We need to understand them as victims of child criminal exploitation who are subject to coercion by gang eldersToo often we respond to a perceived crime wave with calls for tougher punishment,increased quit and searches, more police funding, and crackdowns on drug trafficking. Yet young people continue to be drawn into conflicts that end in bloodshed. There is the well-known adage that “insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”,however the visceral nature of violent crime seems to bring approximately a collective insanity that leads our society to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
I don’t think it’s contested that many of the 50 people killed in attacks in London this year are likely to be linked to gang-related feuds and activity. It is also evident that both victims and perpetrators are often under the age of 18 – still children and understood to be relatively early in terms of human development. The fact that these are young people caught up in gang activity should be key to developing a response that will absorb a lasting effect.
Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk