Critical Thinking Assignment on Jacob Ind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Critical Thinking Assignment on Jacob Ind - Essay Example Jacob Ind faced several risk factors that might have contributed to their criminal activity. Behavioral and social factors were the major risk factors in his case. He lived in a poor family structure characterized by home dissonance, child abuse, and inconsiderate parents, which resulted in his delinquency. His father was physically abusive, while his mother perpetrated emotional abuse. Ind thought about killing his parents for over three years and finally did it because he saw no way out of the abuse from his parents. Although the punishment for murder is legally proscribed, Ind does not have a blameworthy frame of mind. His actions resulted from the risk factors his parents exposed him to at home. If he were an adult and of a mature mind, he would have simply walked away from home and lived elsewhere with his abusive parents. I do not think that a sentence of life without the possibility of parole is a just punishment for Jacob Ind. There is enough evidence of the motive of the criminal offense, and it was plainly because of the torture from his parents. It is a cruel and unusual punishment for a teenager to undergo a life sentence without parole for an offense done out self-defense, without any ulterior motive. In fact, Ind believed that the marijuana in his bedroom was a more serious offense that the murder of his oppressive parents. The wealth of characteristics and circumstances attendant to the offense is convincing enough for a lesser sentence by the judge. The PBS website indicates, â€Å"Even some of the jurors who convicted him wonder if he deserved life without parole†. The life sentence without parole was an unfortunate sentence for Jacob Ind. I believe that the death penalty and sentences of life imprisonment are both punitive measures that significantly change the life of a youth offender.