Magazine Article

“Adolescents and Serious Crime: A Couple of Stories”, written by Jean Mercer, was published in Psychology Today on November 15, 2009. This magazine article discusses two different stories of young children who had committed crimes. The article details the backgrounds and childhood of these juveniles who had committed such horrific crimes. Mary Bell, who was an 11-year-old child, strangled and killed a four-year-old boy. Mary’s childhood was far from a healthy one. She lived in poverty with her mother who was also a prostitute. Between the ages of four and eight, Mary’s mother used her routinely in inappropriate situations related to her prostitution activities. In the other story that Ms Mercer illustrates, a 14-year-old boy raped a 12-year-old girl, and then killed her by striking her with a lamp in a wooded area near his home. When the 14-year-old boy was six years old, a gang of older boys raped him in the same exact spot where he raped the 12-year-old girl. This tragic experience was never discussed openly because the boy was too humiliated that something such as rape happened to him. I chose this article because at the end, it summarizes what future steps the law should take into account before determining appropriate punishments for juveniles. Lastly, it is important to research a juvenile’s childhood background because it may affect the choices they make.