tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/violent-crime-19365/articlesViolent crime – The Conversation2024-02-06T15:50:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2227922024-02-06T15:50:29Z2024-02-06T15:50:29ZAcid attacks appear to be on the rise – what the numbers tell us about corrosive substances and crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573748/original/file-20240206-21-d7iow2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=127%2C103%2C3928%2C2073&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/busy-crowds-anonymous-motion-blurred-shoppers-1137631598">William Barton/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The horrific attack in Clapham, South London, has brought the issue of acid violence and chemical attacks to the fore. On January 31, Abdul Ezedi allegedly decanted a corrosive substance over a mother and her two children. Thankfully, the injuries sustained by the victims were not life threatening, but the mother’s were described as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/clapham-attack-alkaline-abdul-ezedi-b2489229.html">“potentially life changing”</a>. Police are still looking for the suspect.</p>
<p>Many people are often surprised to hear that this type of violence has, unfortunately, been a feature of British life <a href="https://forgedbyfiresite.wordpress.com/2021/06/21/blinded-by-jealousy-vitriol-throwing-in-victorian-britain/">since Victorian times</a>. Such attacks – also known as acid throwing, corrosive crime, noxious substance attack, vitriol attack and burns violence – emerged in countries where acids were used in industrial processes. </p>
<p>Spikes in acid attacks (of around 500 in 12 months) were observed again in London <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1042196/">in the 1980s</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-62296-1">more recently in 2017</a> (around 616 in 12 months).</p>
<h2>How many acid attacks are there?</h2>
<p>Data obtained by the Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI) via a freedom of information request estimates that in England and Wales there were <a href="https://www.asti.org.uk/learn/a-worldwide-problem#:%7E:text=China-,United%20Kingdom,to%20reach%20421%20in%202021.">941 attacks in 2017</a>, falling steadily over the next few years to 427 in 2021. However, this has since gone up again, with 710 attacks reported in 2022 (an increase of 70%). Also for the first time <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/uk/acid-attacks-increase-by-69-in-england-and-wales-with-more-women-than-men-victims/articleshow/104563195.cms?from=mdr">in 2022</a>, women were more likely to be the victim of an attack than men. </p>
<p>The large increase from 2021-22 might partially be explained by COVID lockdowns suppressing the 2021 number. However, the shift to a higher proportion of female victims is new.</p>
<p><a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/601ac2f08fa8f53fbf42be28/motivations-of-offenders-who-use-corrosives-in-criminal-acts-horr121.pdf">My research</a> with colleagues into the motivations of acid offenders shows that attacks in countries including India, Bangladesh and Colombia are commonly misogynistic attacks by men against women. Such attacks may be motivated by rejections of marriage proposals, courtship or sex. </p>
<p>In the UK, however, acid violence has commonly been male on male. Corrosives have been used as a <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/601ac2f08fa8f53fbf42be28/motivations-of-offenders-who-use-corrosives-in-criminal-acts-horr121.pdf">weapon in street violence</a> to overcome assailants, enforce drug debts or commit robberies. They can easily be disguised in water bottles, and may be used to enhance an offender’s street reputation. </p>
<p>As is often the case with crime statistics, data on the number of acid attacks is patchy. This is mainly because we rely on whether crimes are reported to the police, and knowing what types of substances are being thrown at people. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman on a street at night looks fearful, a hooded figure is in the foreground appearing to confront her" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573744/original/file-20240206-22-ojihjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573744/original/file-20240206-22-ojihjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573744/original/file-20240206-22-ojihjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573744/original/file-20240206-22-ojihjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573744/original/file-20240206-22-ojihjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573744/original/file-20240206-22-ojihjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573744/original/file-20240206-22-ojihjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Corrosive substance attacks are commonly part of other street crime.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/danger-woman-fear-criminal-city-night-2305426629">Yuri A/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Not all of these attacks involve high concentrate acids. <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/601ac2f08fa8f53fbf42be28/motivations-of-offenders-who-use-corrosives-in-criminal-acts-horr121.pdf">Our research</a> observed that in 455 cases of crimes involving acid, 15% were genuinely acid attacks but 32% actually involved household products such as bleach. </p>
<p>This distinction is important, not only because high concentrate acids are more difficult to obtain, but it also tells us something about planning and intent to cause serious harm. The research found that acid was most likely to be used against a criminal rival, while household products were most likely to be used against a partner. </p>
<p>While the data collected by ASTI requires further scrutiny and analysis, the potential implications are worrying. It is also possible that the figures are an underestimate, as they only include incidents reported to the police. It is unclear why victims are unlikely to report, but <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/601ac2f08fa8f53fbf42be28/motivations-of-offenders-who-use-corrosives-in-criminal-acts-horr121.pdf">my research</a> suggests it might be because the victims may also be involved in criminality.</p>
<h2>What is being done to prevent acid attacks?</h2>
<p>During the spike in acid attacks in 2017, convicted offenders were given <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/19/arthur-collins-jailed-for-acid-attack-in-london-nightclub">heavy sentences</a>, as a deterrent to others. The <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62b5a729d3bf7f0af821f01d/2022-06-24_OWAct_Statutory_Guidance_Final_-SE.pdf">Offensive Weapons Act</a> in 2019 created the offence of possession of corrosives “capable of burning human skin” in a public place, restricted sales of certain products to under-18s and gave the police powers to search people for corrosives. </p>
<p>Early results were promising, as the fall in attacks between 2019-21 demonstrates. However, the recent reversal is concerning. We don’t really know the full picture due to unreliable data on numbers of attacks, and a lack of any formal, independent evaluation of prevention efforts.</p>
<p>The government’s <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5acb21d140f0b64fed0afd55/serious-violence-strategy.pdf">serious violence strategy</a>, published in 2018, placed a priority on acid attacks, and called for a public health approach to tackle serious violence. However, it will take time to evaluate whether this will be successful in reducing serious violence.</p>
<p><a href="https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/toolkit/">Early evidence</a> from the Youth Endowment Fund suggests that some approaches to reducing violence – such as youth violence <a href="https://youthendowmentfund.org.uk/toolkit/ae-navigators/">specialists</a> in A&E and specific types of therapy – can be effective. However, these interventions require significant resources, and the evidence base for establishing what works is still in its infancy. </p>
<p>Thankfully, serious acid attacks like the one in Clapham are rare, though attacks where less serious injuries occur are more common. But the latest data, and the history of this specific type of crime, tells us that there are likely to be spikes in the future. </p>
<p>With that in mind, we owe it to any potential victims and their loved ones to do all we can to take the steps required to prevent future attacks. This means collecting more accurate data on the numbers of attacks, and educating young people in the most vulnerable communities about the dangers of carrying corrosive substances.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Hopkins receives funding from Home Office. I received a Home Office grant to study this in 2018 (which ended in 2020). </span></em></p>Corrosive substance attacks against women in particular are on the rise.Matt Hopkins, Associate Professor in Criminology, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2193432024-02-04T11:52:08Z2024-02-04T11:52:08ZSouth Africa’s military is expected to do more than ever with tighter budgets: how the force has declined over 30 years
<p>The South African National Defence Force marks 30 years this year, having been established on <a href="https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/items/85cca040-8e52-43ae-8451-942ca1874d11">27 April 1994</a>. It’s as old as the country’s <a href="https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-african-general-elections-1994">constitutional democracy</a>, the result of a negotiated political settlement that ended apartheid. The <a href="http://www.dod.mil.za/">defence force</a> consists of the <a href="http://www.army.mil.za/Pages/Home.aspx">army</a>, <a href="https://www.saairforce.co.za/">air force</a>, <a href="http://www.navy.mil.za/Pages/Home.aspx">navy</a>, and <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/sa-defence/sa-defence-sa-defence/joining-the-south-african-national-defence-force/">military health service</a>.</p>
<p>It’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-military-is-set-for-personnel-reforms-why-it-matters-178064">an amalgamation</a> of the former apartheid era South African Defence Force, the militaries of the former nominally independent Bophuthatswana, Transkei, Ciskei and Venda, and the former liberation armies of the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania. It’s currently <a href="https://www.military.africa/2023/04/top-10-strongest-militaries-in-africa/">ranked third</a> in Africa, after Egypt and Algeria. </p>
<p>Where does the defence force find itself after three decades? How does it measure up to its <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/wp-content/uploads/Repository/A-Guide-to-the-SANDF/A-guide-to-the-SANDF-chapter-6-The-SANDF.pdf">mandate</a> of defending the country against external aggression, promoting security externally and internally, and supporting the population and government as needed? </p>
<p>The defence force has been expected to safeguard the country against external threats while simultaneously responding to political calls to assist with <a href="https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1037">peace and security operations</a> in other African countries. It has also been called on to support the South African Police Service in <a href="https://theconversation.com/military-not-a-magic-bullet-south-africa-needs-to-do-more-for-long-term-peace-164717">policing</a> a <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-police-are-losing-the-war-on-crime-heres-how-they-need-to-rethink-their-approach-218048">crime-ridden</a> society. </p>
<p>A mismatch has developed between what is expected of the military, and its budget and capabilities. Its budget declined to about 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the past decade. This is far too low compared to global average military spending of <a href="https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/2304_fs_milex_2022.pdf">2.2% of GDP</a>. </p>
<p>As a researcher who has studied the defence force as a foreign policy instrument for almost three decades, I’m not surprised it is often described as <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-to-lead-new-military-force-in-the-drc-an-expert-on-what-its-up-against-219264">“institutionally overstretched”</a>. It has been in decline for some time, especially since 2000, as its <a href="https://static.pmg.org.za/170512review.pdf">budgetary allocation</a> from treasury has shrunk.</p>
<h2>Figuring out its primary role</h2>
<p>The government’s policies after 1994 committed the defence force primarily to safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The purchasing of new military equipment was based on the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/defence-review1998.pdf">South African Defence Review of 1998</a>. The review elaborated on the <a href="https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/155722/SouthAfrica1996.pdf">1996 White Paper for Defence</a> on such matters as posture, doctrine, force design, force levels, logistical support, armaments, equipment, human resources and funding. </p>
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<p>This White Paper stipulated that the force design should be a high-technology core force, sized for peacetime, but expandable to meet any emerging threat. To this end, cabinet decided in November 1998 to buy <a href="https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1037">new military equipment</a>. This was the infamous arms deal, mired in <a href="https://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/the-arms-deal-what-you-need-to-know-2/">corruption</a>. The equipment included nine Gripen fighter aircraft, 12 Hawk aircraft, 30 light utility helicopters, four patrol corvettes and three submarines.</p>
<p><a href="https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/45">Critics</a> felt that the corvettes, submarines and Gripen jet fighters could be regarded as offensive weapons. That would not align with South Africa’s foreign policy, specifically pertaining to <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/peacemissions1.pdf">participation in international peace missions</a> with the emphasis on cooperative defence and regional peacekeeping.</p>
<p>It was eventually decided that the defence force should be <a href="https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1037">designed primarily to protect the country from external enemies</a>. It would also promote peace and security in Africa, as secondary functions. </p>
<p>Things have not quite panned out that way. Since 1998, the defence force has featured prominently as an instrument in South Africa’s foreign policy. Its so-called secondary functions have become <a href="https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1037">the primary function</a>. But it has received no additional armour and personnel for this additional role.</p>
<p>The post-1994 government sought to rid the country of its apartheid-era image of being a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0021909620946851">pariah and a destabilising factor</a> in its neighbourhood. Instead, it was to be identified with the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0021909620946851">promotion of human rights, peace and development</a> in Africa.</p>
<p>The force became the <a href="https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/monusco#:%7E:text=The%20new%20mission%20has%20been,in%20its%20stabilization%20and%20peace">fifth largest troop-contributing nation</a> to the UN’s peacekeeping operation in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It also plays a <a href="https://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1404">pivotal role</a> in the Southern African Development Community mission in conflict-ridden northern Mozambique.</p>
<p>It has been in the <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/4846/">DRC since 1999</a>.
This UN mission will now be terminated after more than <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20231219-un-to-launch-gradual-withdrawal-of-peacekeepers-from-dr-congo">24 years</a>, and be replaced by troops from the Southern African Development Community, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-to-lead-new-military-force-in-the-drc-an-expert-on-what-its-up-against-219264">led by the South African National Defence Force</a>.</p>
<p>But soldiers in the field haven’t always received good <a href="https://mg.co.za/news/2022-01-13-soldiers-plead-for-more-air-support-in-mozambiques-battle-against-insurgents/">logistical support</a>, especially in Mozambique. And poor coordination with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has sometimes <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/is-south-africas-defence-force-up-for-new-thinking">left the country embarrassed</a>.</p>
<p>Among other peacekeeping missions, since 1994 the defence force has also been deployed to: </p>
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<li><p><a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781003021063-6/1998-south-africa%E2%80%93lesotho-operation-boleas-crisis-feliciano-de-s%C3%A1-guimar%C3%A3es">Lesotho, 1998</a>: restoring democracy and political stability, supported by the Botswana military</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.accord.org.za/publication/south-africas-peacekeeping-role-burundi/">Burundi, 2003</a>: peacekeeping alongside Mozambique and Ethiopia as part of the African Union Mission in Burundi</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/4846/">Sudan, 2005</a>: as part of the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur.</p></li>
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<h2>Constraints</h2>
<p>Budgetary constraints have posed a growing challenge. Between 1995 and the 1998 the defence budget was <a href="https://static.pmg.org.za/170512review.pdf">cut by 11.1%</a>.</p>
<p>In 2015, the defence force was <a href="https://static.pmg.org.za/170512review.pdf">24% underfunded</a> in terms of its size and shape. <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/daily-news/international-news/world-military-expenditure-continues-to-climb-while-african-defence-expenditure-drops/#:%7E:text=South%20Africa's%20military%20spending%20fell,the%20military%20budget%20in%202022">Defence spending in 2022/23</a> was 8.4% lower than in 2021, and 21% lower than in 2013.</p>
<p>The country’s ailing economy and low growth put severe <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/06/15/cf-south-africas-economy-loses-momentum-amid-record-power-cuts">pressure on government finances</a>. </p>
<p>Because of the budgetary constraints, the serviceability and functionality of high-tech equipment – especially the Gripens, frigates and submarines – couldn’t be sustained. </p>
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<p>The hollowing out of the armed forces was laid bare in 2023. The defence minister, Thandi Modise, disclosed that a staggering 85% of the air force’s aircraft fleet was out of action, leaving the country <a href="https://www.da.org.za/2023/10/exposed-south-african-air-force-in-critical-condition-as-85-of-fleet-remains-grounded">vulnerable to external security threats</a>.</p>
<p>By 2013, only two of the 26 Gripen fighter aircraft and three of the 24 Hawk aircraft were <a href="https://www.da.org.za/2023/10/exposed-south-african-air-force-in-critical-condition-as-85-of-fleet-remains-grounded">available for service</a>. </p>
<p>The funding crisis is so severe that some defence analysts are now proposing to <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2023-10-25-the-south-african-air-force-has-become-an-expensive-dysfunctional-luxury/">reduce the air force to a mere air wing</a> of the defence force, which would have fewer than 75 aircraft.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.vryeweekblad.com/nuus-en-politiek/2023-02-10-poor-state-of-sas-naval-fleet-to-be-on-full-display-at-joint-exercise/">navy is in no better position</a>. All frigates, the navy’s primary combat and patrol vessels, are in urgent need of repair. The three submarines that were part of the 1999 arms deal also came with a limited number of spare parts, like the frigates. Sometimes none of the submarines are serviceable. </p>
<h2>Problems at home</h2>
<p>Border protection and support for <a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/milscience/sigla/Documents/Briefs/Briefs%202023/SIGLA%20Brief%2011%202023.pdf">police operations</a> are now some of the force’s main activities. These include <a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/milscience/sigla/Documents/Briefs/Briefs%202023/SIGLA%20Brief%2011%202023.pdf">internal or domestic operations</a> such as helping the police in combating gang warfare, fighting illegal mining syndicates, preventing the torching of commercial trucks, guarding power plants, and combating cash-in-transit heists. These responsibilities can now even be regarded as among the military’s primary functions. </p>
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<p>Two issues drive the increased role in domestic security. One is the declining capacity of the police. Secondly, politicians see the military as an instrument for policing roles and <a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/milscience/sigla/Documents/Briefs/Briefs%202023/SIGLA%20Brief%2011%202023.pdf">other functions</a> – all contributing to the degeneration of South Africa’s defence capability.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Theo Neethling receives funding from the National Research Foundation. </span></em></p>South Africa’s defence force has been in decline for some time as its budget has shrunk while its duties have changed.Theo Neethling, Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Studies and Governance, University of the Free StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2180482023-11-17T16:36:02Z2023-11-17T16:36:02ZSouth Africa’s police are losing the war on crime – here’s how they need to rethink their approach<p>South Africa’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzyqFKC2x1Q">crime statistics</a> for the third quarter of 2023 show that people continue to face a serious problem of violent crime, especially murder and attempted murder. The country’s <a href="https://issafrica.org/events/understanding-escalating-levels-of-murder-in-south-africa">per capita murder rate for 2022/23</a> was the highest in 20 years at 45 per 100,000 (a 50% increase compared to 2012/13).</p>
<p>In response to this crisis, the South African Police Service has reconfigured its <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/37753/">policing strategies and plans</a>. Yet, these approaches offer very little innovation. They mostly reaffirm the way the police have typically pursued policing for the past three decades – fighting a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2018.1503831">“war” on crime</a> and <a href="https://ewn.co.za/topic/operation-fiela">“sweeping away”</a> criminals. </p>
<p>In my view the police have adopted unsuitable crime fighting strategies. This is a “war” the police can’t win on their own, because violent crime is a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326462816_WHY_IS_CRIME_IN_SOUTH_AFRICA_SO_VIOLENT_Updated_Rapid_Evidence_Assessment_on_Violent_Crime_in_South_Africa">complex phenomenon</a>. It requires <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC47702">whole-of-government</a> and <a href="https://www.csir.co.za/sites/default/files/Documents/Making%20South%20Africa%20Safe.pdf">whole-of-society</a> approaches. Government departments, civil society groups and the private sector should pool resources and <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/7/7/e009972">work together</a> in a co-ordinated manner. They must be guided by a common plan. Otherwise crime prevention efforts will be piecemeal, lacking effectiveness.</p>
<h2>Determinants and complexity of violent crime</h2>
<p>The scholarly literature on violent crime in South Africa, including <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326462816_WHY_IS_CRIME_IN_SOUTH_AFRICA_SO_VIOLENT_Updated_Rapid_Evidence_Assessment_on_Violent_Crime_in_South_Africa">my research</a>, indicates that interpersonal violence is typically the outcome of a combination of risk factors over time. </p>
<p>One of them is the idea that violence is a legitimate means to resolve conflict between people. </p>
<p>Another is <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326462669_Towards_a_more_comprehensive_understanding_of_the_direct_and_indirect_determinants_of_violence_against_women_and_children_in_South_Africa_with_a_view_to_enhancing_violence_prevention">childhood experiences</a> of violence.</p>
<p>Socio-economic elements, such as poverty, unemployment and inadequate living conditions, underpin violence, mainly for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1097184X17696171?journalCode=jmma">younger men</a>. Feelings of stress, frustration and humiliation, combined with substance abuse (chiefly alcohol), inequitable gender norms and the availability of weapons, especially <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-spike-in-gun-crime-angers-citizens/a-64903654">firearms</a>, often results in violent behaviour.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-wont-become-less-violent-until-its-more-equal-103116">South Africa won't become less violent until it's more equal</a>
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<p>Given what studies say about the determinants of violence, I predicted during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 that South Africa would soon face a <a href="https://www.saferspaces.org.za/blog/entry/the-coming-crime-catastrophe">crime catastrophe</a>. The pandemic and lockdown regulations had increased poverty, unemployment and food insecurity. This would exacerbate existing risk factors for violence, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>domestic abuse </p></li>
<li><p>learners dropping out of school </p></li>
<li><p>diminishing prospects of meaningful jobs, especially for young, marginalised men. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In 2021/22 there was a significant <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/services/downloads/Annual-Crime-2021_2022-web.pdf">increase</a> in all categories of violent crime. </p>
<p>Since then there’s been no reduction in these risks, especially <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-10-06-eight-million-hungry-children-new-report-about-the-shocking-impact-of-poverty-on-young-south-africans/">food insecurity</a>, <a href="https://www.news24.com/fin24/economy/sa-sees-job-growth-but-its-cold-comfort-for-millions-of-unemployed-youth-left-behind-20231115">youth unemployment</a>, <a href="https://www.unicef.org/southafrica/press-releases/crime-statistics-devastating-violence-against-children-and-women-continues">child abuse</a> and the <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/723902/south-africas-shocking-school-dropout-rate-revealed/">school dropout rate</a>. The <a href="https://issafrica.org/events/understanding-escalating-levels-of-murder-in-south-africa">murder rate per capita</a> has increased from 33.5 per 100,000 during the COVID-19 period (2020/21) to 45 per 100,000 in 2022/23. </p>
<h2>Police and the prevention of violent crime</h2>
<p>Even though the police are <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/police-work-social-organization-policing">not able</a> to do anything directly about many of the underlying risk factors for violence, <a href="https://www.police1.com/chiefs-sheriffs/articles/law-enforcement-strategies-to-reduce-violence-wItHuxvLO0IHLEEk/">studies</a> have shown that specific policing interventions can make a difference in reducing violent crime. </p>
<p>The police can work closely with communities to devise <a href="https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/model-programs-guide/literature-reviews/community-oriented-problem-oriented-policing">cooperative solutions</a> to crime problems. They can also collect and use relevant <a href="https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/d/3/327476.pdf">intelligence</a> to design and implement <a href="https://issafrica.org/crimehub/analysis/research/evidence-based-policing-for-south-africa-an-introduction-for-police-officers-researchers-and-communities">evidence-based</a> crime prevention actions. These should focus on the areas where criminal offending is most <a href="https://time.com/6227552/hotspot-policing-crime-effectiveness/">concentrated</a>, and on the <a href="https://www.gov.scot/publications/works-reduce-crime-summary-evidence/pages/6/">situations</a> that tend to drive that behaviour. </p>
<p>Interventions require a <a href="https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/successfully-reducing-violent-crime-with-multimodal-community-and-police-engagement-interventions/">competent, adequately resourced and professional</a> police organisation and a fair and effective <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/effectiveness-and-fairness-of-judicial-systems_5jfrmmrhkcs2.pdf">criminal justice system</a>.</p>
<p>Since the 1990s the work of the police has included community-oriented approaches. <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/resources/2008/community-policing-lit-review/elements-of-com-policing.pdf">Best practice</a> is for police to treat community safety groups as equal partners. Solutions to crime problems are <a href="https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/from-crisis-to-community-policing/">co-created</a>. </p>
<p>But the police’s approach has been the converse. They have <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/community-policing-forums-should-be-holding-police-accountable/">co-opted</a> community safety groups, such as <a href="https://crimehub.org/iss-today/are-south-africas-community-police-forums-losing-their-impartiality">community police forums</a> and neighbourhood watches, to be <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=45270">force multipliers</a>. Studies have shown that such a method is often <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles/171676.pdf">ineffective</a>.</p>
<p>For the past three decades, South African police have prioritised <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03057070.2018.1503831">militarised policing approaches</a>, such as <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/newsroom/msspeechdetail.php?nid=47240">Operation Shanela</a> (“to sweep” in isiZulu). They encourage police to be more <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/news/2023-11-12-cele-doubles-down-on-cops-right-to-use-deadly-force/">forceful</a> in their interactions with alleged criminals.</p>
<p>There is very <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1805161115">little evidence</a> to suggest that militarised policing brings down violent crime rates. Instead, it can erode public trust in the police. This is certainly evident in South Africa, where only <a href="https://hsrc.ac.za/press-releases/dces/feeling-blue-changing-patterns-of-trust-in-the-police-in-south-africa/">27%</a> of the population view the police as trustworthy (from 47% in 1999). </p>
