The Jamie Bulger case: More media links

This information came from the site http://www.angelfire.com/ks/KillerDollFactory/media.txt
Although this is a personal blog, which suggests it is merely one persons opinion and therefore not that trustworthy, it uses newspaper articles to back up the point about the media sensationalising crimes.



POSITION
Despite the fact that the boys had a long history of violent, anti-social behaviour, Chucky, with his violence, and remorselessness provided a suitable scapegoat. Those kids were time bombs. If they hadn't killed Jamie Bulger, they would've killed someone else, a little way down the track.

ARTICLES

In the closing scenes, however, are six deadly similairties.

1. Part of the story takes place in the woodland where young army cadets are playing war games. Instead of real bullets, they use paint pellets colored red and blue. If you are hit with a pellet, you are "dead". Chucky is hit in the face with a pellet and marked with blue paint.
2. Chucky is lured by a boy who calls out to him and runs away to entice him to follow.
3. Chucky's face is terrible mutilated during an attempt to kill him. Some is sliced off with a scythe.
4. Chucky doesn't lie down despite his terrible injuries, so his attackers have to finish him off.
5. The final scenes of violence in Child's Play 3 take part in a fun fair which featues a railway track. Others are filmed in a cemetery.
6. The doll is destroyed by the spinning blades of a gigantic rotor which dismembers it.



1. Shortly before they killed Jamie, Thompson and Venables squirted him in the face with blue paint thye had stolen.
2. The boys lured Jamie to join them in the same way.
3. Jamie's face was mutilated by the boys who attacked him with a 10cm wide metal bar.
4. Jamie also refused to give up when confronted by the two older boys
5. The final stages of Jamie's life were played out on a railway track beside a cemetary.
6. Jamie's body was crushed and dismembered by a train running over it.

Police were also told that a Roald Dahl story, The Swan, available in Liverpool schools and libraries, foretold the death. In the story, two bullies abduct a younger child and drag him to a railway embankment where a train almost kills him and he is threatened with drowning. He eventually flies to safety.



Justice Morland, passing sentence on Wednesday ,said: "It is not for me to pass judgement on their upbringing, but I suspect exposure to violent video films may, in part, be an explanation"

BRITAIN PUTS VIDEO NASTIES IN THE DOCK

British Sky Broadcasting cancelled a screeing of the film tonight. It has shown the film twice recently.Meanwhile, the Irish Republic's biggest video renting chain withdrew Child's Play 1, 2 and 3 from its shelves.

This shows the influence that newspapers can have on other media platforms, with Sky Broadcasting removing the film from its scheduling in order not to cause a controversy.

Notes from visit to BFI library

About Specific Case Studies

Jamie Bulger
Headlines and extracts:
"DEMON DOLL FILM" - The Guardian 26/11/93
"NO CHILD SHOULD WATCH THESE VIOLENT VIDEOS" - The Guardian 26/11/93
"WE MUST PROTECT YOUNG MINDS" - Independent 26/11/93
- David Buckingham said in the Guardian on 26/11/93 "Videos provide a nice easy explanation" and "Banning videos won't prevent this sort of this happening again"
- Friend Patrick Claeys said "Jon was always acting out the roles of his favourite video villains, once boasting he was the bad guy in Terminator" - The Evening Standard 25/11/93
- The Daily Mail reported on 18/12/93 "demand for the video Childs Play 3 has increased since it was linked to the murder of James Bulger"
- The Guardian reported that 181,000 children saw the film on the 15th December 1993
- On 26/11/93 The Independent linked the James Bulger case to the Roald Dahl book 'The Swan,' which was about 2 bullies who abduct a child and drag him to the railway where a train almost kills him. He is also threatened with drowning. It could be argued that this is a lot more similar that Childs Play 3 to what actually happened, and this book was available in Liverpool libraries.



Survey
Dr Ann Hagell and Dr Tim Newburn compared viewing habits of 78 young offenders aged between 12 and 18, and over 500 schoolchildren of similar ages.
Soap operas and similar dramas dominated the choices of both groups. The Bill was the favourite programme of the Young Offenders, while the schoolchildren preferred Home And Away and Neighbours. The study also concluded that the Young Offenders did not watch more telelvision or more violent programmes. The Offenders actually had less access to television, and sattelite channels, and as a result were less likely to watch on their own.
This information came from an article in Television Today, from April 14th 1994

Notes from Books
"Media And Violence" - Karen Boyle
Rather than a media link between the killers in cases such as Jamie Bulger and Columbine, she suggests that there is a male link instead, which nobody has looked at.
She also believes that in observational studies, children do what they believe will please the examiner. For example, in a Bobo-doll style experiment, one child said "Look mummy, there's the doll we have to hit" - Gauntlett 1995
"The Myth Of Media Violence" - David Trend - "Watching doesn't make us violent"
"On Media Violence" - W. James Potter
"Violence And The Media" - Kay Weaver and Cynthia Carter - Links to censorship debate

Teacher Feedback

It was suggested to me that, although Jamie Bulger and Columbine are good case studies, they are both quite dated and over-done, with the examiners looking for fresher material. The Wales suicide rate and a more recent school shooting were both cited as examples that would be seen as more original. However, I researched recent school shootings, and found that all of the 2008 examples had little information (what I thought to be too little to be able to cover them accurately and draw any conclusions from them), with the Wales suicide rate having a similar problem. I thought that for my 5 case studies, I would use:

