Recent orders
Development Thinking
Development Thinking
Name
Institution
Introduction
Development is a society activity that has been seen for some period whereby social beings are characterized as being ever-present, and carrying out non-stop activity whose aim was to change their well-being from time to time. The survival, growth development and evolution for different human population, vary on the degree of result, objectives, energy and intensity of different institutions. As such, the term “civilization” suited the transitive sense of the process of the development until the end of the First World War. Consequently, after the introduction the currency, the metamorphosis of the western myth conceptualized into “modernization”, with a seemingly relative concept of “liberalization”. As a result, development kicked off and paved way not only for economic production, but also, intercepted political systems, material infrastructure and people’s relationships with each other. Different scholars postulated a number of western theories of development to explain the concept of the historic stages of social, economic, cultural and political evolution in the human society. The theories originated from disciplines of social sciences, and they included modernization theory, structuralism, basic-need theory and neo-liberalist theory. Economic development plays a key role in every society in order to achieve full economic growth. As explained by the different theories, the transition periods of development varies from one country to another. In order to achieve self-reliance for the development and to foster urbanization, education has been identified as a requirement that every society needs in order to promote the development.
Modernization Theory
The theory explained the process by which people progressed from the transitional traditional or pre-modern to a modern society. The theory focuses on the internal factors within a country and proposes that with the help of developed countries, the less developed or the “traditional” countries can develop in the same pace. The theory attempts to identify social variables that promote social progress in developing societies. For example, through the process of social evolution, modernization is credited for the modernization in China. China achieved rapid development based on the adaptation of new technologies and experiences from other countries (Andersen & Taylor, 2007).
Historians postulate that modernization was a product of industrialization and urbanization, catalyzed by the spread of education. Based on the principle of the idea of progress that emerged from The Age of Enlightenment in the 18th Century, Marquis de Condorcet came up with the theory to explain the process of the development in the society. He conceptualized that technological advancements could promote changes in cultural and moral values. Condorcet was the first to establish a relationship between social and economic development and the improvement of social affairs. However, other scientists contributed to the advancement of the theory and came up with sociological and anthropological development theory and the linear stages of growth model (Andersen & Taylor, 2007).
Sociological and Anthropological Development Theory
With the Condorcet encouraging the technological as the means of spurring social process, the sociologist, Emile Durkheim advanced the theory using the social structure approach. He stressed on the concept of functionalism and explained that the society was composed of different institutions that were independent of each other. He explained that when these units interacted with one another, they maintained social and cultural unity that led to transition of the primitive societies to a more economically advanced societies. His work largely depended on the Division of Labor whereby social order was maintained through specialization and rationalization within the capitalist system (Andersen & Taylor, 2007).
Linear Stages of Growth Model
Marshall Plan postulated the economic model that was used to revive the European economy after World War II. The model proposed that the economic development could only be achieved through industrialization. According to the model, capital injection into the country’s economy and the involvement by the public sector would lead to economic development when applied to a traditional society (Andersen & Taylor, 2007).
Intellectual Limitation of Modernization Theory
One of the limitations of the theory is that it conflated modernization with westernization. For instance, modernization could only be achieved by destroying the indigenous culture and replacing it with the westernized culture. By definition, the word modern simply means the present; therefore, any society that is still in existence is a modernized society. Opponents argued that modernity was independent of culture, and any society would adapt it whether it was primitive or westernized. For example, Japan was a non-western society but had become more westernized as a result of modernization (Andersen & Taylor, 2007).
Practical Limitation of Modernization Theory
As argued by Tipp, modernization theory was not precise, and it was difficult to prove how the traditional and modern society could be linked through internal sources of change such as liberalization, democratization and development. For instance, the theory has been accused of Eurocentricism in Europe, which its development was factored by the industrial revolution (Andersen & Taylor, 2007).
