Violation of the social ability of the teens
Through Psychology, there is the scientific study of the mind and the related behavior. It is a broad field that includes many sub-disciplines like health, cognitive process, clinical, social behavior, and human development. On the other hand, the law is a system of rules formulated and enforced by the government to regulate behavior. Through statute, an individual in a state becomes constrained in the manner of conduct, as stated by the will of the country. The combination of the two brings up another definition. Ogloff and Finkelman (1999) postulated that the field is “the scientific study of the effect the law has on people and the effect people have on the law.” The development of movies tries to bring up psychology and law factors that affect society. One example of a film on Netflix is ‘When They See Us.’ The film, directed by Ava DuVernay, portrays incidences of breach of law through psychology and law in the following ways.
Originally titled ‘the central park five,’ ‘when they see us’ is a film that revolves around five Harlem teenagers arrested for attempted murder and rape of a 28-year-old female jogger in central park, 1989. The crime in the movie suggests a relation to the breach in the systems of law that undermines a group of people, the minority.
The film focuses on the injustice committed to five colored teenagers. Ava Duvernay wrote and directed the movie to bring out a clear picture of what transpired during the event of rape and wrongful conviction. The boys who are prosecuted as men include Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, Kevin Richardson, and Antron McCray. The focus of the research was to show how racial discrimination is related to crimes in the united states of America. What transpired is that the boys were doing their teenage things in Harlem one night in April. Fights then erupt at the central park as a mob follows kids who were running into the park. As a result, there was an assault on a young 28-year-old investment banker, Trisha Meili. These four boys constituted of blacks and Latino. The aftermath resulted in the arrest of these five boys. The research is thus focused on determining the process of conviction of the five boys.
Violation of the correct procedure used to convict suspects were seen in the following ways. Just after the capture of the five boys, the questioning started without the presence of an attorney nor parent. Teens convicted have the right to have an attorney who will help during the process. This aspect of denying the boys a chance to possess attorneys is evidence of racial discrimination. It could have been different for a white convict. Also, the people involved in the fight are not brought to justice. A question may arise, where did the others go? Why were they not included in the questioning? According to the situation at the crime scene, the arrest of individuals should have been diverse to gather enough evidence for a conviction. Also, the approach used to convict the five boys is wrong since there was a mob involved. The detectives coerced the boys into admitting to the crime and also giving wrong testimonials. The confessions imposed by the police set them against one another. The judgment that falls on the teens is unexpected since the system used to convict them was for the adults.
Psychological and law influence in the film occurs all through the trial and the media. The media uses catchy but powerful words to storm the news. It made sure that all citizens of Manhattan should believe the narrative portrayed by the media agency. They use headlines such as bloodthirsty teenagers from Harlem descend to attack white, wealthy Manhattanites.
The procedure used to carry out the process of conviction follows. Firstly, the suspects were separated into two groups. They were then tried differently as the juries convicted the youths individually using various charges relating to the ordeal of the white female. Four were charged guilty of rape and faced maximum terms for juveniles. The one left, 16-year-old, Korey Wise, suffered a case that treated him as an adult. He served his time in an adult prison. Throughout the movie, DuVernay consistently uses the right means to justify how the justice system is broken clearly. There is an instant where questioning occurs for 30 hours without availing food to the boys and giving them a chance to rest.
The boys, now men, were eventually released in 2002 when the assailant confessed. Since time had passed after their conviction, they struggle to adapt to the new usual way of life. They come home, finding differences in their family, and having no place to work. One can imagine the drag faced by these wrongly convicted men. Also, there is an aspect of encouragement from some of the relatives of the convicts. In the film, the mother of Antron tells her son the love she has for him cannot get changed by how hard society hates him.
Through the film, it is possible to learn breaches in the current judicial system. It is evident that racial discrimination is still occurring, and a proper remedy of the situation should come to an establishment. The story of the five teenagers reveals the pain people who have been convicted wrongly in the judicial system face. The right approach to crimes should have no bias by any means since all lives matter. There is n expectation that after an occurrence of an event needing the legal system that there will be enforcement of justice but in this case, different and inhuman approach occurs. The influence of the media on their case as promoted the existence of a psychological bump after the release. The boys find it hard to fit into society since the wrong picture of them is in people’s minds. The issue of empathy also comes into place when their family and people around them realize that the convicts were innocent. Such a situation makes it hard for a person to believe the judicial system.
The film brings a clear outline of the racial abuse of the legal system. Imagine if the convicts were white? Would the same procedure use play a role? The answer is a definite no! There would be another approach to ensure that there is justice. The legal system of the state of New York wasted 15 to 20 years of the life of teenagers. They could have even brought development in society. From the film, we can see the violation of the social ability of the teens.