#5: Emotional Blinding

Emily Nolen

English 102

Mr. Benton

9-5-2012

Emotional Blinding

We have all been in a situation where we have been to emotional to see the truth. People have to most compassion for children and become very defensive when children are mistreated, because they are helpless. When we become emotional out first instinct is to find someone to blame. Our emotions make us careless and sloppy, this becomes a huge problem in the justice system! Innocent people are put behind bars because we let our emotions blind us to the facts of the case.

In “The Child Cases” it shows that many times the caregiver is the primary suspect in a child’s death. Many medical examiners notes showed imagined injuries. The chief medical examiner that was interviewed explained that it is very hard to keep disconnected from the case and look at the facts when there is a child involved and the swell of emotion the medical examiner feels can cause them to see things that are not there or not consider the whole picture such as pathology or medical history. There should be higher standers of examination when a child is involved due to the emotional conflict. The child’s body should examined by more than one doctor and should not come to a conclusion on a diagnosis with out considering the whole picture: physical exam, pathological exam, medical history, mothers medical history..ect. There were several instances in “The Child Cases” investigations where the examiner did not holistically consider the medical history and made a wrong diagnosis sending innocent people to prison.

When the innocent people are sent to prison and they either serve their time or are acquitted; their lives after prison are ruined by their record. It is almost impossible to find a job, their reputations are ruined, and they have missed all the events in their children’s and families lives. People must remember to stay objective and think of what their incompetence could mean to others. Broken families, lost jobs, bad reputations, and worst of all the children who have died families don’t truly know what happen to their child; so always remember to stay objective and don’t let your emotions blind you.