<p>Police effectiveness in combating crime has also been undermined by <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/37753/">declining personnel numbers</a>. In 2018, there were 150,639 police personnel, but this is now 140,048. There has also been a substantial decline in the <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/politics/90-drop-in-police-reservists-devastating-to-high-crime-levels-20231114">police reserve force</a>. </p>
<p>High levels of crime have placed <a href="https://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1991-38772020000100003">considerable pressure</a> on the criminal justice system too. Conviction rates for violent crime are very low. For example, between 2019/20 and 2021/22, police recorded 66,486 murder cases. Of these, only 8,103 (12%) resulted in a guilty verdict.</p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>The good news is that the government does not exclusively depend on policing plans to tackle crime. It has also developed multi-departmental and evidence-based strategies and plans to prevent crime. These are derived from Chapter 12 of the <a href="https://www.nationalplanningcommission.org.za/assets/Documents/NDP_Chapters/devplan_ch12_0.pdf">National Development Plan</a>. It calls for: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>police to be more professional, demilitarised and work in partnership with communities</p></li>
<li><p>an improved criminal justice system </p></li>
<li><p>an integrated crime prevention strategy. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In 2022 the cabinet approved the <a href="http://www.policesecretariat.gov.za/downloads/reports/Final%20Approved%20Integrated%20Crime%20Violence%20Prevention%20Strategy.pdf">Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy</a>. It seeks to achieve a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach given the multi-dimensional nature of the risk factors that drive violent crime. Furthermore, this strategy encourages government and other elements of society to jointly address common crime problems and collaboratively determine prevention strategies, especially at the community level. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africans-are-feeling-more-insecure-do-ramaphosas-plans-add-up-176991">South Africans are feeling more insecure: do Ramaphosa's plans add up?</a>
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<p>There was also the recognition that various government departments (and not just the police) needed to work closely with civil society and the private sector to drive down crime levels.</p>
<p>The problem is that the implementation of strategy is in limbo. No government agency has been willing to take responsibility for it. That’s because there is no direct budgetary allocation, given the highly <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/budget-speech/664953/4-major-risks-that-godongwana-needs-to-address-in-the-2023-budget-next-week/">constrained government purse</a>. </p>
<p>High levels of crime and low levels of policing have substantial <a href="https://www.news24.com/citypress/business/the-crippling-cost-of-violence-20221125#:%7E:text=Violent%20crimes%20cost%20South%20Africa%20about%2019%25%20of%20GDP%20annually.">negative effects</a> on economic performance. So investing adequate resources to carry out the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy will not only reduce violent crime, but also contribute to economic growth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guy Lamb receives funding from Norwegian Research Council. He is a Commissioner on South Africa's National Planning Commission. </span></em></p>Government departments, civil society groups and the private sector should pool resources and work together in a co-ordinated manner to prevent violent crime.Guy Lamb, Criminologist / Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2110872023-08-13T13:36:45Z2023-08-13T13:36:45ZTo reduce rising crime rates, Canada needs to invest more in social services<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541565/original/file-20230807-27499-r8df14.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C53%2C8946%2C4877&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Crime Severity Index is calculated like a crime rate, but different crimes are given a different weight, or importance, based on their severity.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/to-reduce-rising-crime-rates-canada-needs-to-invest-more-in-social-services" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Every summer, Statistics Canada releases crime rate and crime severity data for the previous year. This year, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230727/dq230727b-eng.htm?">Canada’s Crime Severity Index (CSI)</a> increased by 4.3 per cent, the violent CSI increased by 4.6 per cent, and the non-violent CSI increased by 4.1 per cent. Moreover, aside from a drop during the COVID-19 pandemic, these indices have been on the rise since 2014.</p>
<p>An April 2023 poll found that <a href="https://leger360.com/surveys/legers-north-american-tracker-april-13-2023/">65 per cent of Canadians</a> felt crime has gotten worse compared to before the pandemic. Conservative Party leader <a href="https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/poilievre-blames-rising-violence-in-alberta-canada-on-his-political-opponents-1.6354594">Pierre Poilievre has criticized the Liberal government</a> for the rising crime figures in recent months. </p>
<p>Canada’s new justice minister, Arif Virani, said it was <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/canada-s-new-justice-minister-to-tackle-perceived-lack-of-safety-from-crime-1.6501641">empirically unlikely</a> that Canadians are less safe, but that the government would act to address feelings of growing insecurity.</p>
<p>But what is the CSI and what do changes in crime stats mean for Canadians?</p>
<h2>What is the Crime Severity Index?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cnmcs-plcng/cn5373-eng.pdf">CSI was introduced in 2009</a> and represented the first major change in measuring crime in Canada since the 1960s. Its purpose was to identify changes in the seriousness or severity of crime reported to the police. </p>
<p>The CSI is calculated like a crime rate, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-004-x/2009001/part-partie1-eng.htm">but different crimes are given a different weight, or importance, based on their severity</a>. Without this kind of system, a community that has 10 low-level assaults will have the same violent crime rate as another that has 10 homicides because each incident would be given the same weight. </p>
<p>The CSI accounts for this by using different weights for different crime types: approximately 80 for <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-224-x/2008000/dd-eng.htm">assault level 1</a>, 7,000 for homicide and one for gambling. These weights are based on sentencing decisions in the court system.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541310/original/file-20230804-17921-t4cr8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A graph showing Canada's crime severity index between 1998 and 2022. The graph shows a decrease until 2014 followed by a slight increase in subsequent years." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541310/original/file-20230804-17921-t4cr8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541310/original/file-20230804-17921-t4cr8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541310/original/file-20230804-17921-t4cr8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541310/original/file-20230804-17921-t4cr8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541310/original/file-20230804-17921-t4cr8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541310/original/file-20230804-17921-t4cr8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541310/original/file-20230804-17921-t4cr8w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police-reported crime severity indexes in Canada from 1998 to 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230727/cg-b001-eng.htm">(Statistics Canada)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Understanding the data</h2>
<p>At first glance, the CSI is great because it allows us to determine which areas experience more violence. However, there are at least three issues when considering what changes in the CSI mean for most Canadians.</p>
<p>First, the CSI must be considered over longer periods of time than year-to-year fluctuations. We now have the CSI for 1998-2022, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/62-001-x/2018001/info-eng.htm">25 years of data</a>. Yes, the CSI has been increasing since 2014, but it is still much lower than it was 25 years ago. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s40163-017-0076-y">Crime has been falling around the world</a>, including Canada, since about 1990. It may be the case that 2014, for Canada, was just the low point for crime. Because of this, relatively small changes in incidents will have large percentage changes.</p>
<p>Second, because the CSI is calculated in a similar fashion to crime rates, places with lower populations will be “punished” by the CSI. For example, in a city of one million people, one homicide will lead to a homicide rate of 0.1 per 100,000 people. However, in a city of 15,000 people, one homicide will lead to a rate of 6.67 per 100,000 people. </p>
<p>Now if you add in the weights used in the CSI, this disparity becomes magnified. To be clear, the math is not wrong — it is just that the statistic has its limitations. The CSI is fine for Canada, its provinces and larger metropolitan centres. But, for the rest of the country, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12703">the CSI should be interpreted with caution</a>.</p>
<p>Third, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-016-9295-8">crime is usually concentrated in specific areas</a>. Across the world, including Canada, one-half of crime reported to the police occurs in approximately five per cent of the city. These places are, generally speaking, areas that experience more poverty, mental health and addiction problems, and other social challenges. </p>
<p>In short, those who are already suffering most, especially post-pandemic, are being victimized more with these increases in crime in Canada; this has been shown in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-021-09495-6">Vancouver</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2022.101881">Saskatoon</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541564/original/file-20230807-35364-68n6bz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A sign that reads Statistics Canada in front of a tall grey building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541564/original/file-20230807-35364-68n6bz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541564/original/file-20230807-35364-68n6bz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541564/original/file-20230807-35364-68n6bz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541564/original/file-20230807-35364-68n6bz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541564/original/file-20230807-35364-68n6bz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541564/original/file-20230807-35364-68n6bz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541564/original/file-20230807-35364-68n6bz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The CSI is calculated in a similar fashion to crime rates, which means rates in areas with lower populations can appear higher in the data.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reducing crime</h2>
<p>What should our takeaway be here? We need to be careful of how we interpret the CSI. Crime has been increasing the past eight years: homicide, sexual assault, assault (particularly with a weapon) and vehicle theft are all increasing more than average. So, despite my caveats, crime has been increasing of late, particularly violent crimes. </p>
<p>The notable common thread in all of the media coverage of these violent attacks is the presence of mental health issues, addiction, homelessness and poverty. How did we get here? Over the past 40 years, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2020-007">conservative governments</a> have defunded <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/welfare-state">social programs and social services</a>.</p>
<p>A result of these changes has been a decrease in social welfare and increases in social ills. Where we are today is the result of a 40-year process that we cannot expect to reverse in short order. We need to reinvest in social programs and services, knowing it will take time to see an impact. </p>
<p>Putting government funding back into social services is a large component of the <a href="https://defundthepolice.org/">Defund the Police</a> movement. Rather than continuing to spend on <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-shows-that-police-involved-deaths-in-canada-are-on-the-rise-201443">reactive models</a> such as policing that do little more than criminalize poverty and disadvantage, we need to reinvest in preventive strategies that actually work.</p>
<p>To prevent crime, governments need to invest more in existing social welfare programs and reestablish social services such as basic income.</p>
<p>This spending on social welfare services and basic income should be viewed positively across the political spectrum as well. The provision of basic income and social services would both <a href="https://lorimer.ca/adults/product/basic-income-for-canadians-2/">support vulnerable populations and be cost-effective</a>. </p>
<p>If we are concerned about crime and its severity, we should support reinvesting public funds into preventative strategies such as housing, mental health care, basic income and addiction services.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Andresen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recent data from Statistics Canada shows crime rates in Canada rising. Crime has become a hot-button political issue in Canadian cities. But what does the data actually mean?Martin Andresen, Professor of Criminology, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1971502023-05-02T15:00:01Z2023-05-02T15:00:01ZCrimestoppers: the charity providing an anonymous link between the public and the police for 35 years<p>Crimestoppers, the crime-fighting charity, has been an anonymous link between the UK public and the police for 35 years. From everyday concerns about drug dealing and dangerous driving to taking critical information on murders, Crimestoppers receives more than half a million reports each year. </p>
<p>But despite its ongoing success, there has been very little research into the inner workings of the charity. <a href="https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63087">My own study</a> found the anonymity offered by Crimestoppers enables people to come forward with information about violent or organised crime. In fact, this can be more of a motivating factor than a reward.</p>
<p>Originating in the US in the mid-1970s and replicated across the globe, Crimestoppers programmes often offer cash rewards for tip offs. The UK charity <a href="https://crimestoppers-uk.org/about-the-charity/our-story">was originally established</a> as the Community Action Trust in 1988. </p>
<p>It was largely in response to the death of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34433752">PC Keith Blakelock</a> during the Broadwater Farm estate riots in London in 1985. At the time, police said that someone knew who was responsible for his murder, but were too afraid to come forward.</p>
<p>While in England Crimestoppers was set up to address community mistrust and loss of confidence in policing, it was advertised differently across the rest of the UK. In Northern Ireland, residents were told to phone “<a href="https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/issues/police/docs/CC_2006_Annual_Report_05-06.pdf">without fear and without involvement</a>”. And in Wales and Scotland, Crimestoppers has been framed as a friendly community service.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ta49SKAKeFE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A Crimestoppers advert from 1989.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Embracing television reconstructions has been critical to the growth of Crimestoppers <a href="https://csiworld.org/about-us">across the world</a>. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/39/2/269/363351">Research suggests</a> that media appeals in general can assist with solving crime in a small number of the most serious cases. </p>
<p>Contributions from appeals for information are thought to have helped bring some notorious criminals to justice. Serial killer, Peter Moore, came to the police’s attention in 1995, following an <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-53934380">anonymous tip off</a>. </p>
<p>And a Crimestoppers reward was offered for a violent robbery carried out by <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65374137">John Cooper</a> in 1996. In 2011, he was eventually convicted of murdering four people in Pembrokeshire, Wales, as well as many other serious offences. Evidence from a string of burglaries and robberies had led police to suspect he was responsible for more serious crimes.</p>
<p>However, the extent of Crimestoppers’ support in solving such crimes is largely unknown due to the organisation’s guaranteed promise of anonymity. <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/evaluating-impact-crimestoppers">A study by the Home Office</a> 20 years ago outlined the benefits of the UK scheme, showing 17% of actionable information resulted in an arrest. </p>
<p>Nowadays, some insight is detailed in Crimestoppers’ <a href="https://crimestoppers-uk.org/news-campaigns/our-publications/impact-report">annual reports</a> which include outcomes of awareness campaigns and “most wanted” appeals.</p>
<p>During the course of <a href="https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63087">my research</a>, I discovered the charity has a strong relationship with the police, unlike the people who contact Crimestoppers. </p>
<p>Due to being unable to speak to anonymous callers themselves, I interviewed contact centre staff to gather their views and experiences. I also spoke with police officers who deal with Crimestoppers reports, as well as community-based officers who are often faced with people unwilling to report crime. </p>
<p>Participants suggested perceptions of fear and injustice impact on whether crimes are reported, especially in some close-knit communities. For example, a neighbourhood officer told me that sometimes generations of people are unlikely to go to the police, including members of his own family: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>My grandmother, she’s the font of knowledge in the village where she lives, she wouldn’t be going to the police as a first port of call.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An <a href="https://www.policingreview.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/srpew_final_report.pdf">independent policing review</a> last year found that public confidence in the police has declined while the fear of crime continues to be a rising concern. </p>
<p>This is particularly true for those living in deprived areas and for people from minority ethnic backgrounds. <a href="https://crimestoppers-uk.org/getmedia/dfdff682-3152-478b-8beb-728d50f85048/Impact-Report-2022.pdf">Crimestoppers’ own survey</a> also suggests those groups are the most likely to contact them. </p>
<h2>The digital age</h2>
<p>One of the biggest changes over the past 35 years has been the move to online crime reporting. According to its own figures, Crimestoppers states <a href="https://crimestoppers-uk.org/getmedia/dfdff682-3152-478b-8beb-728d50f85048/Impact-Report-2022.pdf">75% of information</a> passed to the police now comes via its website.</p>
<p>There are often confidential police helplines for specific crimes (for example, domestic violence and hate crime), but Crimestoppers remains the primary anonymous crime reporting mechanism. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1477370820916439">One study suggests</a> Crimestoppers supports crowdsourcing of so-called “collective intelligence” through social networks, and this acts as a driver to online reporting. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The website of Crimestoppers and its phone number 0800555111." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523022/original/file-20230426-1743-28deg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C39%2C6560%2C4331&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523022/original/file-20230426-1743-28deg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523022/original/file-20230426-1743-28deg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523022/original/file-20230426-1743-28deg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523022/original/file-20230426-1743-28deg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523022/original/file-20230426-1743-28deg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523022/original/file-20230426-1743-28deg4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crimestoppers was set up in the late 1980s and has since adapted to the digital age.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-november-17th-2017-homepage-758975134">chrisdorney/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2019, Crimestoppers was <a href="https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2019/10/crimestoppers-scoop-investigation/">criticised</a> for using cookies on its website, which allow for users to be tracked. But the charity maintained that it does not monitor individuals either online or offline. </p>
<h2>Rewards</h2>
<p>It also remains unclear whether Crimestoppers’ offer of cash rewards has stood the test of time. My research has <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/evaluating-impact-crimestoppers">mirrored previous studies</a> demonstrating that while police officers see a use in rewards, their availability is a motivating factor in only a minority of cases. </p>
<p>Perhaps the greatest value of rewards is in raising public interest within a busy media landscape. Crimestoppers recently offered its <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/crimestoppers-gives-update-200k-olivia-26623561">biggest reward of £200,000</a> in connection with the murder of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, the 9-year old girl who was shot in Liverpool in September 2022. </p>
<p>Ultimately though, it is the reassurance offered by Crimestoppers’ anonymity guarantee and fuss-free participation which supports people in making reports, and enables the police to receive information they may otherwise have not received.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197150/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ella Rabaiotti is a former Probation Officer and worked for Crimestoppers Trust between 2016 and 2021.</span></em></p>Crimestoppers was originally founded in 1988 and now receives more than half a million reports each year.Ella Rabaiotti, Lecturer in Criminology, Swansea UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2032862023-04-12T17:37:47Z2023-04-12T17:37:47ZThe grieving mother of a murdered teen pleads for a stronger social safety net<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520349/original/file-20230411-22-gdc1s9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1239%2C479%2C2754%2C2179&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Antonio Magalhaes holds his wife Andrea Magalhaes as they walk towards Keele Station, where their 16-year-old son, Gabriel Magalhaes, was killed in a random attack in the Toronto subway system. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-grieving-mother-of-a-murdered-teen-pleads-for-a-stronger-social-safety-net" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Just days after 16-year-old Gabriel Magalhaes was fatally attacked at a Toronto subway station, his mother had an <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2023/03/31/andrea-magalhaes-devastated-with-grief-for-her-murdered-son-gabriel-had-the-clarity-to-demand-supports-for-people-in-crisis-we-should-heed-her-words.html">urgent message</a> to public officials on how to address the spate of violent crime on the Toronto Transit Commission over the past year. </p>
<p>Andrea Magalhaes, a nurse, urged them to stop thinking the crisis can be solved by adding more police officers, locking more people up and solely blaming the individual. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1641954543998058497"}"></div></p>
<p>She was resolute in her assessments of what government should do instead: tackle the root causes of crime by improving the social determinants of health, which the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00333549141291S206">World Health Organization defines as</a> “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age” and the “fundamental drivers of these conditions.” </p>
<h2>Strengthening the social safety net</h2>
<p>As a criminologist and a former service provider for a court-based victim assistance program, I was struck by Magalhaes’s plea for change because of its emphasis on expanding the social safety net — not the criminal justice system — to achieve both public safety and justice for victims.</p>
<p>Her perspective is at odds with the advocacy for retribution and “law-and-order” approaches typically expressed in campaigns for victims’ rights, <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/jr/vrcan21st-rvcan21st/index.html">which gained ground throughout North America in the 1970s and 1980s</a>. </p>
<p>Research into the impact of victim’s rights movements on crime policy reveal that government officials eagerly embraced these demands because they fit the “tough on crime” approaches popularized by conservatives at the time.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520356/original/file-20230411-24-8b4upc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A prison watch tower." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520356/original/file-20230411-24-8b4upc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520356/original/file-20230411-24-8b4upc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520356/original/file-20230411-24-8b4upc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520356/original/file-20230411-24-8b4upc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520356/original/file-20230411-24-8b4upc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520356/original/file-20230411-24-8b4upc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520356/original/file-20230411-24-8b4upc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A watch tower on the grounds of the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, Miss. The state’s habitual offender laws disproportionately affect African American men and cost the state millions of dollars for decades of incarceration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Examining the movement in the United States, American political scientist <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511791093">Marie Gottschalk identified victims’ rights movements as one of several key forces that drove mass incarceration in that country in the late 20th century</a>. </p>
<p>In Canada, victims’ rights movements emerged in the early 1980s with <a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cjccj.51.4.473">similar concerns that the criminal justice system was soft on crime and too protective of the “rights of criminals.”</a></p>
<p>While the effects of their advocacy in Canada were more tempered than in the U.S., the federal government granted serious consideration to the movement’s tough-on-crime demands. </p>
<p>Illuminated against this backdrop, Magalhaes’s message to government officials is remarkable. Unfortunately, they don’t appear to be listening. </p>
<h2>More police is a short-term fix</h2>
<p>In the days following Gabriel’s death, Ontario Premier Doug Ford used the tragedy to call for <a href="https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/ttc-violence-prompts-council-call-for-bail-reform-mental-health-supports">more police officers assigned to the TTC and tougher bail reform laws</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-it-sounds-good-but-tougher-bail-laws-and-more-cops-wont-improve-public/">legal experts note</a>, neither of these approaches offers much beyond overly simplistic, short-term fixes and could potentially make society more dangerous. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/race-is-closely-tied-to-who-gets-bail-thats-why-we-must-tread-carefully-on-bail-reform-201943">Race is closely tied to who gets bail — that's why we must tread carefully on bail reform</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In addition, increasing police presence on public transit offers no guarantee that similar tragedies will not happen again. </p>
<p>In New York City, where hundreds of officers now patrol the subway following spikes in violent crime, the presence of multiple police officers in both the station and on the tracks <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/16/nyregion/michelle-go-man-pushes-woman-subway.html">still couldn’t prevent the 2022 fatal attack on a woman who was pushed into the path of an oncoming train</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A police van and yellow crime tape are seen beside a red and white streetcar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520355/original/file-20230411-28-4yl8w3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520355/original/file-20230411-28-4yl8w3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520355/original/file-20230411-28-4yl8w3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520355/original/file-20230411-28-4yl8w3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520355/original/file-20230411-28-4yl8w3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520355/original/file-20230411-28-4yl8w3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520355/original/file-20230411-28-4yl8w3.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police cars surround a TTC streetcar on Spadina Avenue in Toronto in January 2023 after a stabbing incident.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Magalhaes’s call for enhancing the social safety net raises two important questions: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>What could a victims’ rights movement emphasizing root causes rather than retribution look like?</p></li>
<li><p>What can be done to ensure such demands resonate with the interests of government officials? </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Social services need funding</h2>
<p>Scant details about the <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/before-ttc-attack-alleged-stabber-led-troubled-life-1.6345477">man charged with killing Gabriel</a> illuminate the urgent need for services that address substance abuse, homelessness and mental health, as well as significant investments in re-entry supports for those who have committed crimes.</p>
<p><a href="https://on360.ca/policy-papers/resetting-social-assistance-reform/">The need for increased funding of social services</a> is widely known.</p>