Structuralism Theory
The paradigm speculated the elements of human culture in relation to their larger overarching structures. The theory focused on the things that human beings do, feel and think, and their interrelation to constitute a social structure that was based on laws, religious rite and cultural systems. As a development theory, the theory focuses on these structural aspects that hinder economic development in developing countries. The unit analysis of the process of the country’s economic growth is subsistent agriculture, service economy and the urbanized manufacturing. The policies prescribed from structural thinking were the government interventions and how they influenced the growth in the industrial sectors. For instance, the import substitution industrialization was an intervention that was employed on the developing countries to create an economy that aimed to improve the trade of primary goods from agriculture and mining. The structuralists argued that the Third World countries could only develop if the state paved way for industrialization and the country reduced their reliance on trade from the developed countries. For instance, Chile was influenced by the structuralist in 1950 and formed the Economic Commission for Latin America to push for economic development (Cypher, 2014).
Structuralism emerged in 1900s and was postulated by Ferdinand de Saussure, who was a structural linguistic scholar. However, Raul Prebisch, took a different direction by analyzing the internal and external disequilibria of the country economy in relation to the development. Moreover, Celso Furtado developed a model to explain how the productive units in a country relied on the relationships with the developed countries in order to facilitate the development (Cypher, 2014).
Intellectual Limitations of Structuralism Theory
The neoclassical schools of thoughts focused on the free market and the action of non-intervention by the state in market operations. They claimed that the theory failed to explain the evolution of subsistence labor in Latin America towards the Industrial modern labor. The theory also gave an ambiguous definition of primary goods but and their process of evolution before they becoming processed into manufactured goods. The opponents argued that the goods were heterogeneous in nature and urged that the theory should have considered the price trends and their impact on specialization in relation to international commodity price analysi (Cypher, 2014).
Practical Limitation of Structuralism Theory
The neoclassical school of thoughts claimed that the theory was practically and theoretically misguided. They proposed that the specialization of primary goods should have relied on comparative advantages for two reasons. One of the reasons was that the deteriorating terms of trade as a result of Prebisch-Singer hypothesis was methodologically flawed. Also, the state lead industrialization could cause distortion in the market and lead to inflation. Furthermore, the structuralists claim that the Latin America did not have comparative advantages in manufacturing since it was expensive for the state to support them. However, the region had a comparative advantage as entrepreneurs were looking for opportunities resulting from protection and other incentives (Cypher, 2014).
Unilinear Progress
Unilinear model of development was stipulated by Walt Rostow and Daniel Learner. Rostow argued that there were many limitations in the traditional society that hindered economic growth. Such limitations included production facilities, rigid social structures, superstitions and non-use of science and technology. Traditional people also demonstrated irrational attitudes towards development. He argued that a traditional society starts to convert into a modern and industrial society by counteracting the inherent limitations. In order to attain development, there must be an advancement in technology and modern science and its application to industrial and agricultural sectors. When people become enlightened on how the economic development with improving their lives, they seek help from the state for the provision of the resources. Improvement in transport and communication sectors are some of the prerequisites needed for the development to take-off (Ekelund & Hébert 2013).
During the take-off stage, obstacles normal get in the way of development and crumbles the progress. At this stage, the modern institutions expand and growth becomes a normal activity. The investment rate rises from five percent to ten percent of the national income. On the other hand, labor becomes more skill oriented and as a result of other sectors developments, the farm sector also expands. The third stage is the maturity stage. The society achieves sustainable economic growth, the foreign trades blossoms and the production exceeds population growth. The high-mass consumption is the last stage of the unilinear progress whereby people choose to buy luxury goods and services. United States and Japan are regions that have developed through the unilinear progress Model (Ekelund & Hébert 2013).
The World Bank on Lesotho Underdevelopment
The World Bank views Lesotho’s lack of development has been as a result of dependent on the traditional peasant subsistence society. Lesotho is less compared to other countries developed because it has not been introduced into world’s economy due to the inaction of its government. Since its independence in 1966, Lesotho was not virtually brought into the modern economic development. As a result, the rapid population growth caused pressure on land, and many men became migrants who worked in South African in the diamond mines. The agricultural sector becomes stagnated, and Lesotho became what the World Bank referred as a country of poor economic indicators and no economic differentiation because of the overpopulation on land (Holzmann, 2009).
Conclusion
From the discussions, the theories of development have certain contradiction and limitations. However, there is a clear of transition of societies from the historic legacy of underdevelopment and emerging global hegemony of urbanized societies. The technological innovations are the prominent tools which have been addressed by the theories to enlighten people and develop their economies. As such, the focus on the choice of production and development has been described at length in structuralism as since it traces the path of development from the early movers.
