Sam Cahill EPQ

What is the plan of action? My dissertation will follow the guide of: Introduction Case facts, including behaviour at trial and summary of behaviour at interviews  Nature v Nurture In depth behaviour at interviews  Morals Judicial report  outlying factor  legally fair- extra research on offences charged under needed to compare with actual sentence morally fair- what occurred post sentence, and can we judge those events of now with what we knew then? Conclusion.  How do I reference?  According to https://www.rlf.org.uk/resources/mla-apa-harvard-or-mhra/ (published 2022, accessed 10th March 2022), there are four main styles of referencing. They are  MLA (Modern Languages association), in which the author and page number are in brackets and the full reference is at the end in a bibliography i.e (Kennedy, 17) APA (American Psychological Association), in which the author, date published and page number are in brackets, with a full reference at the end in a bibliography i.e (Kennedy, 2003, p

What style of source did I use and why? I used completely secondary sources as the nature of my source meant that I had little option but to look at prior studies and publications about the two offenders and facts. This massively meant that I was looking at others work, asking what it taught me and how reliable it is. As the case is such high profile, it means that many people know about it already so would have a pre-cognitive bias against the two offenders, believing they should have a higher sentence.  Why did I feel as though this topic was right for me? I felt as though this topic was perfect for me, as I ambition to study law later on in life, so thought this would be the best avenue to start that pathway. Everyone has heard about the case of James Bulger, and most people believe that they should have received a higher sentence than they should. My question throughout all of this is "why should they have gotten a higher sentence?"; and "should they really have gott

  What have I learnt? I first learnt about the facts of the case and how both boys behaved in the interviews. This behaviour became extremely useful when then evaluating how guilty and innocent suspects behaved in interviews. I then looked at the trial of the offenders; however this was linked to the facts of the case. After this, I looked at the judicial reports over the constant variation in the sentence of both offenders. This provided me with the first thought that the sentence wasn't just and fair as the Home Secretary overstepped his jurisdiction by altering the sentence.                                                                                                                                         The next part of my research focused on the morals and ethics of the case. After the research, I felt as though the 2 offenders should have received a much higher sentence than they did, as morally they were able to back out of the offence before killing James. This then led

 What do I mean by an outlying factor? An outlying factor is something that is not directly related to the points and facts of the case. This can take the form of politics, public opinion and the role of the media. As these are not legal factors, they shouldn't have made a large difference in the way the sentence was given. I am aiming to decide if they did make a difference in the overall sentence and why.  Media: "UK media coverage of the trial deeply affected public opinion not just about the perpetrators of the crime but also about juvenile criminals and in fact all children." "On the 25 November 1993, the day after the judgement, the Daily Star...ran the photos of the boys with the headline "How do you feel now you little bastards?" ".  The media launched a campaign to allow the anonymity of the 2 offenders to be released on conviction.  "The press were further outraged by the conditions in which the boys would live while at the Secure Traini

  Where have I gotten to? From my original list of the order in which I will conduct my research, I have so far completed:  Case facts   the law relating to the case  The social factors of Venables and Thompson (I covered this in my nature v nurture debate)  If the sentence given was ethical What Have I missed off/ not completed yet? Behaviour of people in interviews and how Venables and Thompson are similar/ different to it.  If any outlying factors such as media and politics affected the sentence given If those factors did  affect the sentence given What occurred post sentence Plan and write dissertation and present findings to audience.  From this list, I have left out the question on if the law was ethical or not. This is because I believe that the question was not relevant to the overall course that my project will follow.  Where next? From this, I will answer each of the questions in order, and aim to complete all my research by October half term. After that, I will look at how I

  What are morals compared to Ethics?  "Morals are the prevailing standards of behaviour that enable people to live co-operatively in groups" is the definition according to ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/morals (published 17/2/2017; viewed 2/9/2021). Morals are what society believes is right and acceptable, and to be living within these morals enables people to live as part of a large group. However, the website goes onto say that "morality is not fixed", so it can adapt and change over time as society does with it. Morals and society are intertwined more than ethics and society, as ethics will only affect decisions whereas morality allows people to feel a sense of belonging.  According to britanica.com/topics/ethics-philosophy (reviewed 22/8/2021; viewed 2/9/2021) ethics are what society considers "morally good and bad", note the morally part. For decisions to be ethical, they first need to be morally acceptable by society, so a decision that is cons