<p>In Ontario, the provincial government promised additional money <a href="https://budget.ontario.ca/2023/highlights.html">in its 2023 budget to community organizations that deliver supportive housing.</a> But it remains to be seen if those funds will make much difference after decades of chronic underfunding.</p>
<p>My research team and I are currently studying domestic violence shelters and grassroots organizations in Ontario that provide counselling for people accused of domestic abuse. Our ongoing research shows how profoundly these organizations and the work they perform are undervalued by governments.</p>
<p>As one of our research participants told us, workers in this sector typically earn on average an annual salary of $38,000, do not receive adequate benefits or employer pensions and can often go many years without a wage increase due to deficiencies in government funding. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1618340579506810881"}"></div></p>
<h2>Addressing the root causes</h2>
<p>Expanding the social safety net to address the root causes of crime therefore requires recognizing the vital contributions these organizations make to public safety — and providing them with stable funding to carry out their responsibilities. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/99-of-ontarios-funding-for-community-safety-and-well-being-pads-police-budgets-140306">The vast disparities in government funding between police services and non-police organizations that work directly with people struggling with mental health, chemical dependencies and homelessness</a> indicates that far more must be done to make this happen.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A homeless man sits in a bus shelter under a blanket." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520358/original/file-20230411-22-j2bte9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520358/original/file-20230411-22-j2bte9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520358/original/file-20230411-22-j2bte9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520358/original/file-20230411-22-j2bte9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520358/original/file-20230411-22-j2bte9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520358/original/file-20230411-22-j2bte9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520358/original/file-20230411-22-j2bte9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A homeless man sleeps in a bus shelter in Toronto in March 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Finally, it’s not just basic financial support for social services agencies that’s urgently required.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ttc-violence-mental-health-1.6793377">As experts at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health argue</a>, a universal basic income could offer dramatic solutions to the conditions that cause crime. </p>
<p>Hopefully, politicians will start to listen — and a grieving mother’s wise words will not be in vain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rashmee Singh receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). </span></em></p>Andrea Magalhaes hasn’t demanded vengeance since her son was murdered — she’s called for expanding the social safety net to address the root causes of crime. Public officials should listen to her.Rashmee Singh, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology & Legal Studies, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1984862023-01-25T00:10:21Z2023-01-25T00:10:21ZTypical mass shooters are in their 20s and 30s – suspects in California’s latest killings are far from that average<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506204/original/file-20230124-16-st7p3u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C106%2C3531%2C2255&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Two deadly mass shootings have California on edge.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/APTOPIXCaliforniaShooting/067f0d30edf4470ab167896ccb42161b/photo?Query=Monterey%20Park%20Jae%20C.%20Hong&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=99&currentItemNo=37">AP Photo/Jae C. Hon</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The two men who <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-staggered-by-deadly-back-to-back-mass-shootings-2023-01-24/">shot dead 18 people in separate incidents</a> just days apart in California are the latest perpetrators in America’s long history of mass gun violence. But something about these public shootings, and the men held responsible, stands out.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theviolenceproject.org/key-findings/">median age of mass shooters in the United States is 32</a>. Yet the man who is alleged to have <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/us/monterey-park-california-mass-shooting-tuesday/index.html">shot dead 11 people in Monterey Park</a> on Jan. 21, 2023, before turning the gun on himself <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/01/24/1150818507/the-suspected-monterey-park-attacker-was-72-heres-why-older-shooters-are-rare">was 72 years old</a> – the <a href="https://www.theviolenceproject.org/key-findings/">oldest mass shooter in modern American history</a>, our records show. Meanwhile, the gunman who <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/us/half-moon-bay-california-shootings-tuesday/index.html">took the lives of seven more in Half Moon Bay</a> two days later was also <a href="https://apnews.com/article/northern-california-shootings-3eb00c19a36ad129ca7f0063f4b2aaf9">older than most</a> — 66, the third-oldest in history. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iS4HAEMAAAAJ">We</a> are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hoHQX8MAAAAJ&hl=en">criminologists</a> who <a href="https://www.theviolenceproject.org">built a database</a> of 191 mass shooters using public data. The shooters in our records date back to 1966 and are coded on nearly 200 different variables, including age at the time of attack. Our research shows that mass shootings – <a href="https://www.theviolenceproject.org/methodology/">defined here</a> as events in which four or more people are killed in a public place with no underlying criminal activity – have become more frequent, and deadly, over time.</p>
<p><iframe id="dScJ5" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/dScJ5/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Prior to the January 2023 Californian shootings, mass shooters were also <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/06/02/mass-shooting-killers-young-teens">getting younger overall</a>. From 1980 to 1989, the median age of mass shooters was 39. Over the next two decades, it was 33. And from 2010 to 2019, it was 29. </p>
<p>Since 2020, the median age of mass shooters has come down to just 22 years old — mostly young men and boys who were born into or came of age in an <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/">increasingly divided America</a> and carried out their attacks <a href="https://doi.org//10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.9393">amid the disruption of a global pandemic</a>.</p>
<h2>Older mass shooter behind deadliest assault</h2>
<p>Ages vary by shooting location, <a href="https://www.theviolenceproject.org/mass-shooter-database/">the data shows</a>. Though mass shooters at offices, warehouses and houses of worship skew older, shooters at K-12 schools, colleges and universities tend to be younger – in large part because many school shooters tend to be current or former students.</p>
<p>Prior to the tragic incidents in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, just six mass shooters in our study were over the age of 60. The oldest was a <a href="https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/10/17/Mountain-town-shocked-by-shooting-outburst/9178372139200/">70-year-old who killed five people</a> at an auto parts store in Kentucky in 1981. The list also includes the perpetrator of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history – a 64-year-old who <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/las-vegas-shooting/las-vegas-police-investigating-shooting-mandalay-bay-n806461">killed 60 people at a 2017 music festival</a> in Las Vegas.</p>
<p>The others were a 66-year-old who was supposed to turn himself in to serve a prison sentence but instead <a href="https://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/baker-william.htm">killed four people at the manufacturing plant</a> where he used to work in Illinois in 2001; a 64-year-old who <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2013/03/14/upstate-new-york-herkimer-mohawk-suspect-surrounded/1986913/">killed four barbershop and oil change shop patrons</a> in rural New York in 2013; a 62-year-old who <a href="https://www.fosters.com/story/news/local/2017/02/22/author-to-speak-at-library-about-colebrook-shooting/22146250007/">killed four people</a> in 1997 in New Hampshire, including two state troopers and a judge; and a 60-year-old <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-25-mn-990-story.html">who killed six at a shopping center</a> in Palm Bay, Florida, in 1987.</p>
<p>Nearly all of the over-60s perpetrators of mass shootings prior to the January 2023 Californian incidents were white men – just one was a nonwhite male. This differs in the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay incidents, both of which are thought to have been carried out by Asian Americans.</p>
<h2>Less likely to leak details of attack</h2>
<p>Mass shooters over 60 also tend to have prior criminal records and to target their place of employment, or retail and outdoor locations in communities they knew well.</p>
<p>What separates the older mass shooters from their younger counterparts is that mass shooters in their 20s and 30s typically study previous mass shooters for inspiration and validation. Younger shooters also tend to <a href="https://doi.org//10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.33073">communicate intent to do harm</a> in advance. This practice, known as leakage, is often seen as a final cry for help. Younger shooters also tend to leave behind manifestos to communicate their anger and grievances to the world, the data shows. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2019.07.005">Analysis of their expressed motives</a> suggest they are seeking fame and notoriety for their actions. </p>
<p>None of the shooters aged 60 and above in our database did that – although investigations are ongoing in the back-to-back California cases. Instead, they tend to have experienced a recent stressor, such as a family conflict or debt. They are more likely to be motivated by legal, financial and interpersonal conflicts, not hate or fame-seeking like many of their younger counterparts.</p>
<p>But all perpetrators of mass shootings, young and old, have some things in common. Their mass shooting is intended to be their final act. Whether they die by suicide – as is <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-22/la-me-monterey-park-mass-shooting">seemingly the case with the alleged Monterey Park shooter</a>, are killed on scene, or <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-23/half-moon-bay-shooting-multiple-victims">sit and wait to be arrested like the Half Moon Bay suspect did</a>, mass shootings are a final act of hopelessness and anger. </p>
<p>They also have access to the firearms they need to commit these devastating crimes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jillian Peterson receives funding from the National Institute of Justice and the Joyce Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Densley has received funding from the National Institute of Justice and the Joyce Foundation. </span></em></p>Mass shooters over the age of 60 are rare, but often differ from younger gunmen in motives and actions prior to their attack.Jillian Peterson, Professor of Criminal Justice, Hamline University James Densley, Professor of Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1977012023-01-23T11:05:35Z2023-01-23T11:05:35ZKenyan prisoners on death row weren’t deterred by the threat of the death penalty: new research findings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504876/original/file-20230117-18-n09lor.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kenya last executed a prisoner in 1987 but continues to hand down the death sentence.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/african-american-in-prison-royalty-free-image/88461052?phrase=prison%20black%20man&adppopup=true">Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kenya’s <a href="https://deathpenaltyproject.org/knowledge/kenya-part-one-a-public-ready-to-accept-abolition/">last execution</a> of a prisoner was in 1987. But the country still hosts a death row population of nearly 600. Almost all were sentenced to death for murder or robbery with violence. New sentences are handed down every year.</p>
<p>Kenya is an “abolitionist de facto” state: the death penalty is still present in law and people are sentenced to death, but they aren’t executed. Currently, 17 of the African Union’s 54 member states are abolitionist de facto – they haven’t carried out an execution of a prisoner for at least 10 years. Just 11 are fully retentionist, meaning that they sentence people to death and have carried out executions.</p>
<p>Advocates for the death penalty will often argue that it <a href="https://deathpenaltyproject.org/knowledge/kenya-part-one-a-public-ready-to-accept-abolition/">deters potential offenders</a> from committing serious crime – even when a country has not executed anyone for years. </p>
<p>But our <a href="https://deathpenaltyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Living-with-a-Death-Sentence-in-Kenya-Prisoners-Experiences-of-Crime-Punishment-and-Death-Row.pdf">recent research</a>, Living with a Death Sentence in Kenya: Prisoners’ Experiences of Crime, Punishment and Death Row, suggests this isn’t true. </p>
<p>We spoke to 671 inmates who had been sentenced to death in Kenya. Just over a quarter had had their sentences commuted to life. Most said they had no idea that their crimes might attract a death sentence. </p>
<p>Our findings support research done in other countries: that the threat of being sentenced to death appears to have little bearing on how people behave. They also support the argument that abolishing the death penalty wouldn’t lead to a spike in violent crime in Kenya.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-has-kenya-not-abolished-the-death-penalty-habit-and-inertia-189955">Why has Kenya not abolished the death penalty? Habit and inertia</a>
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<p><a href="https://deathpenaltyproject.org/knowledge/deterrence-policy-position-paper/">According to deterrence theorists</a>, potential offenders will be deterred by the death penalty because they make rational choices about whether to offend. They use knowledge about the relevant laws and punishments, and then weigh up the costs and benefits of offending. They will be deterred if they think it’s likely they will be caught and convicted, and that the possible punishment outweighs the rewards.</p>
<p>Our study found that in most cases, these preconditions for being deterred from committing capital crimes were not met.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>We studied the experiences of prisoners serving death sentences in Kenya. The work was done through the Death Penalty Project, working with Oxford University’s <a href="https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/death-penalty-research-unit">Death Penalty Research Unit</a>. Our colleagues at the <a href="https://www.knchr.org/">Kenya National Commission on Human Rights</a> carried out interviews with 671 prisoners (33 were women) sentenced to death for murder (44% of the total) and robbery with violence (56%). </p>
<p>Most of the prisoners were poorly educated. Participants mainly used local languages. They might not have been able to understand information distributed in Kenya’s national languages: English and Swahili. This may explain why most didn’t know that the death penalty was the likely punishment for their offence. Our study found that just 1% of our sample said they knew the death penalty was a punishment available for their offence in law. </p>
<p>In addition, only 4% of those convicted of robbery and 8% of those convicted of murder said they had thought about the possibility of being sentenced to death. However, 48% of murderers and 69% of robbers said they had contemplated being sent to prison before committing the crime.</p>
<p>The study also challenged the claim that offenders make rational choices about whether to offend, at least in cases of homicide. For example, the most common reasons given by participants for committing murder were anger (27%), provocation (23%), self-defence (17%) and extreme emotional situations (13%). </p>
<p>Less than a third of participants said knowledge of the law and possible punishments had affected their behaviour at all. Overall, few prisoners who committed crimes that resulted in a sentence of death had, at the time of the offence, considered this potential outcome.</p>
<h2>Shifts across Africa</h2>
<p>In 2022, three sub-Saharan countries abolished the death penalty: the <a href="https://worldcoalition.org/2022/06/26/central-african-republic-abolishes-the-death-penalty/">Central African Republic</a> in June, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/19/equatorial-guinea-abolishes-death-penalty-state-television-reports">Equatorial Guinea</a> in September and <a href="https://www.lusakatimes.com/2022/12/24/hh-announces-the-abolition-of-the-death-penalty-and-defamation-of-the-president-crime/">Zambia</a> in December. </p>
<p>In Zambia in 2016, Cornelius Mweetwa – a former lawyer and police officer who is now minister for the country’s Southern Province – <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.zm/node/5137">argued that deterrence did not “work”</a>. </p>
<p>He noted three assumptions that deterrence theorists use: that people know the penalties for crimes; that they can control their actions; and that people make decisions to commit a crime based on logic not passion.</p>
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<p>However, the three assumptions usually are not true. Therefore … people still commit these crimes. </p>
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<p>Mweetwa made another argument that also came through in our research. That the harsh, socially deprived death row regime, coupled with condemned prisoners’ “<a href="https://www.parliament.gov.zm/node/5137">constant awareness of their impending execution</a>” meant they were being subjected to cruel and inhuman punishment as defined by the <a href="https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/catcidtp/catcidtp.html">UN Convention Against Torture</a>.</p>
<p>While there may be some differences between Zambia and Kenya, most countries in the region will have similar levels of relative deprivation, both material and educational. Therefore, the rationales applied in Zambia leading to abolition would equally apply to Kenya.</p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>Kenya has been equivocal on its position on the death penalty. While various attempts have been made to move towards abolition, and mass commutations have taken hundreds of prisoners off death row, the country continues to sentence people to death. </p>
<p><a href="https://deathpenaltyproject.org/knowledge/kenya-part-one-a-public-ready-to-accept-abolition/">Our report</a> reflects on the histories, decision-making and prison experiences of those subject to the death penalty in Kenya. It provides an opportunity to better understand the lives fractured by this system. </p>
<p>And our findings are clear: abolition of the death penalty in Kenya won’t lead to a rise in violent crime. The country should, therefore, take the <a href="https://deathpenaltyproject.org/knowledge/kenya-part-one-a-public-ready-to-accept-abolition/">obvious step forward</a> and abolish the death penalty in law.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197701/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn Hoyle receives funding from the UK Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Parvais Jabbar receives funding from the European Union and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.</span></em></p>Research finds that the threat of being sentenced to death has no bearing on how people contemplate violent crime.Carolyn Hoyle, Director of the University of Oxford Death Penalty Research Unit, Centre for Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of OxfordParvais Jabbar, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of the Death Penalty Project, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1976572023-01-12T21:12:42Z2023-01-12T21:12:42ZThe young ages of the girls charged in the swarming death of a man in Toronto may affect trial outcomes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504127/original/file-20230111-11-my5s4d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5798%2C3845&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bail hearings are underway for the eight teenage girls charged in the murder of a man in Toronto.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In late December, eight teenage girls who had reportedly met online decided to meet in-person in downtown Toronto on a Saturday night. Shortly after midnight on Sunday Dec. 18, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/man-death-eight-teen-girls-charged-toronto-1.6692698">a 59-year-old man was allegedly swarmed, assaulted and stabbed</a> by the group.</p>
<p>Bystanders flagged down emergency medical personnel, but the man succumbed to his injuries.</p>
<p>The victim, Ken Lee, had recently moved to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ken-lee-victim-swarming-attack-toronto-1.6708778">a homeless shelter near the site of the attack</a>. His female companion said that she was smoking a cigarette with the victim when teens approached. According to this woman, a group of girls tried to take her alcohol and Lee told the teens to stop and to leave her alone. </p>
<p>At that point, she says the teens started to attack Lee. Afraid of what might happen to her, the woman walked away.</p>
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<h2>Young perpetrators</h2>
<p>Eight teens were arrested, and a number of weapons were confiscated from them. Three of the teens were 13 years old, three were 14 years old and two were 16 years old. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/20/teenager-girls-toronto-stabbing-swarming">Three of the teens were known to the police</a>. </p>
<p>The teens have been charged with second-degree murder.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/ststclsnpsht-yth/index-en.aspx">Several of the factors in this case are unique</a>: A group of females (72 per cent of youth appearing before court are male), mostly unknown to each other (unlike gangs who are an organized group to gain power and recognition), between the ages of 13 and 16 years (57 per cent of youth who appear before court are between 16 and 17 years old), allegedly committed murder (theft is the most common type of crime committed by youth).</p>
<p>Younger teens may be shown greater leniency than older teens given their diminished capacity to understand the consequences of their behaviour.</p>
<h2>Prosecuting youth</h2>
<p>The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) covers the prosecution of youth over the age of 12 and under 18 years old <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/back-hist.html">for criminal offences</a>. Because youth are still maturing, this must be accounted for in the <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/sheets-feuillets/oycja-alssj.html">treatment, prosecution and resolution of crime</a>. Rehabilitation and reintegration into society are emphasized. </p>
<p>Under the YCJA, the identities of teens cannot be made public. Although youth cannot be tried as adults, a youth can be sentenced as an adult if convicted. A youth cannot spend <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/yj-jj/tools-outils/sheets-feuillets/syp-dpaa.html">more than 10 years in custody</a>.</p>
<p>The sentence for first-degree murder as an adult is <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2021-sntnc-clcltn-fstfcts-02/index-en.aspx">life without parole for 25 years</a>. For second-degree murder, the minimum sentence is life in prison with no parole for 10 years, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/what-s-the-difference-between-1st-degree-murder-2nd-degree-murder-and-manslaughter-1.5068520">although sentences can be longer</a>. </p>
<p>Factors that may be considered when determining sentencing include age of the convicted, degree of violence of the crime and the interests of society.</p>
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<h2>Young defendants</h2>
<p>We conducted a study to examine whether a defendant’s developmental age (which reflects their behavioral, cognitive and physical development), chronological age (which is based on their date of birth) and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-016-9201-1">race influenced mock-jurors’ decision-making</a>. </p>
<p>Four hundred and forty-four participants read a trial transcript involving an assault where the defendant allegedly shoved the victim to the ground at a grocery store. The defendant’s developmental age (14 or 24 years old), chronological age (14 or 24 years old) and race (white, Black or Indigenous) were varied. </p>
<p>We found that mock jurors’ responses varied according to developmental age: a developmentally 24-year-old was given more guilty verdicts than a developmentally 14-year-old. Race also was influential in that the Black defendant received fewer guilty verdicts than the white defendant. </p>
<p>When the defendant had a developmental delay (the chronological age was higher than the developmental age), he was perceived as less guilty than a defendant whose chronological age matched his developmental age. </p>
<p>Regardless of race, younger defendants and those with developmental delays may be perceived more favourably and possibly treated more leniently than adults. </p>
<h2>Toronto teen swarming</h2>
<p><a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9388783/toronto-homeless-man-swarming-death-teens-court/">According to coverage of the bail hearings</a>, some of the teens appeared confused when asked if they understood what was happening. Only two parents of the seven accused seemed to be in attendance for the virtual proceedings, and one defendant’s lawyer was absent. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/swarming-toronto-teen-girls-bail-1.6699519">One of the eight teens accused of murder is free on bail</a>, but with conditions that include <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/case-of-8-teens-charged-in-toronto-homeless-man-s-death-set-to-return-to-court-1.6218364">no use of internet or a cell phone</a>. Bail hearings for the other girls involved are ongoing.</p>
<p>As the case unfolds, age may impact the judicial decision-making and ultimately, the case outcomes for these teens.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Pozzulo receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Pica does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Eight teen girls are charged in the stabbing death of a homeless man in Toronto. Research shows that jurors tend to respond when the perpetrator of a crime is or appears to be younger.Joanna Pozzulo, Chancellor's Professor, Psychology, Carleton UniversityEmily Pica, Associate Professor, Psychological Science and Counseling, Austin Peay State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1967172022-12-21T19:59:27Z2022-12-21T19:59:27ZLGBTQ Americans are 9 times more likely to be victimized by a hate crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501790/original/file-20221219-22510-6k8ql8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=60%2C13%2C3035%2C2046&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Only about 1 in 3 LGBTQ victims of violent hate crimes seek professional help for mental health issues that emerge after an attack.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/participant-seen-holding-a-rainbow-umbrella-at-the-protest-news-photo/1241559504?phrase=transgender protest USA&adppopup=true">Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
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<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0279363">our recent analysis</a> of the <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/programs/ncvs">National Crime Victimization Survey</a>, we found that the odds of being a violent hate crime victim for LGBTQ people was nine times greater than it was for cisgender and straight people from 2017 to 2019. </p>
<p>There were an average annual 6.6 violent hate crime victimizations per 1,000 LGBTQ people during this three year period.</p>
<p>In contrast, there were 0.6 violent hate crime victimizations per 1,000 cisgender and straight people. </p>
<p><a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/hate-crime-victimization-2005-2019">A hate crime</a> is an attack or threat of an attack that’s motivated by the victim’s perceived race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender or religion. Or it could include someone’s association with any of the previous categories, such as an anti-Muslim hate crime committed against <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/this-is-in-our-dna-how-sikh-americans-advocate-for-solidarity-while-campaigning-against-hate-crimes-prejudices">someone who is Sikh</a>.</p>
<p>The National Crime Victimization Survey is a nationally representative survey that asks over 200,000 people about non-fatal crimes that happened to them in the past year. Since 1999, it has asked victims if they suspected their victimization was motivated by certain biases, and if so, the reason for the bias. We use the National Crime Victimization Survey classification of hate crimes, which is consistent with <a href="https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/hate-crime-victimization-2005-2019">the Bureau of Justice Statistics classification</a>: victimizations that involve hate language, hate symbols, or were confirmed by police to be a hate crime.</p>
<p>Since 2017, the National Crime Victimization Survey has been documenting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba6910">sexual orientation and gender identity of respondents</a>. This has allowed us to estimate the rate of hate crimes against LGBTQ people for the first time.</p>
<h2>Physical and psychological repercussions</h2>
<p>Another notable finding from our study suggested that violent hate crimes involving LGBTQ victims have unique characteristics .</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764202046001003">Prior research has</a> suggested that LGBTQ victims of hate crime frequently did <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4560.00263">not know the offender</a>. In our analyses, 49% of violent hate crimes with LGBTQ victims involved an attacker who was a close friend, family member, partner or former partner.</p>
<p>We also found that LGBTQ victims of violent hate crimes were more likely to have physical and psychological symptoms as a result of the attack when compared with LGBTQ victims of violent crimes that were not hate crimes. </p>
