Reasoned Judgement

Last week we analyzed a criminal case with a reasoned judgement criteria during the Thinking Skills class. The assingment for the next class was to create our own judgement of a different case, based on the previous example of last class. Here is my work!

CASE 

QUESTION: "Come to a reasoned judgement as to how likely it is that violent films lead to violent behaviour"

CORROBORATIVE AND CONFLICTIVE

-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 stepfather of one of the boys had rented a copy of Child’s Play 3 a week before the murder. The film featured Chucky, the child-killing doll.

.The Sun explicitly stated that the boys had watched Child’s 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, stated that there is a strong link between violent films and real-life violence and that violent films can lead to violent behavior.

-Conflictive evidence:

.The police view Merseyside police detectives, who had interviewed the boys for several weeks before the trial, rejected any suggestions that “horror” videos had influenced the boys’ behavior.

.no evidence to indicate that the boys had watched Child’s Play 3.

. it was not found Child’s Play 3, nor anything in the list that could have encouraged them to do what they did.

.Research funded by the Home Office and conducted by a team of psychologists at Birmingham University concluded that Newson got it the wrong way round. She argued that violent films can lead to violent behavior. The team argue that 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 violent films lead to the kid's violent behaviour

.The judge suspects that violent movies are related with the crime

. The Sun and the Daily Mail state that the stepfather has rented Child's Play 3 a week before the murder and there are coincidences between the film and the scene of the crime

. The Conservative MP Sir Ivan Lawrence, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said it was becoming “daily more obvious” that "the constant diet of violence and depravity fed to youngsters through television, videos and computer pornography" was a major reason for the rise in juvenile crime

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

Sources which support that violent movies are not the main cause of violent behaviour

.Both kids had troubled relations with their families and were victims of lonely parents incapable to maintain their children. They both had problems as regards domestic violence and had violent behaviours

.The police 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.

.  a team of psychologists at Birmingham University argue that a violent home background can lead to violent behavior which, in turn, is likely to lead to a preference for violent films.

WEIGHT OF EVIDENCE

More likely:

-There are relations between the film and the crime

-The police have found no evidence that both kids watched the movie

-Both kids had troubled families

-They are 10 years old and they get influenced by what they see at home (domestic violence)

-No violent films were found in neither of the houses

Less likely:

-There's no evidence for what the Sun and the Daily Mail published

-If there's no evidence that they have watched the movie, then the link between it and the crime can be just a coincidence

QUALITY OF EVIDENCE

-The police

-the Sun and the Daily Mail

-Child psychologist Elizabeth Newson

-The Conservative MP Sir Ivan Lawrence, chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee

-A team of psychologists at Birmingham University

CONCLUSION

Taking into consideration all the items mentioned previously, I believe that it is not likely enough that violent films lead to violent behaviour as it is that domestic violence does.