Bus 147 - Criterion A

SANDRO ROSA

Question: Assessment; “Is Sandro Rosa to Blame for the Murder of the Primary School Teacher”

Paragraph 1

Ø  Briefly describe what happened

Level 4) Sandro Rosa decided that he was going to rob the passengers on a bus. He needed money because he was a drug addict: I believe this statement is somewhat true as although he needed money I don’t believe that is the reason for the hostage.  From multiple sources we can infer that he seemed to be angry and often aggravated due to his tragic past. It started of at the age of six when he witnessed the tragic death oh his mother by watching someone stab her to he last breath, therefore ran away from home the streets on ‘Vagabond’. Unfortunately it did not end there for Nascimento, as on July 23, 1993, Brazilian policemen killed 8 adolescents and several others injured (of which were his friends). However Nascimento remained unharmed.

Level 5) Some of the economic reasons for Sandro’s crime: would be for a starter that he did not have a lot of money and was in an extreme tight economical situation therefore was in need for money. This could’ve have been the reason which led to the Sandro’s actions. On the other hand there might have been a chance of another reason such as, needing to pay someone as a loan. Previously he might have been broke and asked someone for a loan in money, and as not payed yet, therefore could be faced with a threat of some sort.

Level 5) Some of the social reasons for Sandro’s crime: according to author ‘Steven Briggs’ “A person’s physical and social environments are primarily responsible for the behavioural choices that person makes.” Using this statement we can infer that, Nascimento could have been encouraged by his environment, in particular, if his neighbourhood was one that has fraying social structures, which is more likely to have high crime rates. Due to his past he could be wanting to gain some attention and/or is just fed up with what keeps happening to him.

Level 6) Some of the social and economic reasons are linked because:

The social reason being his mothers death led to Nascimento having nobody to support him in the long run, therefore leading to Nascimento asking for loans or being in drug dealing gangs. We could presume that with the lack of support provided to him he, he could be willing to in fact go to jail due to being provided with shelter and food.

Level 6) Overall I think Sandro is / is not to blame for the crime because:

Overall I think Nascimento is to blame for the crime, although through his rough history, it was his decision to take the drugs and independently chose to hijack the bus. Although he didn’t intend to kill anyone he still did pull of a hoax, which is considered to be a federal crime. You could argue that the officers are to blame as they are the ones who shot the school teacher, however, the officers who took him into custody were charged with murder; after jury trial they were found not guilty.

Level 7) Explain how the death of the school teacher might not have happened if some of the factors above were different:
The death of the school teacher might not have occurred if Sandro’s past was less violent, as in, not witnessing the death of his mother in a brutal inhumane way.  If this hadn’t had happened he wouldn’t have been in the situation of possibly needing money or seeking attention.