<p>For example, LGBTQ victims of violent hate crimes were four times more likely to feel worried or anxious as a result of the incident than LGBTQ victims of non-hate violence. Despite this, we found that only about 1 in 3 LGBTQ victims of violent hate crimes sought professional help for their symptoms. </p>
<h2>Hate crimes don’t just affect the victims</h2>
<p>Our findings complement a series of studies relying on the National Crime Victimization Survey that showed that LGBTQ people are generally victims of crimes <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba6910">at higher rates than cisgender and straight people</a>, with bisexual women having <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306017">markedly higher victimization rates than lesbians</a>, and transgender people having <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306099">higher victimization rates than cisgender people</a>.</p>
<p>Hate crimes do not just affect an individual – <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/legislation/hearings/the-rise-of-anti-lgbtqi-extremism-and-violence-in-the-united-states">whole communities can be affected by hate</a>. In what’s known as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-020-09710-y">collective trauma</a>,” LGBTQ people often internalize the violence inflicted on other members of the community.</p>
<p>LGTBQ people are still recovering from the November 2022 <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/club-q-mass-shooting-survivors-testify-on-capitol-hill-in-hearing-on-anti-lgbtq-violence-157661253825">mass shooting at Club Q</a>, an LGBTQ bar in Colorado Springs. The accused shooter has been charged with <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/club-q-shooting-colorado-springs-anderson-lee-aldrich-charged/">48 counts of hate-motivated violence</a>. </p>
<p>Our findings allow us to more fully characterize the stories of LGBT victims – and the heightened danger they face across the country.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.rti.org/expert/lynn-langton">Lynn Langton</a> contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Ryan Flores receives funding from the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law as a Visiting Scholar and the Public Religion Research Institute as a Public Fellow. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ilan Meyer and Rebecca Stotzer do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For the first time, researchers have been able to produce estimates of the rate of hate crimes against LGBTQ people.Andrew Ryan Flores, Visiting Scholar at the Williams Institute and Assistant Professor of Government, American UniversityIlan Meyer, Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy, University of California, Los AngelesRebecca Stotzer, Professor of Social Work, University of HawaiiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1930672022-11-22T19:28:49Z2022-11-22T19:28:49ZThe criminal justice system is retraumatizing victims of violent crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495724/original/file-20221116-20-fgcmwk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=61%2C24%2C8118%2C5432&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Support for victims must include forms of restorative justice that allows them to have their voices heard.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a split moment, violence can change our lives. We could become a target of violence in our home, school, workplace and community. You might be slapped, punched, stabbed or shot, resulting in serious injuries, trauma or even death. </p>
<p>When someone is victimized, adequate support services should be available to <a href="https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1127&context=sclr">help victims and ensure their rights</a> but, unfortunately, they rarely are in the Canadian criminal justice system. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A bald man wearing a suit and glasses speaking in parliament." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495723/original/file-20221116-20-fy4yb0.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=870&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Minister of Justice David Lametti announced the appointment of a Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime in late September 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
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<p>After several months of <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2022/01/17/ottawa-accused-of-failing-crime-victims-by-leaving-watchdog-job-empty.html">public criticism</a>, the federal government recently appointed a new <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/department-justice/news/2022/09/minister-of-justice-announces-new-federal-ombudsperson-for-victims-of-crime.html">Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime</a> in September. The new ombudsman will continue the work of making recommendations about systemic and emerging issues in the federal system based on concerns raised by victims.</p>
<p>The House of Commons standing committee on justice and human rights is currently studying the <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Committees/en/JUST/StudyActivity?studyActivityId=11552971">government’s obligations to victims</a>. The study is generating an important debate on existing policies, programs and legislation that could better align the justice system with the needs of victims. </p>
<h2>Victims retraumatized</h2>
<p>In the aftermath of violence, victims typically feel <a href="https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/cjccj.51.4.473?journalCode=cjccj">pain, shock, fear, grief and anger</a> as a result of its physical, psychological, spiritual and financial impacts.</p>
<p>The 2019 criminal victimization survey from Statistics Canada found that <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00014-eng.htm">2.6 million people</a> over the age of 15 were victims of a violent incident including sexual assault, physical assault and robbery. </p>
<p>In addition, there is a <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2022001/article/00013-eng.htm">disproportionate impact of violent victimization</a> on Black and Indigenous people, young women, sexual minorities and people with disabilities. With many intersecting identities, marginalized people face a higher risk of violence because of racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism.</p>
<p>However, only about <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-002-x/2021001/article/00014-eng.htm">a quarter of victims of violence reported the incidents</a> to police because most had little confidence they’d be taken seriously and feared being re-traumatized by the legal process.</p>
<p>The criminal justice system is ineffective at addressing the harm done to victims because it centres around punishing the accused perpetrators of violence. The system does not adequately support the victim’s healing. Instead, it uses them to punish people the Crown believes can be found guilty. </p>
<p>In 2018, the Department of Justice completed a review of Canada’s criminal justice system and found that <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/tcjs-tsjp/fr-rf/docs/fr.pdf">victims are disillusioned</a> and feel re-victimized by the current approach. These findings align with many <a href="https://www.womenatthecentre.com/initiatives/declarations-of-truth/#:%7E:text=Declarations%20of%20Truth%20is%20a,justice%20for%20sexual%20violence%20survivors.">declarations from victims of sexual violence</a> about their experiences with the legal system where they are blamed and shamed for the harm done, have little agency in the court proceedings and receive limited access to counselling and compensation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two women sit on a couch. One is comforting the other." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495725/original/file-20221116-25-s4cnhe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The justice system does not adequately support the victim’s healing because it centres around punishing the accused perpetrators of violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Retributive justice not the answer</h2>
<p>Increased policing and prisons are <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1664-we-do-this-til-we-free-us">not a solution</a> to these issues because they can lead to further violence and exclusion for the most vulnerable people in society. If an accused person is found guilty of a violent offence, they will <a href="https://nationalmagazine.ca/en-ca/articles/law/in-depth/2019/canada-s-prisons-are-failing">likely be sentenced to prison</a> where they often become angrier, more violent and excluded, putting more people in harm’s way. </p>
<p>Complex social and economic inequalities also play a role <a href="https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/the-roots-of-danger-9780190215231?cc=ca&lang=en&">in violence</a>. But conditions of racism and poverty continue to be ignored by the state. </p>
<p>Instead, the default responses continue to be <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/432/SECU/Reports/RP11434998/securp06/securp06-e.pdf">hyper policing</a> and <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-failing-black-indigenous-prisoners-as-overrepresentation-persists-report-1.6135807">mass incarceration</a> of disadvantaged people. Black people are <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/A%20Disparate%20Impact%20Second%20interim%20report%20on%20the%20TPS%20inquiry%20executive%20summary.pdf">20 times</a> more likely to be killed by the police than a white person in Toronto. Indigenous Peoples make up around five per cent of Canada’s population, yet account for <a href="https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/rpt/annrpt/annrpt20212022-eng.aspx">32 per cent</a> of the federal prison population. </p>
<p>Instead of addressing the root causes of violence, retributive justice perpetuates a vicious cycle where people are punished, stigmatized with a criminal record and released back into communities with limited support. The system dehumanizes and sets up criminalized people to fail, without adequate housing, employment and social support.</p>
<h2>Restorative justice</h2>
<p>Victims’ needs typically start with not wanting the harm to happen to anyone else. <a href="http://www.jpp.org/documents/forms/JPP9_2/RuthMorris.pdf">Victims want answers</a> to their questions. They want to know why the harm happened and what will be done to <a href="https://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/res/pub/gfo-ore/pdf/RestorativeJustice.pdf">repair the damage</a> so the person who caused the violence can take responsibility and make changes in their lives. Reparations, either symbolically with an apology or financially, can go a long way to help victims recover. </p>
<p><a href="https://cjiwr.com/about-us/what-is-restorative-justice/">Restorative justice (RJ)</a> is an alternative approach that uses dialogue to address violence where victims, people who caused harm and community members come to an agreement on what should be done to reconcile and transform the root causes of the problem for individual, cultural and societal change. </p>
<p>RJ allows victims to have their voice heard and to hold people who cause harm accountable by making amends and changing behaviours. The community also sets up a broader support system to prevent future victimization using education and social networks. </p>
<p>But restorative justice programs need co-operation and funding from the criminal justice system and the government to scale up initiatives across the country.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman places her hand on a man's shoulder. Other people sit around the man." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495717/original/file-20221116-2576-tvx7u8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Restorative justice is an alternative approach that uses dialogue to address violence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In 2015, the federal government adopted the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/annualstatutes/2015_13/page-1.html">Victims Bill of Rights Act</a>, which gave victims of crime the right to information, protection, participation and restitution. </p>
<p>However, a 2020 <a href="https://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/res/pub/prcvbr-reccdv/index.html">progress report</a> from the ombudsman found that implementation of the bill has been sporadic and inconsistent because it has no strategic action plan, limited training opportunities for justice officials, poor data collection measures, little public awareness or outreach about victims; rights and a lack of funding for restorative justice.</p>
<p>The bill also left out the most important right: support services for victims at a standard level throughout the country. Victims’ rights are not enforceable by law and the legislation only provides a <a href="https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/2022-vctm-cmplnt-rsltn-mchnsms/index-en.aspx">complaints process</a> to remedy the situation. </p>
<p>The justice and human rights committee is scheduled to release a report next year. Hopefully, the federal government will make the necessary reforms to increase funding for provincial and territorial governments that will allow them to administer victim services and restorative justice. </p>
<p>The federal government also needs one office for victims that works across departments and jurisdictions to implement a renewed <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/cp-pm/eval/rep-rap/11/fvs-sfv/p2.html">victims’ strategy</a>, one that goes beyond small pilot projects and public education about victims’ role in the criminal justice system. The office should engage regularly with non-governmental organizations and grassroots collectives so the voices of victims are heard and changes are made.</p>
<p>Providing victims with dignity, respect and fairness requires more than words. It must include real actions to support their needs, providing more options for restorative justice and changing the way systems run to be more human-centred and to uphold rights.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193067/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeffrey Bradley is affiliated with the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project which brings together critical criminologists, students, researchers, community members, front-line workers, and those affected by criminalization and punishment, to carry out such public education, activism, and research in the hopes of creating social change.</span></em></p>Victims of violence are often retraumatized by a legal process that puts prosecuting the accused ahead of supporting the victim.Jeffrey Bradley, Ph.D. Candidate, Legal Studies, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1885312022-08-11T23:25:26Z2022-08-11T23:25:26ZSam Uffindell was lucky to avoid NZ’s criminal justice system as a schoolboy – but it was the right outcome<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478840/original/file-20220811-5086-wzg4ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C5236%2C3490&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>However you look at it, the National Party has selected someone who once <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/08/national-s-sam-uffindell-admits-to-being-school-bully-concedes-violent-assault-on-13-year-old-was-a-crime.html">committed an act of criminal violence</a> to represent the Tauranga electorate in parliament.</p>
<p>It’s an unfortunate move for a self-styled party of law and order, but perhaps it should be welcomed. If the party is able to forgive Sam Uffindell, then perhaps it’s also time for bipartisan efforts to make the justice system itself more forgiving, particularly when it affects children. </p>
<p>There have been more allegations about Uffindell’s past behaviour, and the National Party has begun an inquiry. But by his own admission, Uffindell <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/129523554/the-bullying-claims-against-sam-uffindell-and-what-is-next-for-nationals-newest-mp">took part in a group attack</a> when he was a 16-year-old schoolboy that led to the serious bruising and traumatising of a 13-year-old pupil. </p>
<p>The victim has said he believed wooden <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300656643/national-mp-sam-uffindell-asked-to-leave-prestigious-kings-college-after-violent-nighttime-attack-on-younger-boy">bed legs were used</a> in the attack. Although he was lucky not to be more seriously injured, the perpetrators were perhaps even luckier. </p>
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<h2>Treating children as criminals</h2>
<p>As a criminal barrister I have advised many clients over the years whose murder convictions were based on attacks by small groups using improvised blunt weapons. They were unlucky enough that the victim’s injuries led to their death. The schoolboys in this case were perhaps lucky enough this didn’t happen. </p>
<p>If you attack someone with blunt instruments as part of a group action you are running the very real risk of a homicide conviction. The difference between a life sentence and a life representing a political party may be just a matter of inches. </p>
<p>The attackers in the Uffindell case were also lucky enough to avoid the justice system. This is significant because if you enter the justice system as a child (aged under 18 according to the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>) it is remarkably difficult to get out. </p>
<p>Early conviction is a major predictor of future offending. What’s known as “<a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/labeling-theory.html">labelling theory</a>” suggests that defining someone as “criminal” at an early age helps create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Children treated as criminals early on begin to assume that identity.</p>
<p>For this reason, child rights advocates urge the use of <a href="https://youthlaw.co.nz/rights/police-the-youth-justice-system/diversion-17-years/">diversion and other methods</a> of dealing with children who engage in criminality. An informal version of this is exactly what happened to Uffindell.</p>
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<h2>Scaling up forgiveness</h2>
<p>Expulsion from school is certainly a harsh penalty. But in effect, Uffindell was simply moved to a different branch of the Anglican boarding school network. He avoided conviction and criminal punishment and went on to be forgiven and welcomed into the banking and political establishments.</p>
<p>This is, in fact, a great outcome for children who commit a crime. Their later lives are not ruined and they are able to grow out of their immature and violent phase. This forgiveness and informality is to be welcomed. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sending-teens-to-maximum-security-prisons-shows-australia-needs-to-raise-the-age-of-criminal-responsibility-187768">Sending teens to maximum security prisons shows Australia needs to raise the age of criminal responsibility</a>
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<p>The question, then, is how do we take such forgiveness to scale? How do we ensure that someone with a different background, who committed the same offence in a different setting, also gets the benefit of this forgiveness? This is the new challenge for National.</p>
<p>Uffindell used part of his <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/mi/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20220802_20220802_40">maiden speech</a> in parliament to mark himself out as tough on crime. He bemoaned (apparently without irony) “a growing culture of lawlessness, lack of accountability, a sense of impunity”. </p>
<p>Less well reported were his calls for a “social investment” approach to reducing crime. This involves investing early in the lives of at-risk people to prevent the state being what Uffindell called “the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff”.</p>
<p>As a beneficiary of forgiveness himself, perhaps he is open to more progressive justice policies.</p>
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<h2>New Zealand out of step</h2>
<p>There are many ways to reform the justice system for children. But the two biggest (and legislatively perhaps the easiest) reforms would be to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) and to eliminate life sentences for children. </p>
<p>Currently, both these policies mean New Zealand is out of step with international standards. Our MACR is ten, a “low” age <a href="https://www.oecd.org/els/family/PF_1_8_Age_threshold_Childhood_to_Adulthood.pdf">according to the OECD</a>. Only three other OECD members share an MACR as low as this. </p>
<p>The New Zealand Human Rights Commission has argued the minimum age should be <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CRC/GC10/HumanRightsCommissionNewZealand.docx">raised to 14</a>. While children aged ten and 11 are unlikely to have charges end in court, <a href="https://www.justice.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Publications/viiw47-Children-and-young-people-data-notes-and-trends-dec2021-v2.0.pdf">2% of charges</a> that ended in court in 2021 involved 12 and 13 year olds.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/locking-up-kids-damages-their-mental-health-and-sets-them-up-for-more-disadvantage-is-this-what-we-want-117674">Locking up kids damages their mental health and sets them up for more disadvantage. Is this what we want?</a>
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<p>At present, once you’ve reached the age of ten, the state can send you to prison for life. This happened only last week in New Zealand to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/29/new-zealand-15-year-old-boy-receives-life-sentence-for">15-year-old boy</a>. </p>
<p>Again, this is out of step with <a href="https://archive.crin.org/sites/default/files/crin_life_imprisonment_summary.pdf">standards in the EU</a> and elsewhere. While the UK and the US do use life sentences for children, it’s notable that only one EU country (Ireland) imposes them. </p>
<p>If children committing serious offences can be managed without a life sentence in Germany and Spain, why can’t New Zealand do it too? Instead of ruining more lives with life sentences and ineffective criminal convictions, why not reduce the scope and severity of penalties for children who offend?</p>
<p>Is it now time for the National Party – and others – to ask whether the forgiveness shown Uffindell should be extended to all young people. Major reform of the justice system for children is long overdue. Perhaps that can be Sam Uffindell’s legacy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188531/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Mehigan has previously served on the legal advisory panel of the Child Rights International Network. </span></em></p>Sam Uffindell experienced a form of forgiveness after assaulting a younger schoolboy 22 years ago. But this should be the norm under NZ’s child justice system, which is overdue for reform.James Mehigan, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of CanterburyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1834552022-05-20T12:15:23Z2022-05-20T12:15:23ZAccused Buffalo mass shooter had threatened a shooting while in high school. Could more have been done to avert the tragedy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464344/original/file-20220519-24-qopwtp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C0%2C6679%2C4466&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many mass shooters show signs of distress before their attack. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/active-shooter-taking-gun-in-classroom-ready-for-royalty-free-image/1353456796?adppopup=true">Smederevac via iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly a year before he was charged with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/14/nyregion/buffalo-shooting">shooting and killing 10 shoppers</a>, and wounding three more, at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store, a then-17-year-old student <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/local/mass-shooter-accused-of-pure-evil-killing-of-10-in-buffalo-hate-crime-named-in/article_f9ef9bac-d3d9-11ec-9eaf-cbcafe308f9c.html#tracking-source=home-top-story">reportedly told his classmates</a> at Susquehanna Valley High School that he “wanted to do a shooting, either at a graduation ceremony, or sometime after.”</p>
<p>He also reportedly mentioned that he <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/local/even-in-new-york-red-flags-dont-always-stop-shooters/article_c3cd8228-d5f0-11ec-b066-c35d9bde8ff7.html">wanted to do a murder-suicide</a> at the school, which is located in Broome County in New York.</p>
<p>A teacher reported the comment – made online – to a school resource officer. Since the perpetrator had been at home when he made the comment, it triggered a visit from state police, as opposed to the school resource officer, according to an <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/broome-da-says-authorities-followed-the-law-with-gendrons-high-school-threat/article_f61ee8a6-d6dc-11ec-b33b-cf576d594f42.html">official account of the episode</a> published in the wake of the shooting in The Buffalo News.</p>
<p>“The State Police visited the home, talked to the student and persuaded him to undergo a mental health evaluation at Binghamton General Hospital,” the <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/broome-da-says-authorities-followed-the-law-with-gendrons-high-school-threat/article_f61ee8a6-d6dc-11ec-b33b-cf576d594f42.html">article states</a>. “When a doctor evaluated (the perpetrator) as not dangerous – a key hurdle required in the <a href="https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/MHY/TBA9">Mental Hygiene Law</a> to hold someone against their will – he was returned home and allowed to graduate days later.”</p>
<p>The story is not unlike the dozens of stories that we, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hoHQX8MAAAAJ&hl=en">a forensic psychologist</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=iS4HAEMAAAAJ&hl=en">a sociologist</a>, have collected in recent years in our effort to study the <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/library/publications/violence-project-how-stop-mass-shooting-epidemic">life histories</a> of mass shooters. It typifies what we believe is one of the biggest challenges that schools face when it comes to averting school shootings – and in the case of Buffalo, mass shootings in general. And that challenge is recognizing and acting upon warning signs that mass shooters almost always give well before they open fire. </p>
<h2>Patterns emerge among shooters</h2>
<p>With <a href="https://nij.gov/funding/awards/pages/award-detail.aspx?award=2018-75-CX-0023">funding</a> from the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, we have <a href="https://www.theviolenceproject.org/mass-shooter-database/">built a database</a> of 180 mass public shootings that have taken place in the United States since 1966. A mass public shooting is <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44126.pdf">defined</a> as an event in which four or more victims are killed with a gun in a public place. The goal of this project is to use data to look for patterns in the lives of mass shooters. The purpose is to develop a better understanding of who they are and why they did what they did, in order to prevent future tragedies.</p>
<p>The findings, detailed in our 2021 book, “<a href="https://www.abramsbooks.com/product/violence-project_9781419752957/">The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic</a>,” show the person charged with the Buffalo shooting on May 14, 2022, shares many commonalities with other mass shooters. He was a young man – <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/guys-guns-men-vast-majority-americas-gun-violence/story?id=79125485">98% of mass shooters are men</a> – who targeted a retail establishment, which is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-mass-shootings-are-happening-at-grocery-stores-13-of-shooters-are-motivated-by-racial-hatred-criminologists-find-183098">most common location</a> for a mass public shooting in our database.</p>
<p>The majority of mass shooters – 80% – showed <a href="https://www.theviolenceproject.org/mass-shooter-database-3/key-findings/">signs of a crisis</a>, as exhibited in their behavior, before the shooting. Much like the accused Buffalo shooter allegedly did, nearly half revealed their plans ahead of time, such as by posting on social media. Communication of intent to do harm is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.33073">most common among younger shooters</a>, like the accused Buffalo perpetrator, who is just 18. Over 30% of mass shooters were <a href="https://www.theviolenceproject.org/mass-shooter-database-3/key-findings/">suicidal</a> prior to their shooting, and another 40% intended to die in the act, according to our database. A news report indicates that the Buffalo perpetrator <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/05/17/twisted-diary-of-alleged-buffalo-shooter-payton-gendron-reveals-his-online-radicalization/">considered taking his own life over a dozen times</a>. </p>
<p>In his <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10829053/Diary-white-supremacist-Buffalo-gunman-entries-doubled-racist-beliefs.html">online diary</a>, the accused Buffalo shooter detailed the white supremacist ideology he discovered in internet chat rooms. Our database shows that 18% of mass shootings are underlined by hate. </p>
<p>At the same time, like a quarter of all mass shooters, the accused Buffalo perpetrator developed an interest in past mass shootings. He reportedly <a href="https://abc7ny.com/buffalo-shooting-suspect-payton-gendron-conklin-new-york-tops-supermarket/11855987/">praised other mass shooters who were similarly inspired by racial hatred</a>, such as the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/religion-389bcc56019f268cb1056e37a517bd6c">2015 South Carolina church shooter</a>. And like 25% of perpetrators we’ve studied, he left behind a “<a href="https://nypost.com/2022/05/14/buffalo-shooter-payton-gendron-posted-white-supremacist-manifesto/">manifesto</a>” for the next generation of potential mass shooters to read.</p>
<p>Despite his contact with police and the hospital the year before, the perpetrator was still able to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/us/politics/legal-gun-purchase-mass-shooting.html">legally purchase guns</a>, like 63% of the other perpetrators we’ve studied.</p>
<h2>Toward prevention</h2>
