were collected and used. Secondary data refers to evidence used by sociologists as part of their research which has already been produced (McNeill and Chapman, 2005). In order to do this, existing literature is drawn upon. Literature reviews, according to Rowley and Slack (2004), are therefore important in:



Supporting a research topic



Building an understanding of theoretical concepts



Identifying the literature which will make a contribution to the chosen topic



Analysing and interpr...