Milwaukee— A Milwaukee teenager is accused of strangling his girlfriend after the two watched a movie about a murder spree.
The Gist of the Article
The news about a teen being accused of strangulating his girlfriend allegedly due to the influence of his favorite movie ‘Natural Born Killers’, posted by Foxnews on their website on July 22, 2008 was quite intriguing. The culprit Eric Tavulares, 18, has been kept under custody for murdering 18-year-old Lauren Aljubouri. Both of them were dating each other many years. He may have to face 60 years in prison if convicted.
According to the statement of the offender, he had been watching Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” continuously for at least 10-20 times and that Friday night too he had watched the same with his girl friend. Tavulares revealed that he cannot recall what exactly happened or what motivated him to strangle her. As a result of his action, Aljubouri died within three or four minutes. On the realization about her condition, as per his statement, he released her suddenly and tried to save her. On arrival of the Police he surrendered and confessed to have killed her. His deed was still unbelievable for him.
Article Appreciation: A Review
The press article under reference is about the culpable homicide committed by an 18 years old teenager and the deed was, as per his statement, actually unintentional. However, the crime falls under the category of Juvenile delinquency (JD). In order to analyze his behavioral disorder, it is essential to go through the entire aspect of juvenile delinquency. Broadly speaking, JD is a vast subject that reflects many factors which can lead the juveniles into committing offenders. JD is a “ legal term for behavior of children and adolescents that in adults would be judged criminal under law.” (Juvenile Delinquency, 2008).
US researchers report that though the parents’ initiatives can influence a preschoolers’ timely response to stress, there is still a chance for a high-risk child to become juvenile delinquent, especially children with older delinquent siblings.
Children who have less awareness of social cues seem to become highly aggressive and delinquent teens have abnormal stress responses towards the society. Recent journal archives revealed about the conclusion of new study regarding above mentioned subject and indicated that proper interventions of family can help reduce delinquency and psychiatric disorder in children who are at risk. An expert in the relevant field, Laurie Miller Brotman, suggests that antisocial behavior of juveniles is not developed as an inborn trait. This abnormality is also not hardwired. Apt intervention of parents can easily solve this disorder in children in the younger stage.
In the United States, concepts and ages of juveniles vary according to the rules of each state. In some states the age is set at 14 while in others the maximum age is set as 21 years. In some places the prescribed age range of adult is considered from 16 to 20. At these places, generally the highest number of serious crime has been noticed. Most of the fully grown criminals possess the history of early delinquency.
Children commonly associate with offense by stealing things. Serious crimes like property crimes, rape and murder are committed by them in later youth. The reason for this improper behavior may be due to their abnormal mental status or due to improperly blended psychological, economic or societal factors. Clinical researches discovered the causes of these types of emotional abnormalities in delinquents. The main reason is the present condition of disorganized family setup. The other causes may vary from places to places. Some may find poverty is the root of children’s association with offenders or conversion to delinquents.
Others may think that lack of education or unemployment may cause improper behavior of juveniles. At some places, mostly in the inner cities, a gang concept inspires small children to be part of that. Now-a-days separate Juvenile court and Juvenile Home are available for the younger delinquents. This approach generally concentrates on rehabilitation of juveniles rather than punishment.
Some of the juvenile homes are equipped with several advanced institutions like psychiatric clinics and public welfare agencies. Juvenile homes are generally separated from conventional prisons. All the Juvenile delinquents are regularly provided with intensive personality development classes, vocational training and psychiatric treatment. Adopting these techniques can change the improper behavior of delinquents to transform a person into a good personality.
In view of the above aspects, it is clear that parents’ intervention can influence children’s behavior up to some extent. But their living environment, contacts and several other factors lead them either towards delinquency or as good personality.
Reference
Juvenile Delinquency. (2008). HighBeam Encyclopedia. Web.