<p>There is a US$3 billion <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/school-shootings-and-campus-safety-industry/">industry</a> in U.S. school safety focused almost entirely on hardening schools with active shooter drills, metal detectors and armed security.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464345/original/file-20220519-9568-c3hubb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="School children hide under their desks as part of a lockdown drill." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464345/original/file-20220519-9568-c3hubb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464345/original/file-20220519-9568-c3hubb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464345/original/file-20220519-9568-c3hubb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464345/original/file-20220519-9568-c3hubb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464345/original/file-20220519-9568-c3hubb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464345/original/file-20220519-9568-c3hubb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464345/original/file-20220519-9568-c3hubb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1128&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Lockdown drills have become part of life for America’s schoolchildren.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kindergarten-student-hides-under-her-desk-during-a-news-photo/72547972?adppopup=true">Phil Mislinski/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In recent years, however, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/05/02/1095489487/trigger-points-mark-follman-how-to-stop-mass-shootings">behavioral threat assessment teams</a> – teams in schools that get troubled people help before they turn to violence – have been touted as key to bridging the gap between hard security and soft prevention. Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.33073">research</a> shows that even general threats of school violence, such as those made by the alleged Buffalo shooter, are a critical intervention point on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/med-psych/9780190940164.003.0022">path to intended violence</a>.</p>
<p>While the accused Buffalo shooter was <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/accused-gunman-in-buffalo-shooting-was-investigated-for-threat-to-his-school/2022/05">evaluated and cleared</a> as not posing an immediate threat, ongoing support to prevent the threat of violence becoming real and imminent in the future – including after he graduated from school and when he was no longer under the school’s duty of care – was lacking. <a href="https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2022-05-18/broome-county-district-attorney-confirms-buffalo-shooting-suspect-talked-about-murder-suicide">Few mental health services are available</a> for young adults and children in Broome County, or nationwide, and there are <a href="https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp16X687061">many barriers</a> to accessing those that are available.</p>
<p>Additionally, more could have been done to ensure that a student expressing homicidal and suicidal thoughts didn’t have access to the guns they needed to perpetrate violence. For schools, this typically means educating parents and caregivers about the <a href="https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/child-consumer-safety/safe-storage/">merits of safe storage</a>. But once a student turns 18, <a href="https://rockinst.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/policy-solutions-public-mass-shootings.pdf">permissive gun laws</a> complicate these efforts. </p>
<p>In the wake of the Buffalo shooting, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans to pursue executive orders and laws that would require state police to seek court orders to keep guns away from people who might pose a threat to themselves or others, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-05-18/after-buffalo-massacre-ny-governor-seeks-action-on-guns">according to U.S. News and World Report</a>. Our data shows that if these policies were in place and acted upon, it could potentially <a href="https://www.latimes.com/projects/if-gun-laws-were-enacted/">prevent the majority of mass shootings</a>.</p>
<p>In the end, we must learn from the lives of mass shooters and the long and tragic history of mass shootings in America to do everything possible to stop the next mass shooting before it occurs.</p>
<p><em>Portions of this article originally appeared in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/school-shooters-usually-show-these-signs-of-distress-long-before-they-open-fire-our-database-shows-111242">previous article published on Feb. 8, 2019</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Densley receives funding from the National Institute of Justice</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jillian Peterson receives funding from the National Institute of Justice</span></em></p>When young people plan a mass shooting, especially at a school, they typically reveal their plans in advance. Two scholars weigh in on whether the warning signs are being heeded in the right way.James Densley, Professor of Criminal Justice, Metropolitan State University Jillian Peterson, Professor of Criminal Justice, Hamline University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1812052022-04-18T13:04:41Z2022-04-18T13:04:41ZToxic mix of bandits, arms, drugs and terrorism is alarming Nigerians: what now?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457959/original/file-20220413-18289-crnq6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Residents fleeing their homes in Plateau State, north central Nigeria, on April 12, 2022 after their houses were burnt during an attack by bandits. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AFP via GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Banditry in Nigeria emerged as an isolated rural phenomenon <a href="https://punchng.com/banditry-in-nigeria-a-brief-history-of-a-long-war/">in the late 2000s</a>. It’s now evolved into sophisticated violent criminality, characterised by syndicates with immense reach across regions and countries.</p>
<p>The trend of <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/security/civil-security/iss-kadunas-train-attacks-add-to-nigerias-deep-security-problems/">recent attacks</a> in northern Nigeria suggest it has now become an aggravated threat, driven by a nexus of banditry, arms, drugs and terrorism.</p>
<p>There is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211069650">evidence</a> of a tacit synergy between terrorist elements and bandits in northern Nigeria, a synergy based on tactical opportunism or pragmatism.</p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Okoli+and+Ugwu&rlz=1C1CHBD_enNG889NG889&oq=Okoli+and+Ugwu&aqs=chrome..69i57.8191j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">early 2010s,</a> bandits were largely roving brigands that marauded communities in the hinterlands. They engaged in cattle rustling, high-way and market routes robbery, localised village raids and mercenary militancy.</p>
<p>By the late 2010s, they had developed into organised tribes of semi-sedentary criminals that maintained pockets of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0021909621990856?journalCode=jasa">underworld fiefdoms</a>. This was particularly the case in parts of Zamfara and Katsina states in northwestern Nigeria. The transformation of banditry into a sophisticated pattern of organised criminality has been enabled by a number of factors, including its nexus with arms, drugs and jihadi extremism. </p>
<p>Currently, bandits operate in many states of northwestern and north-central Nigeria. The critical hotbeds are Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, Sokoto, Nasarawa and Niger. The Kaduna-Katsina-Zamfara axis, with its epicentre at the Birinin Gwari area, has been particularly deadly in terms of fatal incidents.</p>
<iframe title="Critical Hotbeds" aria-label="Locator maps" id="datawrapper-chart-K8Ms7" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/K8Ms7/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="700" width="100%"></iframe>
<p>In these states, notorious crimelords and clans of bandits affiliated to them control swathes of rural enclaves. There they’ve foisted a regime of brigandage, and an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0021909621990856?journalCode=jasa">underground economy</a> based on illicit franchise.</p>
<p>The bandits are getting more audacious and virulent by the day. And they appear to be buoyed by their apparent criminal impunity in the context of a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211069650">receding state</a>. </p>
<p>They have engaged in <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Okoli+and+Ugwu&rlz=1C1CHBD_enNG889NG889&oq=Okoli+and+Ugwu&aqs=chrome..69i57.8191j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">mass abduction</a> of villagers and school children, attacked markets and raided mines, kidnapped for ransom, as well as carried out highway robberies. </p>
<p>They have graduated from attacking vulnerable communities and commuters in the countryside to targeting critical national infrastructures and military facilities in peri-urban areas.</p>
<p>On March 28, 2022 bandits succeeded in <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/4/more-than-150-still-missing-after-nigeria-train-attack">demobilising and attacking</a> a Kaduna-Abuja train after bombing its tracks. The attack underscored not only the intractability of the banditry crisis but also its <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-04-07-nigeria-train-attacks-amplify-deep-security-issues-in-dealing-with-terrorism-and-banditry/">deteriorating dynamics</a>.</p>
<p>Central and regional governments have responded through a variety of strategies. These have ranged from militarised to non-militarised operations. For example, governments of the affected states have sought to assuage the bandits through <a href="https://njps.nileuniversity.edu.ng/wp-content/uploads/sites/68/2021/12/Buying-Peace-Or-Building-Peace-27-51.pdf">peace initiatives and amnesty deals</a>. This has been to no avail. </p>
<p>How can authorities in Nigeria reposition its fight against banditry in order to ensure greater efficiency? What were the challenges of the previously implemented strategies and measures? What needs to be done differently? Is there any prospects for a more effective counter-banditry regime in Nigeria?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358398187_Of_Banditry_and_'Human_Rustling'_The_Scourge_of_Kidnapping_in_Northern_Nigeria">My research</a> has focused on the incidence and implications of banditry in northern Nigeria. Based on my insights, I would argue that the banditry crisis has festered owing to the continued decline in the coercive capabilities of the Nigerian state. The crisis has prevailed largely because of the complacency and lethargy with which the Nigerian government has responded to it.</p>
<p>Breaking the vicious cycle will only happen if the right and enabling strategies are developed. These need to be pragmatic, efficient and designed to tackle the multiple factors that underline the political economy of banditry in the country. </p>
<h2>What’s missing</h2>
<p>In November 2021, the Federal Government of Nigeria designated the bandits as terrorists. This enabled it to reposition its counter-banditry and terrorism drive. The military can now deploy maximum military force in confronting the bandits. But this is just one of a series of woefully reactive steps taken by the central government. </p>
<p>Here’s what’s been missing and crucially needed in its response.</p>
<p>Firstly, the banditry crisis is a situation of warfare, and ought to be understood and treated as such. It is a dire national emergency. The response to it should therefore bear the seriousness of wartime. </p>
<p>The complacent attitude of the Nigerian state to the crisis should be substituted with pragmatic aggressiveness. Exceptional military and non-military measures should be deployed urgently to put the bandits on the run. For example, urgent steps must be taken to confront the bandits head on. Such steps could include degrading their enabling structures as well as plugging their critical supplies.</p>
<p>Secondly, there is a need to change the prevailing posture of being reactive to one of being proactive. The bandits have taken the lead in the battle while the government security forces have simply <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/07/boko-haram-banditry-wake-up-from-your-lethargy-unite-stop-politicising-fight-against-terrorism-matawalle-challenges-northern-leaders-elites/">reacted</a>, often lethargically and in an uncoordinated way.</p>
<p>A more proactive and pragmatic approach is needed. This will entail ensuring a combat-ready attitude. And putting in place procedures that are driven by intelligence-driven, supported by communities and are well funded. </p>
<p>A specialised, consolidated, community-based combat squad comprising members of the intelligence, defence, policing, and vigilante services capable of preemptive and rapid response is a desideratum in this regard.</p>
<p>Thirdly, the entrenched militarised approach to counter-banditry should be substituted for something more pragmatic. Military operations have resulted in the destruction of a number of bandits’ enclaves and hideouts. These have included such as localised reconnaissance, air and land raids, as well as armed patrols.</p>
<p>But they haven’t succeeded. In fact, they have led to the dispersal of bandits across the northern states. This has occasioned the need to fight bandits on multiple fronts.</p>
<p>There is also a need to coordinate operations in the affected states. Focal priorities should include: concerns about drugs and arms trafficking, illicit mining, smuggling, cattle rustling, as well as forestland and borderland policing.</p>
<p>Finally, there is a need to rethink the country’s internal and national security architectures. Originally, the public security forces in Nigeria were designed to respond to conventional threats. But the banditry challenge is an unconventional threat. Its dynamics have exposed the inadequacies of the public security agencies in the country.</p>
<p>Addressing this challenge will require a consolidated approach to counter-banditry that stresses inter-agency collaboration, community policing and strategic volunteering. </p>
<p>The security agencies must work in close and functional synergy. And they must enlist community goodwill, support and participation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181205/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Al Chukwuma Okoli consults for Center for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja. I have received collaborative research grant from Tertiary Education Fund, Nigeria. I am a member of Amnesty International (AI)</span></em></p>The Nigerian government needs to understand that banditry is an act of warfare and should be treated as such.Al Chukwuma Okoli, Senior Lecturer and Consultant-researcher, Department of Political Science, Federal University LafiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1791572022-04-06T14:43:03Z2022-04-06T14:43:03ZFanning the flames: How anger fuels violent crime in youth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454452/original/file-20220325-13-1hsg7b7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C3031%2C1349&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is plenty we still don’t understand about how anger influences behaviour.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Erinn Acland)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Anger is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0092656691900028">evoked from being harmed or having a goal blocked</a>; those who experience severe, chronic challenges and trauma <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/2676320">tend to experience more anger</a>. If channelled into productive activities — such as addressing injustices through whistleblowing, activism and legal action — anger can fuel extremely positive changes in society. </p>
<p>Anger can also be adaptive in hostile environments, as it can make people more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16070839">sensitive and confrontational to potential threats</a>. However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/J.AVB.2015.09.001">perceiving benign interactions</a> as attacks and routinely <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2011.10.049">escalating conflicts</a> can cause unnecessary harm to both the perpetrator and the target, creating a cycle of anger and destruction. </p>
<p>Controlling anger may be especially difficult for youth as their impulsivity and ability to regulate emotions <a href="https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S39776">are not fully developed</a>, which <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-9926-4">in part</a> explains why violent crime tends to peak <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370817731706">during the teen years</a>.</p>
<p>Results from a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2022.2028882">recently published study</a> by criminal justice scholar Caitlin Cavanagh and I showed that justice-involved youth who reported experiencing more anger in the preceding few months were more likely to be currently violent. However, they were not at greater risk of reoffending within two years (violently or non-violently). </p>
<p>This is contrary to findings from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000420">other researchers</a> that employed shorter follow-up recidivism periods (those who reoffended within one year or less). This could mean that general anger is related to short-term violence and offending, but is not linked to long-term conduct problems. </p>
<p>However, we did find that specific features of anger may be important for long-term criminality in youth.</p>
<h2>The rise and fall of anger</h2>
<p>Each episode of anger can be thought of as a wave, which includes a rise and fall. </p>
<p>The rise refers to how rapidly anger emerges after a challenge; someone with a short fuse can make others feel like they need to walk on eggshells as not to set them off. The fall refers to how long someone stays angry. Experiencing long bouts of anger can be caused by intrusive thoughts, ruminating on anger-inducing events and difficulty physiologically calming down. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453673/original/file-20220322-25-khz3fh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a graph illustrating the rise and fall of anger" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453673/original/file-20220322-25-khz3fh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453673/original/file-20220322-25-khz3fh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453673/original/file-20220322-25-khz3fh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453673/original/file-20220322-25-khz3fh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453673/original/file-20220322-25-khz3fh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453673/original/file-20220322-25-khz3fh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453673/original/file-20220322-25-khz3fh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Each episode of anger can be thought of as a wave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Erinn Acland)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Long, stewing anger can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89676-2_22">intensify feelings</a> and foster <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/JCLP.23334">fantasies of violence</a>, which would explain why prolonged anger has been tied to serious offences. </p>
<p>For example, male parolees with violent histories experience <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cbm.2057">prolonged anger</a>, but not shorter fuses, when compared to a community sample. In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2022.2028882">our study</a>, we found that youth who had a history of violent offences who also reported prolonged anger were twice as likely to reoffend. Prolonged anger may therefore be related to serious patterns of offending that have the potential for violence. </p>
<p>On the other hand, we found that having a short fuse is related to continuing a pattern of non-violent offending in youth. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1467-9507.2012.00674.X">Poor self-regulation</a> is related to quick tempers in children, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12214">impulse control</a> improves as youth age. Less serious, non-violent youth offenders also tend to stop offending by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20296">early adulthood</a>. Therefore, these persistent short fuse, non-violent youth may eventually stop offending as they get older. </p>
<p>So, there may be two youth anger profiles that are about twice as likely to reoffend: prolonged anger, serious offenders, and short-fuse, non-violent offenders. </p>
<p>The first represents a brooding youth capable of violence who also tends to engage in non-violent offences (like stealing). The second represents an easily angered youth who tends to act on their emotions with little forethought — but may grow out of it. Further research is still needed to replicate and build on the limited findings in this area.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453686/original/file-20220322-17-xhzn7k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a graph illustrating how anger is linked to recidivism" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453686/original/file-20220322-17-xhzn7k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/453686/original/file-20220322-17-xhzn7k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453686/original/file-20220322-17-xhzn7k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453686/original/file-20220322-17-xhzn7k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453686/original/file-20220322-17-xhzn7k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453686/original/file-20220322-17-xhzn7k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/453686/original/file-20220322-17-xhzn7k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Prolonged anger is related to greater risk of reoffending among youth with violent priors, but a short fuse is related to continuing a pattern of non-violent offending.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Erinn Acland)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Taming the beast within</h2>
<p>Knowing how youth are feeling and what causes those feelings is necessary for <a href="https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/understanding-anger-and-anger-management/">effectively managing anger</a>. Once youth understand their anger, they can work on strategies that avoid triggering it, how to de-escalate it and how to address maladaptive thought processes that fuel it, like, “everyone is out to get me.” </p>
<p>These strategies can be very effective; <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/J.AVB.2015.09.011">a meta-analysis</a> showed that completing a cognitive behavioural therapy anger management program — which focuses on reducing the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800951-2.00035-2">frequency, fuse, duration and intensity</a> of anger — resulted in 42 per cent lower risk of reoffending, and 56 per cent lower risk of violently reoffending. </p>
<p>One strategy that common sense tells us should work, but actually doesn’t, is physically releasing anger, that is, catharsis. It’s true that aggressively acting out anger can lead to immediate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/1528-3542.8.3.331">reductions in arousal</a>, but it is also known to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2013.32.4.400">increase later aggression</a>. </p>
<p>For instance, researchers found that instructing participants to hit a punching bag while thinking about a provocation was tied to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202289002">more later aggression</a> towards the provoker. So catharsis, as an anger coping mechanism, may reinforce that aggression. It is a good way to feel better but can worsen social and anger issues.</p>
<p>Lastly, not all violence is thought to be motivated by anger. Cold, calculated types of youth aggression are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-019-00533-6">not tied to elevated daily levels of anger</a> — instead they are uniquely related to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-018-0498-3">lack of concern for others’ suffering</a>. There is plenty we still don’t understand about how anger influences behaviour, but luckily, there are <a href="https://ontario.cmha.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Feeling-Angry-NTNL-brochure-2014-web.pdf">effective strategies</a> available to help manage it when it becomes a problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179157/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erinn Acland receives funding from The Quebec Network on Suicide, Mood Disorders and Associated Disorders, and has previously received funding from NSERC and University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain. </span></em></p>Violent crime causes untold harm and anger is known to fuel violence. But recent research suggests that the way anger and crime tie together in youth is a bit more complicated than expected.Erinn Acland, Postdoctoral Fellow, Developmental Psychology, Université de MontréalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1661942021-08-19T14:34:59Z2021-08-19T14:34:59ZGun control in South Africa: tightening the law, and more<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416575/original/file-20210817-13-1gy04h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African police prepare guns handed in during one of several amnesties for destruction. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Statistics produced by the <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/services/april_to_march_2019_20_presentation.pdf">police</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2636399/">mortuary surveillance systems</a> in South Africa have consistently shown that firearms are the most commonly used weapons to commit murder and other violent crimes, such as carjacking and house robberies. </p>
<p>With this in mind, the <a href="http://www.policesecretariat.gov.za/index.php">Civilian Secretariat for Police Services</a> which serves as the technical advisory agency to the Minister of Police, wants to have the <a href="http://www.policesecretariat.gov.za/downloads/FAC_Bill/FAC_Bill.pdf">Firearms Control Act</a> amended to introduce more stringent firearm licensing measures. The proposed amendments seek to reduce the number of new licensed firearms in circulation. Significantly, if the amendments become law, it will no longer be possible to acquire a firearm licence for self defence purposes.</p>
<p>South Africa already has relatively strict firearms control legislation. The <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/services/flash/firearms/legislation/gov_notice_english.pdf">Firearms Control Act</a>, 2004, replaced the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1968-071.pdf">1968 law</a>, which permitted relatively widespread access to legal firearms. </p>
<p>The current Act requires firearm license applicants to undergo detailed background checks and pass a firearm competency test. In addition, only those 21 years or older can apply for a license. And, applications generally have to be accompanied by compelling motivations. </p>
<p>The proposed amendments have once again stirred public debate, particularly about whether tighter laws do actually reduce firearm violence. The Civilian Secretariat for Police Services has invited public comment on the proposed amendments, and has reportedly received more than <a href="https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-07-01-more-than-100000-comments-on-proposed-gun-law--heres-why-sa-is-upset/">100 000 submissions</a>.</p>
<p>Groups lobbying for tighter controls, such as <a href="https://www.gfsa.org.za/">Gun Free South Africa</a> argue that the Firearms Act has been a game-changer for reducing firearm violence in South Africa. They point to the fact that the <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/statistics/Homicide/Globa_study_on_homicide_2011_web.pdf">firearm murder rate</a> declined by 40% between 1998 and 2007. The last amendments were passed midway, in 2004.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/illegal-guns-fuel-violent-crime-wreak-deadly-havoc-in-south-africa-49006">Illegal guns fuel violent crime, wreak deadly havoc in South Africa</a>
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<p>For their part, pro-gun groups claim that the firearm law has had a <a href="https://irr.org.za/reports/submissions-on-proposed-legislation/irr-submission-draft-firearms-control-amendment-bill-of-2021.pdf">negligible impact</a> on crime in South Africa. </p>
<p>Differing views have also been expressed by researchers. Public health studies have suggested that reductions in murders in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24432917/">urban areas</a>, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1001412">femicides</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23941753/">gunshot injuries in children</a> can be attributed to the Firearms Control Act. </p>
<p>Conversely, a <a href="http://www.policesecretariat.gov.za/downloads/reports/CSPS-WSG_Firearms_Report.pdf">report</a> by researchers at the Wits University School of Governance “found no evidence for the causal relation between the FCA and reduced crime levels”. </p>
<p>I have more than 20 years of arms control research experience, which included consulting to the United Nations, as well as various policing agencies on various occasions. Drawing from this, it is my view that there are two aspects of firearms control in South Africa that have often been neglected in this debate.</p>
<p>These are essential to understanding the relationship between the Firearms Act, and variations in firearm crime. Firstly, that the Act can only have a direct impact on certain types of firearm violence. Secondly, that changes to the law have been one of a number of interconnected measures that the government has pursued to address gun violence since the late 1990s.</p>
<h2>What’s in place</h2>
<p>The basic premise underlying most restrictions and controls relating to legal gun ownership is that some individuals are more prone to violence than others. Hence, throughout the world, many governments use <a href="https://unoda-web.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MOSAIC-03.30-2015EV1.0.pdf">legislation to prohibit</a> those with histories of violence, substance abuse as well as criminal records from acquiring firearm licenses.</p>
<p>Studies published in peer-reviewed journals indicate that the introduction of more stringent firearms controls has the potential to bring about a reduction, or an accelerated reduction in firearm homicides. For example, a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26905895/">systematic review</a> of 130 studies from ten countries on the public health impact of firearms control legislation found a significant link between the “simultaneous implementation of laws targeting multiple firearms restrictions”, and reductions in firearm deaths.</p>
<p>South Africa, unfortunately, doesn’t have data that definitively determine the impact of the Firearms Control Act on levels of violence. But it’s highly unlikely that the measures contained in the act would not have resulted in some form of a reduction in gun violence.</p>
