Justice
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| Sun, 09-25-2005 - 3:59pm |
A few days ago one of those forwarded e-mails asking you to send it to everyone you know plus it gave the e-mail address of I think some politician or official of some kind was sent to me by a very good friend of mine. It talked about the murder of little James Bulger 12 years ago. I think it made international news but for those who maybe haven't heard of it, James aged 2 was in a shop with his mum. While she was distracted for a minute James walked out of the shop where he was abducted, tortured and murdered by two 10 year old boys. This took place in my local area so I remember well the outrage and the total disbelief that two boys so young were capable of such an atrocity. The two boys were arrested and served 'prison' sentances and have since been released, given new identities and started new lives in Australia. The e-mail was in protest that these boys had been given a second chance. I deleted it straight away without forwarding it on but it set me wondering about how I would feel if I known or been related to James.
Do you think that it was right to give these two boys a second chance or do you think that what they did deserves punishment for their rest of their lives?
I'd be interested to know what others thoughts are on this or similar situations.

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Personality disorders are not cured.
Love, Leila
That's why the recidivism rate is so high. Punishment alone doesn't work. Where is the counseling? Our world is one messed up place. They either put people in jail for the rest of their lives, kill them, or let them out again with no therapy. What do we expect? I expect these two boys will be back in the slammer by the time they turn eighteen. It's a shame is what it is. That poor little boy.
Betsy
I agree about the punishment thing. If someone kills in
anger or fear in a psychosis, I think there is something
you can do. Personality disorders are different. You can't
kill cold bloodedly (to me) without being sociopathic.
There are sick kids like adults. We don't know what these boys
saw in their families or if they were badly abused, sexually
abused etc. I have seen kids too far gone.
When we get personality disorders, they don't change. At work
we can't wait till the sociopaths go, they have no conscience.
Borderline personalities, they are tough and test you all the time.
These boys scare me. If they are not sociopathic, can you
imagine the help they need? the PTSD issues they must have,
the guilt and maybe there are thought of how they got off on it.
( the later puts them is a sicker catagory) I don't see repair for these boys.
Sad, but I don't. At work we are always leading horses to water,
so many don't drink. How can these boys know what they did without
drinking or drugging? I am negative on this, I know. maybe I'll see what
people at work think. Love, Leila
These boys are now 22 year old men.
Thank you for your replies. I tend to agree with you all that these boys are suffering from some kind of disorder. Investigations revealed that one at least had suffered from severe abuse from an older sibling at home and that other children at school were afraid of him. The other appears to some extent to have been lead, though I believe not completely as he took part in the sadistic acts also. They were kept apart during their imprisonment though in special units purposefully built as there was nowhere suitable available for them and I don't think that they were released at the same time. News of thier release was not leaked until after the event, my belief is that it was done this way as the governement knew that the public outcry had it been known would have been too great. I know that certainly James' mother campaigned for them to never to released. Specialist treatment was set up for them during their time in prison, though I don't know just how successful this could have been given the nature of the crime and the unusal aspect of their ages. I also believe that such disorders can't be cured but need to be managed if that is at all possible. I can only assume though that some 'experts' somewhere made the decision that it was 'safe' to release these boys and to rehabilitate them back into society.
~Carol~
What about the safety issue concerning the public as a whole? Wouldn't that take precedence over the punishment aspect of thier release? Despite the years that have passed, and despite the therapies 'thrust' upon them, the bottom line is that they were 10 when they did this. And alot happens between 10 and 22 and being in a jailhouse is not the most conducive places to grow up in regards to nurturing, love and 'normal' development.
Very often when a traumatic event occurs at such a young age, intellectually and emotionally, one cannot develop or grow past that level. I would imagine that it must be difficult for those boys to live everyday knowing that they tortured and took another boy's life; that they caused irreparable damage to a family and community. How can they ever be 'normal' enough to enter a society and be able to function in a 'normal' way again? How can they find a way to justify thier confinement all this time, during thier most developmental years when they probably didn't even fully grasp the damage they had committed 12 years ago? Wouldn't you imagine that they would be filled with rage at being confined all that time. Do any of us really believe that they spent those 12 years repenting for thier sins?
Incidentally, given that they have new identities, does that mean that when they apply for jobs they don't have to disclose thier past offenses, in this case, a felony charge? Something doesn't sound right all around with this.
I don't even want to think about these boys. Awful.
Their parents must have done yuck things. I remember seeing one 5 year old boy,
the handsomest kid ever, in a quiet room, smearing feces all over, swearing
at everyone. Bad language. he knew every word. he was put into every kind of sexual situation.
The poor kid.
Luckily I was on the adult addiction unit. he will always be messed up. Love, Leila
Why were they sent to Australia? If they were rehabilitated enough to release, why didn't England keep them? Maybe too publicized for their safety? How did they score new identities?
I can only hope that there are facts we don't know about, things that indicate that these boys aren't still dangerous to those around them. And that they can contribute meaninfully to society. But I do have reservations about just giving them a totally clean slate, a fresh start in a new place... heck, I haven't murdered anyone, and *I* wouldn't mind a new life in Australia!
I agree the safety issue of all should be paramount not just these boys. I don't know about the declaration of felonies bit, but I would imagine if they have been given new identities etc then included in that is a 'past', which I would imagine is a made up one. Just guessing here, but there would be no point in giving them new identities if they had to declare such things. I think both families of the boys (parents and siblings) were also moved from the area because of fear of reprisals. Whether that involved new identities or merely relocation I don't know.
~Carol~
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