References
Andersen, M., &Taylor, H. (2007). Sociology: Understanding a diverse society, updated. Natorp
Boulevard: Cengage Learning.
Cypher, J.M. (2014). The process of economic development. Abingdon: Routledge.
Ekelund, R.B., & Hébert, R.F. (2013). A History of economic theory and method: Sixth edition.
Long Grove: Waveland Press.
Holzmann, R. (2009). Social protection and labor at the world bank, 2000-08. New York, NY:
World Bank Publications.
Development The Critical Thinking Discipline Concerning The Diagnostic Imaging Practitioners
Development The Critical Thinking Discipline Concerning The Diagnostic Imaging PractitionersIntroduction
Critical thinking has been an integral part of the education system for quite a long period now. Within the field of medical practitioners where there exists a rich source of information material, devising discipline based critical thinking skills is vital to deal with information surplus. This paper therefore seeks to elucidate more on the educational feature of critical thinking and the learning theories relating to critical thinking and how they apply to diagnostic imaging practitioners. The paper begins with a simple description of critical thinking together with the supporting theories and then proceeds into an argument regarding the development of critical thinking discipline concerning the diagnostic imaging practitioners.
Characterization of Critical ThinkingCritical thinking could essentially be treated as being capable to make a distinction between the truths from the false. In spite of being fundamental to both intellectual and diagnostic imaging practitioners, critical thinking is in diminutive supply (van Gelder, 2001). Critical thinking is also defined by Bogdan (2000) as an exceptional nature of focused thinking where the thinker steadily and consistently imposes criteria and thinking principles. Dewey (1933), philosophical contemplation ought to be persistent, active and must factor in cautious deliberation of any conviction or hypothetical nature of knowledge in the view of basis that sustain it and the auxiliary conclusion where it seems to end. In the same way, critical thinking must factor in the assessment of the value, truthfulness, or genuineness of several suggestions, resulting to a manageable resolution or route for action. Kolb Experimental learning theory also proposes a four stage tentative learning theory that factors in cognition, behavior, experience and perception hence a critical thinking discipline must factor in the four stages.
As per the 1980 Executive order of California State University which pronounced for the first time the need of official critical thinking training (Dumke, 1980), Critical thinking puts more emphasis on the mental attitude of criticizing, analysis and promoting ideas and way of thinking through induction, deduction and coming to an informed or hypercritical conclusions on the basis of factual inferences emanating from clear cut knowledge statements. Likewise, Paul et al. (1997), Lampert (2005), Ennis (2002) and Perry (1999) describe critical thinking as understanding the diverse points of view, being logically thoughtful and willing to amplify information sources as well as coming up with significant questions to put together credible conclusions.
The above conventional critical thinking definitions emanates from an informed point of view that factors in everything significant to the assessment of a logical product into the perception of a person (Cohen, Adelman, Salas, Riedel, Bresnick, Marvin, 2004). Consequently, critical thinkers uphold cognizant and premeditated admittance to the reasons for their actions and attitudes. The externalist point of view on the other hand, concentrates more on procedures connected to spontaneous and acknowledgement processes that might be much trustworthy for realizing goal in recognizable surrounding or when time is inadequate (Cohen, Adelman, Salas, Riedel, Bresnick, Marvin, 2004). This perception concentrates on the dependability of various types of processes in coming up with beliefs in distinct scenarios.
Freire (1984) confirms that critical thinking may result via the mutual process of association, questioning and relations between teachers and learners as opposed to passing on knowledge to the brains of learners. Hence a critical thinker must be able to distinguish between truth and hearsays, scrutinize the assumptions, be open-minded and flexible, be conscious of deceptive opinions and remain alert on the broader picture. Meyers (1985), says that critical thinking is a skill that is learnable hence individuals can come together to broaden their thinking. He also confirms that though courses ought to be assignment oriented, text centered goals ought to focus more on the use of material rather than just acquiring it.