<p>These include a requirement that the police perform extensive <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/implementing-the-south-african-firearms-control-act-a-complete-failure-or-work-in-progress">background checks</a> on firearm licence applicants. This has resulted in thousands of applications being <a href="https://www.westerncape.gov.za/sites/www.westerncape.gov.za/files/the_effect_of_firearm_legislation_on_crime_western_cape.pdf">rejected</a>.</p>
<p>The Act also makes provision for the invalidation of firearm licenses in circumstances where owners have been convicted of violent crime. And owners are required to store their firearms in a <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/24599gen8581.pdf">safe</a> when they are not carrying them. </p>
<p>But there are caveats. One is illegal firearms, an area in which the Firearms Control Act has serious limitations.</p>
<h2>Licensed versus illegal guns</h2>
<p>Illegal guns have been predominantly used in firearm murders and other types of violent crimes in South Africa. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC-103dc1c7e0">paper</a> written three years ago I examined whether there was a relationship between murder and the policing of illegal firearms by the South African Police Service, particularly in high crime areas. </p>
<p>I found that the vast majority of illegal guns in circulation in South Africa were originally licensed to civilians and private security companies. These ended up in the hands of the criminal sector through <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC-103dc1c7e0">loss and theft</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-soldiers-wont-end-gang-violence-a-co-ordinated-plan-might-120775">South Africa's soldiers won't end gang violence. A co-ordinated plan might</a>
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<p>Although the ambit of the law can’t control these guns once they’re no longer in the regulated frame, there is nevertheless evidence that the Act can help reduce the diversion of legal weapons into the hands of criminals. This is because a correspondence has been shown between substantial reductions in the approval of civilian firearm licenses and a significant decline in the loss or theft of licensed civilian firearms. </p>
<p>This came through clearly in a <a href="https://www.westerncape.gov.za/sites/www.westerncape.gov.za/files/the_effect_of_firearm_legislation_on_crime_western_cape.pdf">report</a> compiled by the Western Cape provincial government based, on data from the police between 2004/04 and 2008/09.</p>
<h2>Beyond controlling guns</h2>
<p>The Firearms Control Act has been one of many firearm violence reduction measures in South Africa.</p>
<p>One has entailed the police prioritising the seizure and destruction of illegal firearms - both within the country and in neighbouring <a href="http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/F-Working-papers/SAS-WP21-Secret-Stockpiles.pdf">Mozambique</a>.</p>
<p>The police have reported that they <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC-103dc1c7e0">destroyed 1,189,884 firearms</a> between 1998/99 and 2013/14. </p>
<p>There have also been large scale police operations in high crime areas, which have involved the deployment of military personnel with the objective of confiscating as many illegal firearms as possible, and arresting those in possession of such weapons. My own <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC-103dc1c7e0">research</a> has shown that these have been particularly effective at reducing levels of firearm violence.</p>
<h2>Firearm violence remains a problem</h2>
<p>Despite these police interventions and the introduction of more stringent firearm licensing controls in 2004, South Africa is still affected by high levels of firearm violence. </p>
<p>The annual number of murders in South Africa has increased by <a href="https://issafrica.org/crimehub/facts-and-figures/national-crime">37%</a> since 2011/12, with <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/services/april_to_march_2019_20_presentation.pdf">firearms</a> featuring prominently in the perpetration of these murders. </p>
<p>It is in the best interests of all people who live in South Africa for the government to pursue more effective ways to reduce firearm crimes. More concerted efforts by the police to seize illegal firearms is essential. Improving firearms control legislation is clearly one such needed intervention to prevent the further diversion of legal guns into the hands of criminals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guy Lamb has previously received funding from GIZ, UNICEF, Freedom House, the UKRI-GCRF, the Western Cape Provincial Government and the World Bank. </span></em></p>If proposed amendments to the law are passed, it will no longer be possible to acquire a firearm licence for self-defence in the country. This has sparked heated debate.Guy Lamb, Criminologist / Lecturer, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1632602021-07-14T20:12:54Z2021-07-14T20:12:54ZSafe at home? We need a new strategy to protect older adults from violent crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411153/original/file-20210714-17-ja99g9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C8%2C5760%2C3819&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/night-image-cute-modest-little-renovated-1833072724">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Compared to younger homicide victims, older homicide victims are more likely to be women who die in their own home at the hands of a stranger.</p>
<p>These are among the findings of our <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15248380211030250">review study</a>, published this week, examining the prevalence and nature of homicide of older people (aged 65 and over) in the community.</p>
<h2>What we did and what we found</h2>
<p>We pooled results from 17 studies on homicide in older people to gather information on the profile of the victim, perpetrator, motive, means and location.</p>
<p>Across the research we looked at, the homicide rate for adults 65 and older was 2.02 per 100,000 people. This was half the rate for younger adults (3.98 per 100,000). </p>
<p>Compared with younger adult homicide victims, we found older homicide victims were significantly more likely to be female. Some 46% of victims over 65 were women, compared with 26% of victims under 65.</p>
<p>The perpetrator was a stranger in almost one-quarter (24%) of older adult homicides, which is 1.8 times the rate seen for younger adult victims. </p>
<p>In another quarter (25%) of older adult homicides the perpetrator was a member of the victim’s family, which is similar to what we see in younger adult homicides. But in older adult homicides, intra-familial victim-offender relationships (for example, a child killing a parent) are more common, and the perpetrator is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1088767910362328">less likely to be</a> an intimate partner. </p>
<p>The majority of the other relationship types were either acquaintances, or unknown.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/violent-crime-against-older-people-is-at-record-levels-heres-why-98266">Violent crime against older people is at record levels — here's why</a>
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<p>The motives most frequently reported for older adult homicides were related to an argument between the perpetrator and the victim, and/or crime-related, for example during a robbery. </p>
<p>Compared with younger adult homicide, older adults were almost three times more likely to have died during a crime against them, while an argument was 67% less likely.</p>
<p>In terms of the means, the odds of firearms being used was 62% lower for older victims. Firearms were involved in less than one-quarter of older adult homicides, compared to almost half of younger adult homicides.</p>
<p>While we didn’t analyse other means used, we know <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9544544/">physical assault without a weapon</a> is common in this context. Older people may be <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1088767903262396">more susceptible to assault</a> than younger people because of physical fragility and poorer biological capacity to recover.</p>
<p>As for the location, older adults were most often killed in their home (71%). This is almost a four-fold greater level than for younger adults. This disparity could potentially be explained by the fact <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1088767998002002003">older adults</a> likely spend more time at home compared with younger victims.</p>
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<img alt="An elderly woman at home." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411154/original/file-20210714-23-1gptp4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411154/original/file-20210714-23-1gptp4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411154/original/file-20210714-23-1gptp4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411154/original/file-20210714-23-1gptp4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411154/original/file-20210714-23-1gptp4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411154/original/file-20210714-23-1gptp4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411154/original/file-20210714-23-1gptp4m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Almost half of older homicide victims are women, compared to only one-quarter of younger homicide victims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>COVID could make things worse</h2>
<p>While global homicide rates <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/gsh/Booklet2.pdf">are declining</a>, the rates for older adults either <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1752928X10000892">remain stable</a> or have <a href="https://injepijournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40621-021-00299-w">slightly increased</a>, depending on the data you look at.</p>
<p>An ageing population could lead to an increase in the homicide rate <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/article/49/5/1234/5211414?login=true">because of factors</a> like caregiver stress, increasing prevalence of mental illness in the community, and inter-generational familial stressors, such as financial issues.</p>
<p>Contemporary pressures on older adults that may increase vulnerability to violent incidents include lack of appropriate housing, and inadequate mental health, disability and aged-care support.</p>
<p>Our study didn’t address whether the victims lived alone and/or were isolated from others, which would increase their vulnerability at home.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homicide-is-declining-around-the-world-but-why-125365">Homicide is declining around the world – but why?</a>
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<p>Importantly, COVID lockdowns have compounded these issues, and reduced service availability — especially for already marginalised groups including <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7234937/">older adults</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7195322/">women</a>.</p>
<p>Indeed, the pandemic has seen an increase <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S106474812100018X">in elder abuse</a> and other forms of <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/11255fd2e5ba902a8cb651a20eeb035f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=2043523">domestic violence</a>.</p>
<p>All of this adds to the complexity of keeping our most vulnerable safe. We need a different and targeted response to prevent homicides in older people. </p>
<h2>Older adult homicide is different from elder abuse</h2>
<p>Elder abuse can incorporate a range of physical, psychological, sexual and financial abuse and neglect of older people. </p>
<p>Some people may assume older adult homicide is simply an extension of physical or other types of elder abuse. But this is not the case; the characteristics we see in homicide cases in older people differ from elder abuse.</p>
<p>For example, an opportunistic robbery that becomes a fatal assault is very different to a familial caregiver restricting an older adult’s access to their finances.</p>
<p>Elder abuse as defined by the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12384003/">World Health Organization</a> rarely leads to homicide, and homicides are not necessarily the result of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1088767912438713">ongoing or recent elder abuse</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Yellow police tape in the forefront of a crime scene." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411158/original/file-20210714-25-isu1h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411158/original/file-20210714-25-isu1h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411158/original/file-20210714-25-isu1h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411158/original/file-20210714-25-isu1h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411158/original/file-20210714-25-isu1h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411158/original/file-20210714-25-isu1h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411158/original/file-20210714-25-isu1h7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We need evidence-based strategies to protect older people against violent crime.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Promising elder abuse <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5291158/">interventions include</a> caregiver programs, coordinated responses from multidisciplinary teams, <a href="https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010321.pub2/information">emergency shelters and screening tools</a>.</p>
<p>But the existing strategies we use to reduce elder abuse may not be adequate to prevent older adult homicides.</p>
<p>To ascertain what sort of interventions would be most suitable, and to inform changes in policy and practice, we need better research describing victims, offenders, incident characteristics and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2019.08.008">risk factors</a> of older adult homicides.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-elder-abuse-and-why-do-we-need-a-national-inquiry-into-it-55374">Explainer: what is elder abuse and why do we need a national inquiry into it?</a>
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<p>Health-care professionals should be aware of the contexts in which an older adult may be more vulnerable to assault or violent death. </p>
<p>Older adults, their friends and family could look to ensure the safety of the home, reach out to improve social networks and ask for help when needed.</p>
<p>Our research shows older and younger adult homicides are not identical phenomena. As such, we need a different and tailored approach to preventing these violent deaths in older people, who are among the most vulnerable in our society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163260/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Briohny Kennedy receives a PhD stipend from Research Training Program funding administered by the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Ibrahim has received funding from Commonwealth and State Health Departments for research, education and consultancies into residential aged care services and health care services. He also is an independent advocate for age care reform details available at <a href="https://www.profjoe.com.au/">https://www.profjoe.com.au/</a></span></em></p>Older adults’ experience of violent death is different to that of younger adults, our new research finds.Briohny Kennedy, PhD Candidate, Monash UniversityJoseph Ibrahim, Professor, Health Law and Ageing Research Unit, Department of Forensic Medicine, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1573312021-03-26T02:14:15Z2021-03-26T02:14:15ZMen are more likely to commit violent crimes. Why is this so and how do we change it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391309/original/file-20210324-23-1365phk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Criminology is the study of individual and social factors associated with crime and the people who perpetrate it. One of the discipline’s well-established truths is that men commit violent and sexual offences <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/crime-victimisation-australia/latest-release#physical-assault">at far higher rates</a> than women. </p>
<p>Men are also the most likely victims of physical violence across the board, but <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-victims/latest-release">women are far more likely than men</a> to be victims of sexual, familial and domestic violence.</p>
<p>Rates of imprisonment give us tangible evidence of this gender imbalance.</p>
<p>Across Australia, only <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7015303/australias-female-prison-population-boom/">about 8% of prisoners</a> are women. While prison population figures provide only a very rough guide to criminal behaviour, we can safely assert that <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/prisoners-australia/latest-release">men perpetrate the vast majority</a> of criminal conduct, and certainly violent conduct.</p>
<p>What does the research tell us about the patterns behind this alarming fact? </p>
<p>In the early days of criminological enquiry, much attention was given to the Y chromosome – the determinant of male sex organs. This line of research, referred to broadly as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivist_school_(criminology)#:%7E:text=Biological%20positivism%20is%20a%20theory,criminals%20and%20some%20are%20not.">biological positivism</a>, gave rise to explanations that “men can’t help themselves”. Fortunately, these theorists hold very little sway in criminological circles today.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cultural-misogyny-and-why-mens-aggression-to-women-is-so-often-expressed-through-sex-157680">'Cultural misogyny' and why men's aggression to women is so often expressed through sex</a>
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<p>More contemporary attention is given to factors associated with the societies in which we live. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html">Social learning theory</a> posits that men are more likely than women to associate with antisocial peers. </p>
<p>Other scholars are interested in the way in which key life experiences influence the propensity to commit crime. Known as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359178916300684">developmental and life course criminology</a>, it suggests the causes of crime are a result of a linking of individual characteristics, such as impulsiveness, with a person’s environmental factors such as their family, schooling, religion, neighbourhood and the way they were parented, including any exposure to <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/2017/08/30/investigating-complex-links-between-maltreatment-and-youth-offending">neglect and maltreatment</a>. Renowned criminologist <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2003.tb00987.x">David Farrington</a> has suggested these factors play out differently for males and females.</p>
<p>Into the sociological frame, too, comes <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/strain-theory-sociology">strain theory</a>, which proposes that difficult circumstances or life stresses can produce anger and frustration that may lead to violence. The <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/mar03/angeracross">gender divide</a> is explained by the evidence that men are likely to react violently to such strains. Women, according to this theory, are more likely to internalise their responses.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2780644?seq=1">Edgework theory</a> pursues the idea that men are more likely than women to engage in risk-taking behaviour, even to the edge of acceptable conduct. Men in the criminal justice system are best described, on this view, as “risky thrill-seekers” while women caught up in the same system are more likely to be described as “at risk”.</p>
<p>The science of psychology, too, plays an important role here. Psychological studies suggest <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/CICrimJust/2001/5.pdf">gender role identification</a> − internalised characteristics culturally regarded as appropriate behaviour for men and women − rather than gender itself is crucial to the experience of anger, its expression and control. </p>
<p>How are these gender divides created and shaped? Criminologists such as <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/female-crime-ngaire-naffine/10.4324/9781315646992?context=ubx&refId=0b096287-5f8c-468b-9a17-d04d29c23146">Ngaire Naffine</a> have offered the view that there has always been an entrenched belief in the “natural” order of things, which associates masculinity with dominance and status. In this view, individuals construct their beliefs according to their class, ethnicity and sexuality, but the result is always a reinforcement of dominant patterns of masculinity. One can observe these patterns in competition for status, bravado among peers, the drive for power and control, shamelessness, and a lack of concern for others.</p>
<p>Women, by contrast, are less likely to display these traits because society (including the criminal justice system) has positioned them as needing greater protection, with consequent patronising benevolence.</p>
<p>In summary, men disproportionately exhibit far more anti-social behaviour than women. When it comes to sexual crimes, men are far more likely to commit them, and women are far more likely to be the victims. The easy cultural dismissal that “boys will be boys” simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny and is actively doing damage. </p>
<p>So how best can we respond to the problem of violence perpetrated by men?</p>
<p>Law reform is necessary to ensure the practice of law is in line with prevailing social norms and priorities. This has certainly not always been the case. For example, until the 1970s there was no such thing, legally, as rape in marriage. Even in the first iteration of reform to the law, a prosecution could only proceed if there was evidence of actual bodily harm to the victim. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-do-we-go-from-here-with-the-allegations-about-christian-porter-156497">Where do we go from here with the allegations about Christian Porter?</a>
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<p>There have been other pleasing law reforms too. Today, in many jurisdictions, police provide victim assistance services, prosecution counsel are trained in handling traumatised clients, limits have been placed on cross-examination practices, and directions to juries do not carry the same cautions regarding corroborative evidence that were standard a decade ago.</p>
<p>Legal change is necessary, but it is not enough. For the most part, the law comes in only after the damage has been done. </p>
<p>Of greater importance in the drive for change is the value that societies must place on teaching all men to respect and value the worth of all people, regardless of gender, race, or creed. When that is socially learned, and flawed expectations of masculinity are put to one side, men will be less likely to engage in risky behaviours and internalise gendered expectations. They will also be more likely to draw on pro-social coping mechanisms when under stress, and more likely to reject the notion that masculinity must identify with power, control, shamelessness and independence. </p>
<p>Creating conditions beyond individual responses is important too. Mass movements and marches like the ones witnessed this month have provided great impetus to the social and political conditions required for positive change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157331/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Sarre is the president of the SA Council for Civil Liberties. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catia Malvaso receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Discovery Early Career Researcher Award), the Australian Institute of Criminology (Criminology Research Grants), and the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Day and Ben Livings do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In criminology, there are many theories to account for why men are more likely than women to commit crimes – and they may hold the key to changing those figures.Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South AustraliaAndrew Day, Professor in the School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of MelbourneBen Livings, Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Evidence, University of South AustraliaCatia Malvaso, Postdoctoral Researcher in Psychology and Public Health, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1561032021-03-01T00:27:50Z2021-03-01T00:27:50ZDespite claims NZ’s policing is too ‘woke’, crime rates are largely static — and even declining<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/386872/original/file-20210228-19-1rmoswi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=50%2C92%2C1667%2C1086&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Kenneth William Caleno</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When National <a href="https://www.parliament.nz/en/mps-and-electorates/members-of-parliament/bridges-simon">MP Simon Bridges</a> called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster a “<a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/124329506/national-party-mp-simon-bridges-lashes-out-at-wokester-police-commissioner-andy-coster">wokester</a>” recently, his intention was apparently to suggest the police are too soft on crime.</p>
<p>Debating the concept of “policing by consent” during a recent select committee hearing, Bridges <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300239000/bridges-v-coster-top-cop-in-fiery-spat-with-national-mp-over-gang-numbers-and-policing-by-consent">asked Coster</a>: “Do the police still arrest people in this country?”</p>
<p>One inference to be drawn from Bridges’s statements is that crime in New Zealand is increasing, possibly due to lenient policing. </p>
<p>To test that, we collected publicly available crime data from <a href="https://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publications-statistics/data-and-statistics/policedatanz">New Zealand Police</a>. To measure any recent patterns we looked at data for the past six years, 2015 to 2020.</p>
<p>The first category we looked at is what the police call “victimisation”. This includes the total number of cases involving:</p>
<ul>
<li>acts intended to cause injury </li>
<li>sexual assault and related offences</li>
<li>abduction, harassment etc.</li>
<li>robbery, extortion and related offenses</li>
<li>burglary, breaking and entering and unlawful entry</li>
<li>theft and related offences.</li>
</ul>
<p><iframe id="nK00r" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/nK00r/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Out of the six categories, it is clear most crimes involve injury, burglary and theft. The numbers for the other three crimes are negligible.</p>
<p>But the pattern is clear — there is no significant increase in crime across the six years, and there is no significant increase in any of the individual components.</p>
<p>A potential concern with the broad victimisation measure is that it may not fully capture the specific nature of crimes. For example, it is possible some crime is concentrated in certain locations and some victims are falling prey multiple times. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/policing-by-consent-is-not-woke-it-is-fundamental-to-a-democratic-society-155866">Policing by consent is not ‘woke’ — it is fundamental to a democratic society</a>
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<p>But if we look at the number of unique victims, we are now only counting each victim once, irrespective of how many times they were victimised during the 12 months in question. </p>
<p>According to the police, this data set can be used to understand repeat victimisation patterns.</p>
<p><iframe id="b1Dke" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/b1Dke/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Once again the pattern is clear — there is no evidence of any significant increase in the number of unique victims over the past six years.</p>
<p>Victims, of course, are only one part of the story. We can also look at the number of unique offenders.</p>
<p><iframe id="1x7rr" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/1x7rr/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Here we see a steady decline in the number of offenders. Again, one could look at multiple ways of measuring this, but the evidence presented above does not suggest a massive increase in offending.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-christchurch-commissions-call-to-improve-social-cohesion-is-its-hardest-and-most-important-recommendation-149969">The Christchurch commission’s call to improve social cohesion is its hardest — and most important — recommendation</a>
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<p>In the next two figures we drill down a little further and look at two separate and specific types of crimes.</p>
<p>Figure 4 looks at illicit drug offences. This is important because the general data on victimisation does not include so-called victimless crimes (such as drug possession).</p>
<p>Here, there is evidence of an increase, albeit a modest one: roughly 13%, from 8,772 in 2015 to 9,924 in 2020. It is possible this is due to either increased drug offences or to increased prosecutions. </p>
<p><iframe id="0OC3l" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0OC3l/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Finally, in Figure 5 we look at a category that tends to involve small numbers but receives great attention in political debates: prohibited and regulated weapons and explosives offences. </p>
<p>Again we see a modest increase of about 14%, from 3,747 in 2015 to 4,281 in 2020.</p>
<p><iframe id="FsASF" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/FsASF/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Objectively, it seems hard to make the case that crime in New Zealand has increased dramatically over the past six years. In fact, some categories of crime may have actually declined. </p>
<p>But even if crime levels are relatively static, are they still too high? </p>
<p>If we look at the first victimisation measure only, there were a total of 239,519 cases in 2020 from a population of five million. That is approximately five out of every 100 people. </p>
<p>That may not appear to be a very high number, but some of these crimes will be more serious than others. The ideal trend, of course, would be declining numbers to the point of no measurable crime at all.</p>
<p>Unlikely, perhaps, but something Simon Bridges and Andrew Coster might agree on, at least.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156103/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ananish Chaudhuri has received funding from the Royal Society New Zealand Marsden Fund.
The author gratefully acknowledges research assistance from Ishannita Chaudhuri.
