Parenting plays a crucial role in shaping who a child grows up to become in future. Based on this, parents are required to play their roles in bring up a child with love and affection, teaching them the right way of life. However, this was not the case for Malvo as a young child, as he faced rejection from both parents. No sound person would like to one day wake up and find that their parents don’t want anything to do with them, and to show this, mistreat the child as though he does not share the same DNA as them. Rejection reduces an individual’s self-esteem and confidence, as it makes them feel worthless in their lives. As a result, they become vulnerable to any direction that makes them feel loved. Malvo found love and comfort in John A. Muhammad, and he became a father figure that Malvo missed in his life. Since he was vulnerable, Muhammad took advantage of his situation, and influenced him to become a ruthless killer, participating in the killing spree.
The level of culpability in Malvo’s criminal procedure would be negligent, and this is because he lacked awareness of what he was doing, he was influenced by another sober person, Muhammad who pretended to act like the father figure he missed. Since he was convicted for first-degree murder, he should have been considered a blended sentence, as the murder of such extent is a serious offense. In Malvo’s case, I would have recommended him for parole, and the reason behind this is that he is a person who lacked love and affection. By providing him with love and affection, he could be easily rehabilitated to a good person. The goal, in this case, should be to take him to a rehabilitative prison as he committed the killing to impress his newly found father figure, and thus, it was not his wish or will. The eligibility for parole would result in that he has a higher chance of reforming to become a better person if only the right measures are taken.