The Cognitive Apprenticeship constructivism learning theory terms learning as a personal construction under the learner’s atmosphere. Savery & Duffy (1995) also state that the two major key drivers of the instructional standards originated from the constructivism framework are to promote the testing thoughts alongside secondary opinions and scenarios to give a chance for reflection on the learned material together with the learning process. The ideologies are also linked to developing vital skills in critical thinking. With respect to the attainment of these important skills, literature has substantially agreed that critical thinking knowledge can be enhanced with adequate practice within the conditions stipulated below (van Gelder, 2001): first, students or learners must be motivated to enhance their skills in critical thinking, learners ought to be also guided on what they should do next. Second, laid down procedures must be availed to prevent unsuitable activities particularly during the premature stages, task convolution should also increase steadily. Finally, leaner ought to be given comments regarding the implications of their activities.
The main challenge in developing a critical thinking discipline is that acquired skills in one area may not necessarily apply to a certain area. So as to deal with this problem, learners must adequately get used to applying their skills over other different scenarios (van Gelder, 2001). This perception of disseminating universal thinking skills is in contradiction with Cognitivism learning theory point of which proposes that all thinking is restricted to particular physical scenarios and that we cannot transfer learning to other secluded contexts. But then by utilizing technology, feedback, guidance and scaffolding, the activities of learners relating to critical thinking skills can be enhanced.
Within the scenario of diagnostic imagery, equipping the learner with critical thinking skills has more meaning than just the critical analysis of diagnostic imagery equipment. Since knowledge is transferred best when contextualized into the material common to the learner, instructions based on inquiry with pre-existing application in the real world within an involving atmosphere would provide a perfect prospect for teaching skills relating to critical thinking. Such an example would be an involving designed classroom equipped with instructors from the areas of diagnostic imaging discipline suggesting real-life problems that practitioners can provide solutions jointly.
Development of critical thinking discipline concerning the diagnostic imaging practitionersToday’s healthcare atmosphere is much different that it was 20 years back. The national policies and reduced compensation for services by insurance firms have yielded a change from in-patient strategies to incorporation of out-patient equipment and services. Medical equipment together with knowledge and technology has advanced to a greater extent, thus transitioning diagnostic imaging image forever. The need for proper education has become more necessary. As the world witness’s complexity and huge workloads of diagnostic imaging measures and equipment, it also commands students to take longer periods of time within an imaging facility, undertaking measures on real patients so as to gain the nature of competency anticipated from them. Since much of what we regard as competency is connected to good decision making, effective and cognitive critical thinking components must also be inculcated into diagnostic imaging practitioners.
Skills in psychometrics may develop within a period of time and can even be practiced more; however, other measures must be put in placeso as to make sure that diagnostic imaging practitioners understand how to think deeply. Due to the fact that hours for clinical contact have been reduced, the diagnostic imaging programs must ensure that they devise a substantial amount of pre-clinical knowledge which could be practiced and internalized within a classroom setting before handling real world problems. This will enhance the practitioner confidence in dealing with real world problems. More focus should then be drawn towards the outcomes of learning and must be followed by a massive awareness of the vitality to teach practitioners to think; and be alert learners as opposed to being passive knowledge recipients. Educators must strive to inculcate effective reasoning, evaluation and analysis of emerging situations skills to students and participating in lifetime learning. Hence, since active educational process enhances improved thinking, it is important to transition the strategies of teaching rather than constantly revising the curricular material and depending on conventional teaching techniques.
Conventional teaching techniques have been used for quite a long time, despite indications of its inefficiencies for durable knowledge retention thus offering little support to critical thinking. Tutorial teaching cultivates a norm where students are always passive knowledge recipients while the lecturer is exclusively in charge of learning. Several strategies exist therefore that develop a critical thinking discipline and even though they are distinct in way of implementation, they are much more similar in what they factor in adequate student interaction and engagement with one another.
In developing critical thinking, unequivocal endeavor must be focused towards curriculum development that systematically and particularly centers on these skills. Institutions must shift from formal classes and adopt activities that are clinically based which factor in bureaucratic adaptation and critical reflection as a vital organ for critical thinking development as suggested by the activity learning theory. Through subjecting students to individual learning accountability, instructors foster learning via events and techniques that facilitate critical thinking. There can only be learning if students are encouraged to critically think.
Inculcating skills required for critical and logic thinking to students may not ascertain their ability to apply these skills elsewhere within areas of clinical practice. Hence there should be discipline specific frameworks to teach critical thinking. Diagnostic imaging practitioner’s critical thinking ought to relate with the scientific techniques thus generally distinct character wise to non discipline specific settings. Scenarios that call for critical thinking maybe like making a decision according to patient condition changes that call for treatment procedure alterations or when equipment fails to function correctly.