</span></em></p>Recent political arguments about policing methods aren’t supported by the evidence: New Zealand crime rates are static, and even declining in some categories.Ananish Chaudhuri, Professor of Behavioural and Experimental Economics, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1448562020-08-24T05:00:28Z2020-08-24T05:00:28ZMedia reporting on mental illness, violence and crime needs to change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354328/original/file-20200824-22-1p6c8p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1920&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brett Sayles/Pexels</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The media is a key source of information about mental illness <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20978883/">for the public</a>, and research shows media coverage can influence public attitudes and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-018-1608-9">perceptions of mental ill-health</a>. But when it comes to complex mental illnesses such as psychosis and schizophrenia, media coverage <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.12441">tends to emphasise negative aspects</a>, often choosing to focus on portrayals of violence, unpredictability and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27048265/">danger to others</a>.</p>
<p>These portrayals can give an exaggerated impression of the actual rate at which violent incidents occur. In reality, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5419209_Violent_behaviour_among_people_with_schizophrenia_a_framework_for_investigations_of_causes_and_effective_treatment_and_prevention">such incidents are rare</a> and are often better accounted for by <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23418482/">other factors</a>. </p>
<p>This can generate a skewed impression mental illness causes violent behaviour, which reinforces myths, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30349962/">increases stigmatising attitudes</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16478286/">cultivates fear among the public</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233618607_Media_Mental_Health_and_Discrimination_A_Frame_of_Reference_for_Understanding_Reporting_Trends">Research</a> also shows the media can play an important role in <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23407209/">challenging these stereotypes</a>. Portrayals that are responsible, accurate, informative, and “stigma-challenging” have been found to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30349962/">positively influence public beliefs</a> about mental illness.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://mindframe.org.au/mindframe-guidelines-severe-mental-illness-violence-and-crime">new guidelines</a>, released today by <a href="https://mindframe.org.au/about-us">Mindframe</a>, a program that supports safe media reporting of mental health as part of the Australian government’s national suicide prevention program, offers advice to the media about the most responsible way to report on issues related to mental health, violence and crime.</p>
<h2>Safe, responsible coverage</h2>
<p>Media portrayals in which severe mental illness is linked to violence can be among the most stigmatising representations of mental illness. So it’s important the media cover these stories safely and responsibly. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354304/original/file-20200824-22-bvwvh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A news app open on a phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354304/original/file-20200824-22-bvwvh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/354304/original/file-20200824-22-bvwvh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354304/original/file-20200824-22-bvwvh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354304/original/file-20200824-22-bvwvh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354304/original/file-20200824-22-bvwvh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354304/original/file-20200824-22-bvwvh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/354304/original/file-20200824-22-bvwvh4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s important media coverage of mental health and violence is responsible. Especially when approximately 96% of violent crimes are committed by people who do not have a mental illness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We developed the new guidelines in consultation with journalists, editors, mental health professionals and people with lived experience of complex mental illness in advocacy roles.</p>
<p>The guidelines offer practical advice to help media when reporting on these issues. Tips include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>keep in mind complex mental illness is rarely the cause of violence. Around <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2142118/">96% of violent crimes</a> are committed by people who do not have a mental illness</p></li>
<li><p>consider the impact of media reporting on people living with complex mental illness and their families</p></li>
<li><p>include relevant contextual factors when reporting on a violent crime in which mental illness has been confirmed by authoritative sources to have played a part in the person’s behaviour</p></li>
<li><p>use appropriate and respectful language when talking about people with a mental illness. Say “a person with schizophrenia” rather than “a schizophrenic”.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-seeing-problems-in-the-brain-makes-stigma-disappear-83946">How seeing problems in the brain makes stigma disappear</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The new guidelines build on the previous guidelines for media reporting around mental health issues, introduced by Mindframe in 2002. The new guidelines extend the guidance specifically to cover reporting of mental illness and crime.</p>
<p>Since the launch of the original guidelines, Mindframe has implemented a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14623730.2006.9721749">comprehensive strategy to promote the guidelines</a>, including organising <a href="http://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/everymind/assets/Uploads/Effectiveness-of-face-to-face-briefings-to-promote-uptake-of-resources-and-understanding-of-issues-around-reporting-suicide-and-mental-illness.pdf">professional development sessions with media</a>, and supporting those who may work with media as experts or sources, such as mental health workers, police, court officials, and people with lived experience of mental illness. </p>
<p>We have also provided <a href="https:/www.researchgate.net/publication/309916186_Empowering_Future_Practitioners_A_Curriculum_Approach_to_Enhance_'Response_Able'_Communication_and_Mental_Health_Issues">training for journalism and public relations students</a>, and worked with media peak bodies to integrate the guidelines into <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hpja.316">media codes of practice and editorial policies</a>. The <a href="https://www.sane.org/services/stigmawatch">SANE StigmaWatch</a> program monitors and responds to reports of inaccurate or inappropriate stigmatising media portrayals.</p>
<h2>How does the way media talk about mental illness impact others?</h2>
<p><a href="https://mindframe.org.au/mental-health/communicating-about-mental-ill-health/language">Unsafe and stigmatising language</a> can affect the way people who disclose their experience of mental illness are treated by others in the community. They can be denied job opportunities, find it hard to maintain safe and secure housing, and experience social exclusion. Families and friends supporting a loved one may find it difficult to seek support for fear of being treated differently.</p>
<p>Even more worryingly, negative media portrayals of mental illness can lead to <a href="https://www.sane.org/information-stories/facts-and-guides/self-stigma">self-stigma</a>, in which an individual living with mental illness internalises the attitudes of others. It can mean people choose not to seek help, withdrawing from their social networks for fear of being stigmatised or discriminated against. This can lead to social isolation, distress and even an exacerbation of symptoms.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/violence-and-mental-illness-harsh-reality-demands-sensitive-answers-23460">Violence and mental illness: harsh reality demands sensitive answers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Taking action to reduce stigma and discrimination towards people affected by severe mental illness is more important than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic. <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069792">Research overseas</a> has shown during times of economic recession, stigma and discrimination towards people affected by severe mental illness increases, particularly with respect to employment. The media has a vital role to play in ensuring we remain a cohesive and empathetic society during these troubled times. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-lockdown-fatigue-sets-in-the-toll-on-mental-health-will-require-an-urgent-response-143817">As 'lockdown fatigue' sets in, the toll on mental health will require an urgent response</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144856/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Ross receives funding from NHMRC and Australian Rotary Health. This article was coauthored by Sara Bartlett, Acting Program Manager, Suicide Prevention at Everymind.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Paton works for Everymind as acting Project Lead of Mindframe, which is funded through the Australian Government Department of Health's National Suicide Prevention Leadership and Support Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Blanchard is the Deputy CEO at SANE Australia and a non-Executive Director of youth mental health organisation batyr.</span></em></p>Media reporting often unfairly stigmatises people with mental illness and promotes the stereotype that mental illness causes violent behaviour. New guidelines offer tips for more responsible reporting.Anna Ross, PhD Candidate in Mental Health, The University of MelbourneElizabeth Paton, Conjoint Senior Lecturer, School of Creative Industries, University of NewcastleMichelle Blanchard, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1411082020-06-25T16:14:44Z2020-06-25T16:14:44ZRacist cop shows and biased news fuel public fears of crime and love for the police<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343806/original/file-20200624-132978-37w8v8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=98%2C71%2C5200%2C3161&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Action-packed police procedurals can often give audiences the false impression that violent crime excuses the excessive use of force by police. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash/Matt Popovich)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Earlier this month, <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1270360886297989120">President Donald Trump tweeted</a> that defunding the police would “be good for Robbers & Rapists.” Last week, after signing his tepid executive order on policing, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trumps-executive-order-on-policing-pro-police-low-on-substance-2020-6">he proffered</a> that “without police, there is chaos.” </p>
<p>The reality, however, is that violent crime — the kind of crime that people often think of when rationalizing the need for a powerful police force — is <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/09/30/new-fbi-data-violent-crime-still-falling">at a near</a> all-time <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-02-12/pssst-crime-may-be-near-an-all-time-low">low</a>.</p>
<p>Why is there this massive disconnect between the public perception of crime and actual crime? </p>
<p>One factor is the way both popular culture and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/chs.695">news media portray</a> crime.</p>
<p>Consider this: homicide accounts for approximately 0.7 per cent of <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/homicides">annual deaths</a> in the United States but accounts for 23 per cent of media coverage of deaths. That stat reflects reporting in the <em>New York Times</em>. For media outlets like <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/arts/television/fox-trump-midterms-caravan.html"><em>Fox News</em></a> that have fearmongering as a core marketing strategy, the percentage of murder oriented stories would likely be even higher. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-020-0430-7">These disproportionately fear oriented representations also exist on social media</a>.</p>
<h2>The president of ‘law and order’</h2>
<p>Given that Trump clearly wants “law and order” to be part of his presidential brand, his rhetoric is hardly surprising. But despite <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/10/upshot/black-lives-matter-attitudes.html">growing support</a> for police reform and Black Lives Matter, his message continues to resonate for some people. </p>
<p>After weeks of moving protests and near daily images of police brutality — <a href="https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/098uixfv4a/20200531_yahoo_race_and_justice_toplines.pdf">one poll shows a majority of Americans are still against funding cuts to the police</a>, although a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/23/21299118/defunding-the-police-minneapolis-budget-george-floyd%22%22">recent survey shows support for a redirection of funds</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/343807/original/file-20200624-132965-1lr75a0.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Law enforcement officials applaud after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on police reform on June 16, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historically, supporting the police has been a popular political move, largely because people <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/defund-the-police-isnt-a-winning-campaign-slogan-but-it-has-a-point/2020/06/09/65cb7bac-aa7e-11ea-a9d9-a81c1a491c52_story.html">fear crime</a>. Who would campaign against law and order? </p>
<p>Depicting the world as a <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/09/donald-trump-abuses-crime-data-heres-how-to-read-it-in-an-intellectually-honest-way.html">crime-ridden</a> dystopia where evildoers (who are often portrayed as sinister “others”) must be battled by a heavily armed police force makes for <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-abramsky-trump-politics-of-fear-midterms-20180923-story.html">vote getting politics</a>. It also makes for clickable headlines and popular TV procedurals.</p>
<p>But a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/17/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/">2019 analysis</a> by the Pew Research Center shows that overall, violent crime in the U.S. has fallen sharply over the past few decades. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice, the violent crimes rate fell 71 per cent between 1993 and 2018. The same trend can be seen with property crimes, which declined 69 per cent during the same period.</p>
<p>Yet despite these stats, people believe crime is getting worse. Indeed, the gulf between the reality of crime and public perceptions is staggering. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/10/13226264/us-crime-rate-poll">2016 survey</a> found that 73 per cent of Americans had the wrong idea about violent crime. Sixty five per cent thought it had increased over the previous two decades, while eight per cent thought it remained about the same. Only 17 per cent got it right.</p>
<h2>Fear sells</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2014/the-worst-news-ever-negative-headlines-outperform-positive-ones/">Studies have shown</a> that negative and scary headlines outperform positive ones. The “if it bleeds, it leads” phenomenon plays to our cognitive biases. We remember and more easily recall dramatic, scary events that are widely reported. </p>
<p><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1985-00812-001">Negative crime stories increase</a> the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjc.a048289">fear of crime</a> and <a href="https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/193350/1/dp12056.pdf">our perception</a> of the probability of being a crime victim.</p>
<p>The continuous fearful portrayals by politicians, TV shows and news media are some of the reason our <a href="https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2018/05/03/gallup-fear/">fear of crime</a> often has little to do with the actual rate of violent crime. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1272933251208769536"}"></div></p>
<p>Given this twisted representation it is no surprise that most people <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/opinion/ct-ptb-davich-media-vs-google-vs-reality-st-1209-20191206-c3s3qupi2ff27gnccft6bsbdgi-story.html">widely overestimate</a> their chances of being murdered. (Unless you are a Black male in the U.S., in which case the risk of death by homicide is significant — sitting at <a href="https://crim.sas.upenn.edu/fact-check/what-are-chances-becoming-homicide-victim">six times higher</a> than average.)</p>
<h2>TV cops</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/TV-Crime-Shows-Warp-Perceptions-of.html">The portrayal</a> of police and crime on popular TV dramas also has an impact on public perceptions. Shows like <em>CSI</em>, <em>NCIS</em>, <em>Criminal Minds</em>, <em>Blue Bloods</em> and <em>Law & Order</em> — watched by tens of millions of people every week — can lead to the belief that the world is a scary place that requires aggressive action by heroic police officers. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/mc/article/view/1080">range</a> of <a href="https://deadline.com/2014/06/new-study-tv-violence-makes-people-more-afraid-of-crime-but-not-afraid-there-is-more-crime-792399/">studies</a> show that audiences that view these kinds of popular crime shows have a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1043986218787734">heightened fear of crime</a>. They also are more likely to support controversial criminal justice policies like “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/18/california-life-sentences-three-strikes">three strikes</a>,” the death penalty and “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/arbery-case-exemplifies-abuse-stand-your-ground-damage-broad-systemic-n1212816">stand your ground</a>” laws.</p>
<p>Evidence tells us that these shows also perpetuate both <a href="https://www.criminallegalnews.org/news/2020/mar/18/fact-or-fiction-television-crime-shows-ignore-racism-and-reality/">harmful racial stereotypes</a> and myths about the police and the criminal justice system. A <a href="https://hollywood.colorofchange.org/crime-tv-report/">2020 study</a> of 26 scripted TV shows, conducted by the organization Color of Change and the University of Southern California, concluded that popular cop shows advance “debunked ideas about crime,” present “a false hero narrative about law enforcement,” distorted “representations about Black people” and “dismiss any need for police accountability.”</p>
<p>This kind of messaging is particularly influential when it plays to <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.abb9022">preconceived beliefs, biases and prejudices</a> — as much of the pop culture <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.2007.00376.x">coverage of crime</a> too often does.</p>
<h2>What’s behind low crime rates?</h2>
<p>Some may be thinking that crime rates are low because of past support for policing. But the <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/2/13/18193661/hire-police-officers-crime-criminal-justice-reform-booker-harris">connection between crime rates and policing is complex</a>, <a href="https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/06/police-abolition-george-floyd/">context specific</a> and, in total, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2019/02/13/marshall-project-more-cops-dont-mean-less-crime-experts-say/2818056002/">far from clear</a>. </p>
<p>For example, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12414">2019 study</a> explored the impact of “de-policing” that occurred as a result of protests against police discrimination and brutality. Despite political commentary to the contrary, the study concluded that there was “no evidence of an effect of arrest rates on city homicide rates.”</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2010.01191.x">Popular culture can have an impact</a> on fear of crime and attitudes toward criminal justice policy. We need more accurate depiction of the criminal justice system and a broader diversity of voices telling those stories.</p>
<p>As policy-makers consider how best to battle decades of systemic racism and police brutality, they shouldn’t let themselves be swayed by fearmongering political rhetoric, pop culture or biased news headlines. </p>
<p>This is a historic moment with the potential of leading to real and meaningful change. Now more than ever, we need to stick to the facts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Caulfield receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Genome Canada, and the Canada Research Chairs Program. He is affiliated with Peacock Alley Entertainment and Speakers' Spotlight. </span></em></p>Television shows about police often perpetuate false narratives about violent crime that excuse police violence.Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy; Professor, Faculty of Law and School of Public Health; and Research Director, Health Law Institute, University of AlbertaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1405422020-06-11T17:33:35Z2020-06-11T17:33:35ZWho killed Sweden’s prime minister? 1986 assassination of Olof Palme is finally solved – maybe<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341243/original/file-20200611-80774-4ji83p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C21%2C4890%2C3380&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The murder weapon in the Palme case was never found.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/digital-art-of-shooting-handgun-royalty-free-illustration/165768245?adppopup=true">zbruch via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It took 34 years, 10,000 interviews and <a href="https://polisen.se/aktuellt/nyheter/2020/juni/utredningen-om-palmemordet-avslutad/">134 murder confessions</a>, but the assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme has now been solved. </p>
<p>Palme was shot on the Stockholm street Sveavägen – roughly, “Mother Sweden Way” – in February 1986, after a night at the movies with his wife and son.</p>
<p>On June 10, 2020, chief state prosecutor Krister Petersson identified the killer as <a href="https://www.svt.se/nyheter/snabbkollen/skandiamannen-pekas-ut-som-skyldig">Stig Engström</a>, an eyewitness dubbed “Skandia Man” during the initial murder investigation. However, no charges can be brought against Engström because he died in 2000, in an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/swedish-investigators-name-suspect-in-1986-assassination-of-prime-minister/2020/06/10/4e6244e6-ab05-11ea-868b-93d63cd833b2_story.html">apparent suicide</a>.</p>
<p>Engström is not the first person to be singled out or charged in Sweden’s most famous cold case. As I <a href="https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295988047/crime-and-fantasy-in-scandinavia/">write in my book on crime fiction in Scandinavia</a>, the Palme killing and bungled investigation represent a traumatic chapter in Sweden’s otherwise relatively peaceful history. </p>
<h2>Botched investigation</h2>
<p>In 1989 a man named Christer Pettersson was convicted of murdering Palme, leader of Sweden’s Social Democratic Party. Pettersson had a <a href="https://www.thelocal.se/20110228/32310">criminal past</a>, including <a href="https://murderpedia.org/male.P/p/pettersson-christer.htm">a manslaughter conviction</a>, and Olof Palme’s wife Lisbeth identified him in a police lineup as the man who killed her husband. </p>
<p>But an appeals court later overturned the conviction because the prosecutor <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801479366/blood-on-the-snow/#bookTabs=1">failed to present a murder weapon</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341227/original/file-20200611-80750-195kpn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341227/original/file-20200611-80750-195kpn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341227/original/file-20200611-80750-195kpn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341227/original/file-20200611-80750-195kpn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341227/original/file-20200611-80750-195kpn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341227/original/file-20200611-80750-195kpn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341227/original/file-20200611-80750-195kpn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341227/original/file-20200611-80750-195kpn9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The crime scene on Sveavägen street in central Stockholm, 1986.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-file-picture-taken-on-march-1-1986-shows-people-laying-news-photo/1218383594?adppopup=true">Eif R. Jansson/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Now Swedish authorities seem <a href="https://polisen.se/aktuellt/nyheter/2020/juni/utredningen-om-palmemordet-avslutad/">confident Engström is their man</a> – or moderately confident, at least. </p>
<p>Engström came forward to police in 1986 after Palme’s murder because he worked as a graphic designer for the Skandia Insurance Company, located near the crime scene. He claimed to be one of the first on the scene, and told police he tried to help resuscitate the prime minister. </p>
<p>But in their recent reexamination of interviews and other material, police found problems with Engström’s eyewitness story. </p>
<p>“No one saw anyone resembling Engström in the role he described himself <a href="https://polisen.se/aktuellt/nyheter/2020/juni/utredningen-om-palmemordet-avslutad/">playing</a>,” said investigative lead Hans Melander in the press conference announcing the conclusion of the case. His story “doesn’t hang together.” </p>
<p>Engström was also a political opponent of Palme, who became prime minister in 1969. Palme had an aristocratic background and studied in the United States but became an outspoken socialist. His 15 years in office positioned Sweden as a “wealthy, advanced democracy that stood for equality, compassion and humanitarian values,” according to Jan Bondeson’s book “<a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801479366/blood-on-the-snow/#bookTabs=1">Murder on the Snow</a>.”</p>
<p>Palme’s progressive vision and his opposition to the Vietnam War, apartheid South Africa and dictatorships worldwide created many enemies, including the right-wing Engström.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341223/original/file-20200611-80778-xzloy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341223/original/file-20200611-80778-xzloy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341223/original/file-20200611-80778-xzloy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341223/original/file-20200611-80778-xzloy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341223/original/file-20200611-80778-xzloy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341223/original/file-20200611-80778-xzloy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341223/original/file-20200611-80778-xzloy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341223/original/file-20200611-80778-xzloy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Olof Palme four weeks before his death in 1986.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/swedids-late-primemminister-olof-palme-social-democrate-4-news-photo/526642472?adppopup=true">Francis Dean/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 1992, Engström turned up at the door of journalist Jan Arvidsson and spoke at length about Palme’s murder – just as he had done with police in 1986. In the press interview, Engström provided details about a possible <a href="https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/7lw493/sista-intervjun-med-skandiamannen-var-valdigt-lugn">murder weapon</a> and suggested Palme’s murder could be a crime of opportunity. </p>
<p>However, “I personally would have used a more versatile weapon, a smaller caliber,” he said, adding: “If I had been the murderer.”</p>
<h2>‘We’ve come as far as we are able’</h2>
<p>Despite the official closure of the Palme case, <a href="https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/live-presskonferens-med-statsminister-stefan-lofven/">many Swedes have reservations</a>. </p>
<p>The prosecutor, Petersson, presented no new or especially convincing evidence about why he believes Engström is the killer. The murder weapon remains missing, <a href="https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/mordet-pa-olof-palme-folj-presskonferensen-direkt/">despite 738 weapons having been tested</a>.</p>
<p>But, Petersson explained, “We’ve come as far as we are able to come when it comes to a suspect.”</p>
<p>Doubt has shadowed the Palme investigation, which was criticized for failures to seal the crime scene and flawed analysis of witness testimony. Petersson took over the “Palme Group” in 2016 – one of many changes in leadership – and brought in a new team to review the voluminous material yet again. </p>
<p>The case also received renewed attention, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/10/world/europe/sweden-olof-palme-murder.html">possibly some useful new information</a>, with the 2018 serial publication of journalist Thomas Pettersson’s “<a href="https://magasinetfilter.se/tag/palmemordet-den-osannolika-mordaren/">The Unlikely Murderer</a>” in the magazine Filter. Petersson, who is not related to the suspect Christer Pettersson, turned over his findings to the prosecution. </p>
<p>Olof Palme’s son Mårten acknowledged that errors marred the <a href="https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/live-presskonferens-med-statsminister-stefan-lofven/">investigation of his father’s killing</a>. </p>
