ABSTRACT
In 1993, two ten-year old boys abducted, brutally tortured, and murdered a toddler, Jamie Bulger, in Liverpool. The murder shocked people in Britain and was reported around the world. Sadly, major news stories describing acts of violence committed by young people arise from time to time. Re exively, people begin to point ngers at parents of the perpetrators, because the parents are seen as being responsible for the children’s actions. People speculate about a bad upbringing, and it’s common to hear suggestions that the child perpetrators are “bad seeds,” having something inherently wrong with them. Some will say that the “apple does not fall far from the tree” and repeat this belief when they see children who act and form opinions like their parents (e.g. voting the same way in elections).