Therefore in a bid to disseminate optimum diagnostic imaging, with its swiftly dynamic technology together with several superior modalities calls for critical thinkers who are independent. This is all achieved by moving away from the lecturer centric activities to student focusing activities which draws the learning duty to students.
References BIBLIOGRAPHY Bogdan, R. J. (2000). Minding minds. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Cohen, M. S. (2004). Dialogue as a medium (and message) for training critical thinking.
Dewey, J. (1993). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan.
Dumke, G. (1980). Chancellor’s Executive Order 338. . California State University, Chancellor’s Office, Long Beach.
Ennis, R. (2002). A super streamlined conception of critical thinking. .
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: The Continuum Publishing Company. .
Lampert, N. (2005). A comparison of the critical thinking dispositions of arts and non-arts undergraduates. PhD dissertation, College of William and Mary.
Meyers, C. (1985). Teaching students to think critically. . San Francisco.: Jossey Bass.
Paul, R. E. (1997). California teacher preparation for instruction in critical thinking: Research findings and policy recommendations. Sacramento, CA:. California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
Perry, W. G. (1999). Forms of ethical and intellectual development in the college years. A scheme. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Savery, J. R. (1995). Problem based learning: An instructional model and its constructivist framework. Educational Technology 33(1) 31-38.
vanGelder, T. (2001). How to improve critical thinking using educational technology. Melbourne, Australia: University of Melbourne.
Critical Case Study Report James Fairweather
Critical Case Study Report: James FairweatherStudent Name
PSY356 Criminal Psychology
Date
The Crime and the Criminal
In 2014, James Fairweather was convicted for the murder of two strangers in Essex. His first murder occurred on 29 March 2014, when he attacked and killed 33-year-old James Attfield who had a brain injury at the time of the attack. He stabbed the victim 102 times. His second murder occurred three months later on 17 June, when he attacked and stabbed 31-year old Saudi student of the University of Essex, Nahid Almanea to death (Odd Murders and Mysteries, 2021). He was apprehended as he was planning his third murder in May, 2015. While he admitted responsibility for murdering the two victims, and claimed that it was manslaughter instead of murder because of diminished responsibility.
James Fairweather was 15 years when he committed the two murders. As a young child, precisely at the age of six years, in his school report, it was noted that he was a well behaved child, who was sensitive to the needs of others. However, in high school, his behavior turned to the worst. It was reported that he was subjected to bullying, whereby students targeted him because of his large years, and had nicknamed him ‘Dumbo (Odd Murders and Mysteries, 2021).’ He in turn started bullying other students. It is alleged that he behaved in this manner because he was afraid of being bullied. In addition to that, he increasingly began displaying aggressive behavior to the point of going through a teacher’s bag to take a report of him. Furthermore, there are students who claimed that on more than one occasion, he had stated that his future career aspirations were to become a murderer (Odd Murders and Mysteries, 2021). Also, prior to committing these murders, he had been engaged in a knife-point robbery at a local store, but was apprehended and sentenced to youth supervision. This occurred three days before his first murder.
Theoretical Explanations
Earlier definitions of serial killers, such as the one provided by the FBI in 1988 described serial killers as individuals who had committed at-least three murders at different occassions. This provided them with a ‘cooling-off,’ period between the murders. In 2005, at the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, it defined serial killing as an unlawful killing of two, or more victims by the same offender in separate events. Given this recent definition, James Fairweather qualifies to be labeled as a serial killer.
Researchers have provided different factors to explain why serial killers behave in the manner that they do. According to Vronsky (2004), infancy is an important part of proper development and it influences an adult’s personality. The first twelve months of a child play a critical role in the overall development of emotions for a child such as the development of different emotions such as affection and remorse. In this case, if a child is not subjected to things such as physical touch, or receiving adequate attention, then they are likely to develop personality disorders in the future (Canter, 2005). This notion was supported by Vronsky (2004) whose study suggested that it is possible to determine if a child has serial killers tendencies as early as when they are two years old. It has been determined that a majority of serial killers did not receive adequate attention and physical touch when they were infants as in most cases, they were abandoned, or given up for adoption by their biological mothers. This has been demonstrated by assessing the lives of serial killers such as David Berkowitz, Joel Rifkin, and Kenneth Bianchi who did not receive enough attention as children when they were infants as their mothers gave them up for adoption. In the case of Fairweather, he was raised by his biological points, and there were no indications that he lacked attention from his parents, going by his six-year old school report, which described him as a loving and caring child.