<p>But, he said, “I believe the Skandia Man is guilty,” citing the compelling case presented in Filter magazine. “And I believe the case should be closed.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341222/original/file-20200611-80774-1jlxlm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341222/original/file-20200611-80774-1jlxlm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/341222/original/file-20200611-80774-1jlxlm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341222/original/file-20200611-80774-1jlxlm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341222/original/file-20200611-80774-1jlxlm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341222/original/file-20200611-80774-1jlxlm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341222/original/file-20200611-80774-1jlxlm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/341222/original/file-20200611-80774-1jlxlm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A memorial plaque where Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was murdered.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bouquets-of-flowers-lie-on-the-memorial-plaque-at-the-news-photo/1219076532?adppopup=true">Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Closure</h2>
<p>Solving the Palme killing may be an injection of good news for Sweden, which has suffered an <a href="https://www.livescience.com/results-of-sweden-covid19-response.html">exceptionally high death toll during the coronavirus pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>Sweden, which has not fought a war since 1814, has avoided the historical traumas of its European neighbors and become a leader in advancing international peace and cooperation. </p>
<p>But the assassination of Palme, who represented these values, is one of several traumatic domestic events to shake the country. In 1973, a prolonged hostage crisis at a bank spawned the term “<a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/scandinavian-crime-fiction-9781472529084/">Stockholm syndrome</a>.” In 2003, Foreign Minister Anna Lindh was murdered in a Stockholm department store.<br>
Swedes often speak of these events as a loss of innocence for the famously peaceful, trusting nation. In that sense, closing Palme’s case represents an ambivalent coming to terms with their modern history – a foothold of wisdom, perhaps, in a particularly difficult present. </p>
<p>“The shot on Sveavägen [Street] has been a crisis, a wound, a riddle without a solution,” <a href="https://www.dn.se/nyheter/sverige/live-presskonferens-med-statsminister-stefan-lofven/">said current Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven</a>. “The murder of a prime minister is a national trauma. It’s my deepest hope that the wound can now begin to heal.”</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Nestingen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prosecutors say they’ve closed Sweden’s most famous cold case. But many Swedes still have doubts. The crime and botched investigation have been a ‘national trauma’ for this normally peaceful place.Andrew Nestingen, Professor, Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1214722019-08-05T17:05:36Z2019-08-05T17:05:36ZStop blaming video games for mass killings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286964/original/file-20190805-36381-j2rixr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C4276%2C3111&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The research doesn't say what some lawmakers suggest every time there's a mass shooting.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/m1g4-dczgcc">Fredrick Tendong/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the <a href="https://elpasoheraldpost.com/active-shooter-reported-at-cielo-vista-mall/">El Paso shooting on Aug. 3</a> that left 22 dead and dozens injured, a familiar trope has reemerged: Often, when a young man is the shooter, people try to <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/8/4/20753725/el-paso-dayton-shootings-video-games-gop-mccarthy">blame the tragedy on violent video games</a> and other forms of media.</p>
<p>This time around, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick placed some of the blame on a video game industry that “<a href="https://twitter.com/existentialfish/status/1158008058930442240">teaches young people to kill</a>.” Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California went on to <a href="https://twitter.com/existentialfish/status/1158021253778874369">condemn video games</a> that “dehumanize individuals” as a “problem for future generations.” And President Trump pointed to society’s “glorification of violence,” including “<a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?463254-1/president-trump-condemns-racism-bigotry-white-supremacy-mass-shootings">gruesome and grisly video games</a>.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1158021253778874369"}"></div></p>
<p>These are the same connections a Florida lawmaker made after the Parkland shooting in February 2018, suggesting that the gunman in that case “was prepared to <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article200279494.html">pick off students like it’s a video game</a>.”</p>
<p>But, as a researcher who has studied violent video games for almost 15 years, I can state that there is no evidence to support these claims that violent media and real-world violence are connected.</p>
<p>As far back as 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-1448.ZS.html">research did not find a clear connection</a> between violent video games and aggressive behavior. Criminologists who study mass shootings specifically refer to those sorts of connections as a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1088767913510297">myth</a>.” And in 2017, the Media Psychology and Technology division of the American Psychological Association released a <a href="https://div46amplifier.com/2017/06/12/news-media-public-education-and-public-policy-committee/">statement</a> I helped craft, suggesting reporters and policymakers cease linking mass shootings to violent media, given the lack of evidence for a link.</p>
<h2>A history of a moral panic</h2>
<p>So why are so many policymakers inclined to blame violent video games for violence? There are two main reasons. </p>
<p>The first is the psychological research community’s efforts to <a href="http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/02/stem.aspx">market itself</a> as strictly scientific. This led to a <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2016/10/why_the_replication_crisis_seems_worse_in_psychology.html">replication</a> <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/03/psychologys-replication-crisis-cant-be-wished-away/472272/">crisis</a> instead, with researchers often <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-found-only-one-third-of-published-psychology-research-is-reliable-now-what-46596">unable to repeat the results</a> of their studies. Now, psychology researchers are reassessing their analyses of a wide range of issues – not just violent video games, but <a href="https://www.thecut.com/2017/01/psychologys-racism-measuring-tool-isnt-up-to-the-job.html">implicit racism</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2016/10/01/496093672/power-poses-co-author-i-do-not-believe-the-effects-are-real">power poses</a> and more.</p>
<p>The other part of the answer lies in the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0030597">troubled history</a> of violent video game research specifically. </p>
<p>Beginning in the early 2000s, some scholars, anti-media advocates and professional groups like the APA began working to connect a <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0035569">methodologically messy</a> and often contradictory set of results to public health concerns about violence. This echoed historical patterns of moral panic, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27458-1_6">1950s concerns about comic books</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/26/us/two-pop-culture-wars-first-over-comics-then-over-music.html">Tipper Gore’s efforts to blame pop and rock music</a> in the 1980s for violence, sex and Satanism.</p>
<p>Particularly in the early 2000s, dubious evidence regarding violent video games was <a href="https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx">uncritically promoted</a>. But over the years, confidence among scholars that violent video games influence aggression or violence <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12293">has crumbled</a>.</p>
<h2>Reviewing all the scholarly literature</h2>
<p>My own research has examined the degree to which violent video games can – or can’t – predict youth aggression and violence. In a 2015 <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/1745691615592234">meta-analysis</a>, I examined 101 studies on the subject and found that violent video games had little impact on kids’ aggression, mood, helping behavior or grades.</p>
<p>Two years later, I found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2017.11.001">evidence that scholarly journals’ editorial biases</a> had distorted the scientific record on violent video games. Experimental studies that found effects were more likely to be published than studies that had found none. This was <a href="http://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000074">consistent with others’ findings</a>. As the Supreme Court noted, any impacts due to video games are <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/08-1448.ZS.html">nearly impossible to distinguish</a> from the effects of other media, like cartoons and movies. </p>
<p>Any claims that there is consistent evidence that violent video games encourage aggression are simply false.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12129">Spikes in violent video games’ popularity</a> are well-known to correlate with substantial declines in youth violence – not increases. These correlations are very strong, stronger than most seen in behavioral research. More recent research suggests that the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000030">releases of highly popular</a> violent video games are associated with <a href="http://doi.org/10.1002/soej.12139">immediate declines</a> in violent crime, hinting that the releases may cause the drop-off.</p>
<h2>The role of professional groups</h2>
<p>With so little evidence, why are <a href="https://www.snopes.com/ap/2018/01/26/kentucky-governor-says-shootings-cultural-problem/">lawmakers still trying to blame</a> violent video games for mass shootings by young men? Can groups like the National Rifle Association seriously blame <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/nra-gun-violence-hollywood-fox-news_us_59d6cb0be4b072637c430e4b">imaginary guns</a> for gun violence?</p>
<p>A key element of that problem is the willingness of professional guild organizations such as the <a href="https://www.apa.org/">APA</a> to promote false beliefs about violent video games. (I’m a fellow of the APA.) These groups mainly exist to promote a profession among news media, the public and policymakers, <a href="https://www.apa.org/advocacy/index.aspx">influencing licensing and insurance laws</a>. They also make it easier to get grants and newspaper headlines. Psychologists and psychology researchers like myself pay them yearly dues to increase the public profile of psychology. But there is a risk the general public may mistake promotional positions for objective science.</p>
<p>In 2005 the APA released its first <a href="https://videogames.procon.org/sourcefiles/resolution-on-violence-in-video-games-and-interactive-media.pdf">policy statement</a> linking violent video games to aggression. However, my <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2018.01.004">recent analysis of internal APA documents</a> with <a href="https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=56382474100">criminologist Allen Copenhaver</a> found that the APA ignored inconsistencies and methodological problems in the research data.</p>
<p>The APA <a href="http://www.apa.org/about/policy/violent-video-games.aspx">updated</a> its statement in 2015, but that sparked controversy immediately: More than <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/223284732/Scholar-s-Open-Letter-to-the-APA-Task-Force-On-Violent-Media-Opposing-APA-Policy-Statements-on-Violent-Media">230 scholars</a> wrote to the group asking it to stop releasing policy statements altogether. I and others objected to <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/apa-video-games-violence-364394">perceived conflicts of interest and lack of transparency</a> tainting the process.</p>
<p>It’s bad enough that these statements misrepresent the actual scholarly research and misinform the public. But it’s worse when those falsehoods give advocacy groups like the NRA cover to shift blame for violence onto non-issues like video games. The resulting misunderstanding hinders efforts to address mental illness and other issues, such as the need for gun control, that are actually related to gun violence.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is an updated version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-time-to-end-the-debate-about-video-games-and-violence-91607">an article originally published</a> on Feb. 16, 2018.</em></p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher J. Ferguson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On the whole, results from psychology research studies don’t support a direct connection between playing violent video games and aggressive behavior.Christopher J. Ferguson, Professor of Psychology, Stetson University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1204552019-07-17T13:45:49Z2019-07-17T13:45:49ZThe army is being used to fight Cape Town’s gangs. Why it’s a bad idea<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284493/original/file-20190717-147275-f0gknx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shaldene Prins is supported by a policewoman at the funeral of her husband who was killed during gang violence. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Barry Christianson/ New Frame</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following the latest <a href="http://www.capetalk.co.za/articles/354084/philippi-cape-town-13-people-killed-in-48-hours">spate of murders</a> on the notorious <a href="http://capeflats.org.za/modules/home/townships.php">Cape Flats</a> in the Cape Town, the South African government has decided to send in the army. </p>
<p>The move has been welcomed by many who want to see an end to the rampant violence, crime and <a href="https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/western-cape-government-relieved-by-presence-of-sandf/">gangsterism in the province</a>. Cape Town is ranked among the most violent cities <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/230123/cape-town-is-one-of-the-most-violent-cities-in-the-world/">in the world</a>.</p>
<p>But, the use of the military to perform law and order functions raises several problems, many of which have long-term implications. The biggest problem is that armies are not trained for law enforcement. They’re trained for warfare and to use maximum force. </p>
<p>This is very different from the law and order duties of the police. The principle of minimum force is alien to a soldier. As the chief of South African National Defence Force General Solly Shoke, recently stated, the army is trained to “skiet and donner” (“shoot and beat up”), <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WZmodrMzFI">not for crime prevention</a>.</p>
<p>The South African government appears to have had little choice but to use the military as the country’s police have been unable to protect citizens against violent crime. A staggering 43 people were killed in Cape Town <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/43-killed-in-another-bloody-weekend-in-cape-town-20190715">this past weekend alone</a>.</p>
<p>Deploying soldiers may be effective in suppressing violence. Nevertheless, studies show that using the military in an internal role can exacerbate conflict, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-using-the-military-in-nigeria-is-causing-not-solving-problems-116676">rather than resolve it</a>. </p>
<h2>Soldiers are trained to kill</h2>
<p>Military training and culture instils in soldiers a particular disposition which shapes and guides their actions and behaviour. Aggressiveness and an <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0030438799800556">emotional distancing from the “enemy”</a> enables soldiers to deal with life-or death situations and perform acts that are otherwise considered abhorrent in civilian society. </p>
<p>Nor can the military identity of a soldier – who carries a machine gun rather than a pistol – be switched off by merely placing them in policing roles, without some degree of re-socialisation and training. The <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-07-15-as-army-deployment-is-delayed-43-murdered-over-bloody-cape-town-weekend/">delay</a> in the deployment of the military, announced by Police Minister Bheki Cele last Thursday, <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/sandf-says-cele-gave-too-much-away-report-20190713">relates to this</a>.</p>
<p>The soldiers need to receive proper training on police rules and conduct before they can be deployed. Without this they wouldn’t know how to react when confronted with heavily armed gang members. </p>
<p>The soldiers will be under <a href="https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/watch-troops-undergo-mission-ready-training-ahead-of-cape-flats-deployment-20190715">the command of the police</a> in the crime fighting operation. But differences in organisational cultures, procedure and equipment, could prove to be highly problematic. In addition, unlike the police, the military is typically unfamiliar with the terrain, street conditions, public attitudes and reactions of civilians.</p>
<p>Whether or not the deployment succeeds will depend on the conduct of the military, their methods of coercion and whether they act in an impartial and professional manner. The rules of engagement need to be very clear to ensure that they do not use excessive force, or violate the human rights of citizens. </p>
<p>Parameters must be set to ensure that the use of force is proportional to the threat posed to contain a situation. Force should only be used when all other means have failed, and where there is evidence of hostile intent. And, such use of force should be of limited duration, and only employed as a protective measure. </p>
<h2>Threat of militarisation</h2>
<p>The last thing the country can afford is a return to what happened during the apartheid era, when citizens were at the mercy of the state security forces, with hardly any <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021909614541086?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.1">civilian oversight and accountability</a>.</p>
<p>There are also wider social ramifications. On the one hand, failure to intervene by the state may result in citizens forming their own armed groups that offer them <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057070500370589">security and protection</a>. Any increase in vigilantism has the potential to further escalate violence, as citizens come to <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/is-mob-violence-out-of-control-in-south-africa">take the law into their own hands</a>.</p>
<p>On the other hand, further calls to deploy the military throughout the country could foster a culture of militarism. This, in turn, could be linked to broader social processes of militarisation within society at the economic, <a href="http://pdfproc.lib.msu.edu/?file=/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/transformation/tran010/tran010010.pdf">political and ideological levels</a>. </p>
<p>On the economic level, militarisation is associated with the increased spending on defence. At the political level, the involvement of the army in law and order duties can result in them being afforded <a href="https://www.csvr.org.za/index.php/component/content/article/1442-vigilantes-a-contemporary-form-of-repression.html">extra-ordinary powers</a> to institute <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/international-development/Assets/Documents/PDFs/csrc-working-papers-phase-one/wp43-rethinking-militarism-in-post-apartheid-south-africa.pdf">violence and repression </a>.</p>
<p>Ideologically, this can <a href="https://www.csvr.org.za/publications/1573-political-pawns-or-social-agents-a-look-at-militarised-youth-in-south-africa">perpetuate</a> an already established culture of violence as an effective means of achieving objectives.</p>
<p>Where there is a culture of resorting to the use of force to restore peace and security, it undermines the need to seek other alternatives. Nor does it address the underlying causes of conflict, which ultimately results in the military being deployed for prolonged periods, or even permanently, to prevent the return to violence. </p>
<h2>A constabulary force</h2>
<p>There are no simple solutions. But perhaps it is time to consider whether South Africa needs a constabulary force, or gendarmerie. These are hybrid police-military forces more suited for the maintenance of public order functions, rather than the military.
Countries that have established constabularies, or gendarme, include <a href="https://mns.gov.jm/content/jamaica-constabulary-force">Jamaica</a>, Spain (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Guard">Guardia Civil</a>), France (<a href="http://www.nspcoe.org/welcome/french-gendarmerie-nationale">Gendarmerie</a>) and Italy (<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28254297">Carabinieri</a>). Countries like Canada’s <a href="http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/en">Royal Canadian Mounted Police</a> and the US’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/18/what-is-national-guard-ferguson-missouri">National Guard</a> have been set up on a similar basis. </p>
<p>There has been an increase in the use of these forces due to the reluctance to deploy the military to combat internal threats. They are widely used in internal security and peacekeeping operations due to their ability to deal with threats posed by armed groups and other forms of violence that the police are <a href="https://issat.dcaf.ch/download/14295/163648/SSR_Paper_7%20(1).pdf">unable to deal with</a>. </p>
<p><em>Lindy Heinecken is the author of a forthcoming book, “South Africa’s post-apartheid military: Lost in Transition and Transformation”, to be published shortly by UCT/Juta and Springer Press.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120455/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lindy Heinecken does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The biggest problem with using the military to fight rime is that soldiers are not trained for law enforcement, but warfare, using maximum force.Lindy Heinecken, Chair of the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1148812019-04-05T13:10:21Z2019-04-05T13:10:21ZBoxing: can the sport really help turn young men away from violent crime?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267790/original/file-20190405-180052-1bt7hkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=75%2C66%2C6215%2C4130&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sport-people-two-men-exercising-fighting-108324914?src=lIYR0rDaCLIcZX-TExP-Pg-1-42">Shutterstock.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Boxing is often praised as a way of teaching discipline, anger management and teamwork. Now, with violent crime <a href="https://theconversation.com/homicide-rates-are-up-in-young-men-austerity-and-inequality-may-be-to-blame-112980">on the rise</a> in English cities – especially among young men and boys – the sport is being used to support those at risk of being drawn into knife crime and gang activity. For instance, Channel 4 News recently featured <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/how-can-the-lives-of-children-excluded-from-school-be-turned-around">a boxing academy in London</a>, which provides alternative education for young people excluded from school, led by mentors who have experienced similar challenges. </p>
<p>The government’s response to England’s knife crime surge has so far been to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/greater-powers-for-police-to-use-stop-and-search-to-tackle-violent-crime">increase the use</a> of stop-and-search without reasonable suspicion, introduce <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/home-secretary-announces-new-police-powers-to-deal-with-knife-crime">knife crime prevention orders</a> and most recently to <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/serious-youth-violence-summit-to-launch-public-health-duty-to-tackle-serious-violence">announce legislation</a> requiring schools, hospitals and youth groups to report those young people at risk of being drawn into knife crime. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/violent-crime-decades-of-research-shows-punishing-risky-young-people-does-not-work-heres-what-does-111143">Academic research</a> shows that punitive approaches such as these can actually alienate young people and make the problem worse. Yet there is a lack of clear evidence regarding sport’s capacity to <a href="http://www.police-foundation.org.uk/youthcrimecommission/">prevent crime</a> and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/A-Wider-Social-Role-for-Sport-Whos-Keeping-the-Score/Coalter/p/book/9780415363501">promote community cohesion</a>. Boxing, in particular, divides opinion: for some, it provides an opportunity for young men in particular to escape a life of crime. Others maintain that the sport breeds violence. </p>
<p>To make the most of the positive opportunities that boxing can provide to young people, it’s crucial to understand the context of the sport – and best to proceed with caution when promoting it as a solution to serious youth violence. </p>
<h2>Escape to the gym</h2>
<p>The famous sociologist and ethnographer Loic Wacquant <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/jan/10/improbable-research-boxing-sociologist">believes that</a> the boxing gym can be a shield against the temptations and dangers of the street. He discusses how the gym can represent “an island of stability and order”, which promises to assist with the complicated and sometimes chaotic lives of those who attend. </p>
<p>Boxing is a complex sport, he says, and boxing gyms define themselves as places that can drive positive change, while simultaneously reflecting the “neighbourhood and grim realities of the ghetto”. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267792/original/file-20190405-180047-dp6a3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267792/original/file-20190405-180047-dp6a3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267792/original/file-20190405-180047-dp6a3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267792/original/file-20190405-180047-dp6a3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267792/original/file-20190405-180047-dp6a3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267792/original/file-20190405-180047-dp6a3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/267792/original/file-20190405-180047-dp6a3s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Fighting for respect.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuiislife/3450743002/in/photolist-6fVXF1-9CmqMn-9CmCHi-9CpPME-dHE2tS-9CpEVy-98AUEu-9CpVFU-dJmbBm-Hax1kL-fD4gMU-awbRnX-awbQWR-9CmMiD-dJfLDt-awbQrV-dHjSXd-9Cmpo4-awbQkV-9CmSLg-9Cpro1-9CpWE5-awbQCp-6fRLK4-9Cn4cM-awbRbc-Z68X62-awbRA8-9CpcgQ-9CmsNi-aweytU-9CpDd3-9CmtRe-6gcywa-aweyes-9Cn6Rn-6gxsai-dJfL7F-YkNMy4-9Cpvvm-6g78zX-9CmyUx-6fZuFS-6gckzt-6fRHSt-HLWeYC-dHPhMU-6fRQjt-6gbBUz-9CpJ2C">Kate Gardiner/Flickr.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One only has to look at the range of films – Rocky, Creed and Southpaw to name but a few – to see how the gym is venerated as a place for men to build friendships, find meaning and direction and escape the realities of poverty and street violence. But can it really stop them being the victims or perpetrators of violent crime? </p>
<p>While the local boxing gym is often viewed as an ideal place to combat social problems such as gangs, it’s important to think about what boxing actually teaches people. Researchers at the <a href="https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/mcys/">Manchester Centre for Youth Studies</a> have been involved in a number of projects researching <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/SC-10-2015-0034">youth gangs</a> and the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13676261.2015.1098770">impact of boxing</a> on young men. </p>
<h2>Respect or retribution?</h2>
<p>The young men in our projects spoke of the value they place on the ideas of respect and masculinity, which for them were strongly associated with boxing. When exploring what support they may need to desist from offending behaviours, they spoke of “being part of something”, “having a routine”, combined with “respect and confidence” and “discipline”. </p>
<p>It’s fair to say that boxing teaches young men discipline, dedication and respect; nevertheless, it also teaches them how to fight. Not every boxer uses their skills to fight outside of the gym – but more attention needs to be paid to those who do. And it’s crucial that government-funded gang interventions are only put in place when leaders have well-developed knowledge and understanding of the local context. </p>
<p>Our research highlighted that, while boxing is great at diverting young people during periods when they might otherwise get involved in criminal activity, the messages passed down in the gym can sometimes reinforce the view that violence is a practical solution to a problem. </p>
<p>Our data highlighted that hyper-masculine talk – which advocates pride and total respect – arguably contributes towards to this. Some of the messages being transmitted in boxing gyms exclude women, promote homophobia and bear similarities to attitudes that can also be heard on the street – attitudes that promote violent retaliation, as a way to gain “respect”. For example, using words such as “gay” or “girl” to emphasise cowardly behaviour, as opposed to “warrior” and “gladiator” to emphasise bravery. </p>
<p>Boxing can indeed be a great <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/343191">hook for change</a>: it gives young people a place to hang out and develop themselves, while also diverting those who might otherwise get involved in crime. But to harness its full potential we need a better of understanding of whether and how it is effective as a sport that can reduce violent crime. Funding should be made available to evaluate local boxing programmes and identify good and bad practice, to avoid a “one-glove-fits-all” policy that promote boxing as a means of addressing knife crime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114881/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Jump receives funding from Comic Relief and Sport Relief. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Smithson receives funding from the AHRC and ESRC as part of a Knowledge Transfer Project</span></em></p>The boxing gym can be a place for young people to escape street life – but it’s also the home of a violent sport.Deborah Jump, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityHannah Smithson, Professor of Criminology and Youth Justice and Director of the Manchester Centre for Youth Studies, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.