What is a ‘valid’ reason to commit murder? Ideally, no answer would truly suffice, as we are taught from a young age that killing is morally wrong. But, what allows us to establish the difference between morally right and wrong? The human conscience can only do so much, due to an individual’s vulnerability to be influenced from by peers, media and society. So, the line between a valid reason to commit murder and an invalid reason become easily blurred…Matricide is an extremely rare form of homicide, especially cases involving teenage girls. These cases receive mass media attention, which expose the varied motives behind the murder to a captivated audience. Whether we believe it was a ‘valid’ reason or not is completely subjective to our personal morals and biases. Generally, the media cases that evoke the most sympathy from an audience involve girls that have snapped due to extensive physical and/or emotional abuse from their mother – e.g. the Whitehead Murder Case. Other cases that generate negative attention involve girls who become the abuser themselves, due to reasons such as overindulgence, serious …show more content…
Other negative behaviours associated with aggressive behaviour result including lying, truancy, rebellion, and theft. Tasmiyah and Jasmiyah Whitehead were former Girl Scouts and straight-A students. However, when they entered their teenage years, their grades dropped considerably and the twins were repeatedly getting themselves into trouble. Several allegations suggest that Jarmecca Whitehead had a history of drug abuse and was known to engage in promiscuity, which provokes the question, were the twins out of control abusers, or were they victims of neglect? Although serious dysfunction is clearly evident in the Whitehead family, this does not entirely support the justification of Jarmecca’s death, despite Tasmiyah and Jasmiyah’s near ‘valid’