Serial killers are described to have been isolated from their peers as children. The reason for this is that, they may have suffered from a range of problems, which affected their self-esteem. Issues such as weight problems, stuttering and learning problems such as dyslexia could contribute to a child becoming isolated and ultimately contribute to him, or her becoming a serial killer.
From a biological perspective, it has been described that a majority of serial killers have been described to suffer from a condition, which is known as Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD). MBD may contribute to an individual displaying aggressive behavior and motiveless homicide (Siegel, 2005). This coupled with physiological, and physical abuse can contribute to an individual becoming a serial killer. This correlates with Fairweather as it has been described that at school, he suffered from dyslexia and autism, which were not diagnosed until when he was detained. In addition to that, he had prominent ears, which contributed to him being subjected to bullying at school. Such issues could have contributed to him becoming a serial killer, as it has been alleged that his behavior worsened once he reached high school. He began to bully people to avoid being bullied, and even took the blame for the other students’ bad behaviors within the school setting.
Studies have revealed that a majority of serial killers are obsessed with fantasies. In an early study that was conducted by Burgess, Hartman, Ressler, Douglas and McCormack (1986) it was determined that unresolved stress feelings and experienced trauma may contribute to a child becoming obsessed with fantasies of domination and control, which arise from either sexual, or aggressive fantasies. In another study that was conducted by Hickey (2010), the study findings indicated that, there are people who engaged in obsessive fantasies of torture, control of their victims, and murder fascination as a coping strategy. The murder fantasies mainly arise from conflict with other people, and for them, fantasizing about killing acts as a solution to the problem that they are facing.
It has been determined that, James Fairweather fantasied a lot about killing. This is based on indications of the violent video games that he played. In addition to that, his mobile phone search history has been described as ‘grisly.’ In addition to that, he had a serial killer fantasy whereby he spent a majority of time looking up, or searching for other serial killers such as the Yorkshire Ripper, and the Stockwell strangler (Christodoulou, 2019). In addition to that, he had spent a considerable period on online encyclopedias searching for information on different type of murderers. Furthermore, there were DVDs that were seized from his home such as ‘Bind Torture Kill,’ ‘Serial Killers: A Peter Sutcliffe documentary’, and documentary on the serial killer Ted Bundy. These are all indications that he fantasied about displaying aggressive behavior and controlling his victims (Christodoulou, 2019). This can explain why he stabbed his victims so many times. He stabbed Attfield 100 times, while for Almanea, she was stabbed 16 times.
Serial killers will normally fall into two sub-sets based on their activities-organized and the disorganized offenders. This is mainly determined by the evaluation of the crime scene, assessment of the victims and forensic evidence, and engaging in the personality and behavioral characteristics of the perpetrators (Vargas Cervantes, 2019). On one hand, the organized offender is assumed to lead an organized, and average life. For this killer, it is assumed that he has an above average intelligence level, a skilled employee and socially competent. The crime scene of an organized offender alludes to the fact that he or she carefully planned the attack, by for instance, carrying a weapon, and leaving it with him. In addition to that, he will take careful measures to avoid leaving evidence such as finger prints by wearing gloves. On the other hand, the disorganized serial killer will leave the crime scene in a disarray manner. It has been determined that the offender is an opportunistic killer. This means that he does not plan his attacks well before executing them. In addition to that, the killer is thought to be socially inadequate and has a below-average intelligence level.
Assessing the crime scene, location of the murders and the intelligence levels of the killer, it can be deduced that he is a disorganized killer. First, he was an opportunistic killer. It can be determined that he did not plan his murders and he killed because an opportunity presented itself. Secondly, he left his crime scenes in disarray. Although he did not leave behind his weapon and even wore a glove as was witnessed in his third murder attempt, his first two murder scenes were disorganized. Third, and perhaps the most important was that he was not intelligent. He performed poorly in school and did not fit well with his peers from a social perspective. All these factors contributed to him being categorized as a disorganized killer.
