Ser Ning Lua

The movie “12 Angry Men” is set in the Court of Law jury room. The twelve jurors had to come to a unanimous verdict about the murder case, where the 19-year-old defendant is accused of killing his father. If found guilty, the defendant will face a death penalty. Initially, all the jurors presumed that the defendant was guilty, except for the Juror 8, who voted “not guilty”. In their discussions, the Juror 8 questioned the other jurors’ reasonings behind their assertions. He led the jurors in negotiating, bringing in pertinent views and points that were derived from careful observation and analysis of the conflicting arguments presented by various parties. The agreement that the defendant was “not guilty” was eventually derived. One issue in failing to reach an optimal negotiated solution is not being able to separate people from the problem. Negotiators are firstly people, who have emotions, entrenched values and varying backgrounds. Hence, it is easy to view the problem from their personal vantage point, and they frequently confuse their perceptions with reality. Juror 3 based his assertions on his poor relationship with his son, instead of the actual evidence presented in the case. Juror 3 had not seen his son in three years and was punched by his son. He took this case personally and is anxious to put the blame on “rotten kids”. Therefore, he brings in his personal emotions and anger. Being fixated on his position and clouded by his personal experiences, he is unable to be objective and clearly evaluate the evidence and arguments put forth. Juror 4 was also guilty about failing to separate people from the problem. He dismissed the values and character of the defendant, claiming that he was a “product of a filthy neighbourhood and a broken home”. Juror 4 asserted that “slums are breeding grounds for criminals”, meaning that he based the defendant’s guilt on the defendant’s background and growing environment. Both Juror 3 and 4 were focused on attacking the defendant, instead of using systematic reasoning and questioning to seek the truth. Often, we are guided by preconceptions of different groups of people based on our knowledge of their socio-economic backgrounds and past doings. However, it is essential to dissert biasedness and reserve our judgements about people during negotiations as these preconceptions will affect the way we feel, think and act. When we are overwhelmed by emotions, we should first recognise and understand these emotions, talk about these emotions and manage them, before continuing the negotiations. Logical thought processes and objectivity are required for successful negotiations.