"My family was ripped apart by violence - and the killer was not a 'good bloke'", Rebecca Poulson, The Age, May 16, 2018
In this article from The Age, Rebecca Poulson writes about the recent tragic case of familial homicide in Margaret River, focussing on the way the media reports on such cases. She questions the attempts to portray the alleged perpetrator of an act of such gross violence as a "good bloke", with the usual character references and quotes from others about how "normal" and "down to earth" he was. Such a narrative takes the focus off the perpetrator by looking for external pressures and events that might have made this otherwise "good bloke" snap. The bottom line is that someone who murders his own family cannot ever be regarded as a good bloke.
In 2003, Rebecca herself lost her nephew, niece and father at the hands of the children's father who died later of self inflicted wounds. The reporting of the case was sensationalist and included unnecessary gratuitous detail of the violence inflicted.
Rebecca Poulson is the author of the book "Killing Love" and is an Our Watch Ambassador.
You can read the article here.
Please be aware that the article contains detailed accounts of family violence.
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