The Jamie Bulger case
Because this was such a huge moral panic, it was also very well documented, and there is a huge amount of material available. This makes me think, that despite it being quite an old case which has been done before, it would still be a valuable example, as long as I attempt to look at it from a different angle (for example focusing on the killers troubled backgrounds rather than just trying to prove the link between Childs Play 3 and the murder

The Columbine Massacre
While this has similar problems to the Jamie Bulger case, again there is a huge amount of material available. Also, I think this is a really interesting case study, as it is quite unusual. The use of journals, blogs and online videos from the killers would allow me to research another aspect of this topic; the ways in which killers use the media to almost create a name for themselves, to publicise their crimes. This could be compared to the ways that established media (such as newspapers) also does this, albeit unintentionally

The Virginia Tech Massacre OR The Dawson College Shooting
These are both more recent case studies; the most recent school shooting case studies that have an acceptable level of material available. There is also scope for writing about different elements of the media for this case study, and they both have particular elements about them that make them interesting.

The high suicide rate amongst young people in Wales
This is a very recent example as it is still being covered in the news now, and will continue to be if the trend continues. However, this is the case study with the least material available for it, which could make it harder to use effectively. It would allow me some scope to theorise around it though, which is a positive.

I have not yet decided on my 5th case study, but it will be fairly recent, and hopefully covering a different subject area (ie not school shootings, suicide, or, if I can help it, murder)

Childs Play 3

The incident that inspired the media to link Childs Play 3 to the Jamie Bulger case was the judge of the case saying "Whilst there has been no actual evidence of this, I suspect that exposure to violent movies had something to do with your actions". It was said that Jon Venables father had rented the film, but the police confirmed that this film had never been rented by either family, and that it was unlikely either child had even seen it.



I looked at the websites http://website.lineone.net/~darkangel5/moral.htm
to help summarise the link between Childs Play 3 and the Jamie Bulger case

Type of source: Secondary popular

Benefits of source:
- Offered some insight into the roots of the moral panic

Limitations of source:
- Not academic or professional, someones personal blog so information is probably not neccesarily that trustworthy

The Jamie Bulger case: the killers

Robert Thompson
Robert’s personality was constructed for defense.
Robert’s father beat his wife mercilessly, and then abandoned the family for good. He was an aggressive alcoholic. He beat Ann in front of the boys and Ann hit her sons with sticks and belts. She attempted suicide with pill overdoses, but eventually turned to drinking as her means of escape. The elder brothers beat the younger.

One sibling became a master thief, taking little Robert with him on his adventures. One brother was an arsonist and suspected of sexually abusing young children (Robert may have been a victim himself.) One of the brothers left to stay in a voluntary care center. Others attempted suicide. The police and social workers knew the Thompson boys well. All of the Thompsons were truants and learned to despise authority.

For all of Robert’s toughness, he still exhibited childish tendencies for which he was teased. He played with troll dolls and sucked his thumb. Molded into hardness beyond his years and forced to repress his own childishness, it is possible that Robert took out his aggressions on an innocent baby, something Robert himself was never allowed to be.

Jon Venables

Jon was attention-seeking at school, cutting himself with scissors. In one incident, he approached another classmate from behind and began choking the boy with a wooden ruler. It took two adults to pry Jon off of the boy.

His father Neil was often unemployed. Jon was the middle child, and both of his siblings had developmental problems. Jon was stuck in the middle, feeling ignored, and perhaps resentful of the attention his siblings received. Sometimes Jon would mimic his older brother’s tantrums.

Susan and Neil Venables had a tumultuous relationship, splitting apart, and then reuniting. The instability affected all three kids. Both parents had histories of clinical depression, and Susan was particularly prone to hysterics. She had been observed physically and verbally assaulting Jon. At the age of seven, Jon was showing signs of anti-social behavior. He hated the neighborhood children who would tease him and his siblings.

First Thoughts

After reading some of the posts on the main critical research blog, I think the area I am most interested in is 'Crime in the Media,' and specifically the notion of crimes as a result of media, or copycat crimes. This links quite closely with the censorship unit we have just finished, which could be seen as a plus or a minus, but it is definitely one of the topic areas I think will be quite interesting and something I could go into a lot of depth about.

I tried to answer the initial proposal questions

1. Which topic area is this proposal for?
Crime and the Media

2. What is the suggested focus?
Copycat crimes, and specifically as a result of film. Specific examples will include 'Childs Play 3,' and a more recent example about college shootings such as Columbine or Virginia Tech

3. Do you have an idea for a question/problematic?
Is there such a thing as copycat crime?

4. Why would you choose this?
It is an area I have a lot of thoughts about, and think it would be interesting to discuss the perceived view and then use facts to try and prove or disprove this. There is a lot of opportunity to use theory effectively, as well as presenting a balanced argument.

5. Do you have any concerns or are there any limitations to this proposal?
I'm not sure if it's a bad thing that we have just finished the censorship unit that deals with this exact subject. Although that was only in film, so I could look at video games, magazines etc and give a wider scope.

6. Can you rate it on a sliding scale 1- 5?
4