A juvenile homicide: A criminological summary of the murder of James Bulger

Abstract

The progenies sometimes commit crimes with extreme cruelty and barbarity and the purview of such crimes is vast. Some children are involved in senseless and brutal killings and such crimes do not show any motive or explanation. The article is an analysis of the murder of James Bulger, who was a toddler and faced a tragic death in 1993. The death of Bulger was not natural but a result of the delinquent mentality of two young children John Venables and Robert Thompson, who were 10 years old at that time. The horrific death of the toddler petrified the world and it was shocking news as it was considered one of the cold-blooded murders in the world. Through the analysis of this case, the author attempts to expound the causes which compel children to commit acts of brutality. A child’s upbringing, and bad and ineffective parenting result in emotional instability which prominently drives him/her to commit gruesome murders. The methodology adapted by the author in this paper is qualitative in nature and involves content analysis of secondary sources of law.