Intervention Strategies
There are various intervention strategies that could have been put in place to avoid these murders. The first step that could have assisted James Fairweather was to subject him to counseling initiatives once the teachers and parents noted a decline in his academic performance. During these counseling sessions, the psychologists would have diagnosed his autism and dyslexia issues, and he would have received the right academic assistance to assist him perform well in school (Vargas Cervantes, 2019). Secondly, counselling would have helped him in terms of dealing with self-esteem issues and bullying at school. He would have been able to accept his big ears, which were subject to his bullying, and it would have assisted in helping not to develop the aggressive behavior, which contributed to him to become a serial killer. Thirdly, it would have helped him to be able to cope with his grandmother’s death. It is alleged that he was close with his grandmother, and after she died, evidence from his classmates indicate that he did not deal with his loss properly. It was around that time when he became increasingly violent, and started telling his classmates that he intended to undertake murder as a future career. Had he undergone counseling, he would have been able to deal with the death of his grandmother better than was the present case, and this would have assisted him to not engage in those murders.
Law authorities should have taken serious measures and provided him with a stricter sentence for his first crime. He used a knife to commit a robbery, and instead of being provided with youth suspension, a stricter sentence could have been handed to him (Myers et al., 2008). A harsher sentence would have maybe prevented, or helped him not to commit these murders. It can be argued that by being provided with a light sentence for a serious crime could have motivated him to engage in these murders because he felt that the law would be lenient for him as a minor. However, had a stricter sentence been provided, it would have maybe deterred him from engaging in these other crimes because he would have been aware of the consequences of his actions.
The parents should have been more vigilant. It is alleged that he was watching documentaries of serial killers at home. This should have been a point of concern for his parents, given that he was displaying aggressive behaviors in school. It would have helped in reducing the likelihood of him engaging in these activities because they would have alerted the relevant authorities who would have taken the right measures to prevent him from engaging in these crimes (Myers et al., 2008). For instance, by telling the police that he was watching these programs, it may have contributed to his phone being searched, identifying that he may have had ulterior motives in his initial crime and him being sentenced for his actions. It would have also contributed to his school actions being assessed deeply and determine that there was a trend in his behavior which needed to be addressed. This would also have contributed to him being recommended to get psychiatric assistance, and if this had been achieved, it can be argued that it would have prevented James Fairweather to become the youngest serial killer in the United Kingdom. His murder victims can be considered to be a way for him to vent out, or explore his fantasies and if he had received psychological assistance, it would have been alienated at an early stage.
References
Burgess, A. W., Hartman, C. R., Ressler, R. K., Douglas, J. E., & Mccormack, A. (1986). Sexual homicide. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1(3), 251-272. https://doi.org/10.1177/088626086001003001Canter, D. (2005). Offender profiling and investigative psychology. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 1(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.7Christodoulou, H. (2019, May 24). UK’s youngest serial killer shows cops how he knifed a dad 102 times. The Sun. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9144179/james-fairweather-serial-killer-footage-police/Hickey, E. W. (2010). Serial murderers and their victims (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Leamjng.
Keppel, R. D., & Birnes, W. J. (2003). Recognition and acknowledgment of serial murder. The Psychology of Serial Killer Investigations, 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-012404260-5/50002-7Myers, W. C., Bukhanovskiy, A., Justen, E., Morton, R. J., Tilley, J., Adams, K., Vandagriff, V. L., & Hazelwood, R. R. (2008). The relationship between serial sexual murder and autoerotic asphyxiation. Forensic Science International, 176(2-3), 187-195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2007.09.005Odd Murders and Mysteries. (2021, February 7). James Fairweather • Child killers • Teenage murderer. Home • Odd Murders & Mysteries • True Crime • Resources. https://oddmurdersandmysteries.com/james-fairweather/Siegel, L. J. (2005). Criminology: The core (2°d ed.). Australia: Thomson Wadsworth.
Vargas Cervantes, S. (2019). Framing the serial killer. The Little Old Lady Killer, 25-62. https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479876488.003.0002Vronsky, P. (2004). Serial killers: The method and madness of monsters. Penguin.