August 2011. United Kingdom - Riots have escalated throughout the land. The usually mundane conservative lives of UK citizens have been disrupted. Anarchy has officially hit England.
The catalyst was the shooting of a young man by the name of Michael Duggan in Tottenham, London by the Metropolitan Police. The "Babylon on Fire" was ignited and is yet to be extinguished. Following the riots, citizens have stood together to show community spirit while failing to understand the catastrophic social disintegration that has taken place throughout the last twenty years.
The richer are becoming richer and the working class are on the poverty line. The small voices of the working class remain gagged - the Members of Parliament do not hear their troubles, authorities are dismissive and the media overlook their issues. This is rendering them powerless. Injustices meted out by the police are summarily ignored. Who can they go to in times of despair? The options are to approach your GP who essentially throws anti-depressants at you or tolerate it. The alternative approach taken by those who do not have coping strategies is criminality. This is done to reverse the sense of powerlessness and helplessness felt.
Children of those who have suffered, live and grow up in a land where hope is no longer for the working class. Hope is only for the upper class who will consistently sit in judgment.
David Cameron has not helped matters. In 2008, his "Don't Hug a Hoodie" Speech did not do much to encourage the masses. It was seen as an insult. Cameron though had some interesting points to make. He said :-
"Of course, circumstances - where you are born, your neighbourhood, your school, and the choices your parents make - have a huge impact. But social problems are often the consequence of the choices that people make." He added: "There is a danger of becoming quite literally a de-moralised society, where nobody will tell the truth anymore about what is good and bad, right and wrong. That is why children are growing up without boundaries, thinking they can do as they please, and why no adult will intervene to stop them - including, often, their parents. If we are going to
get any where near solving some of these problems that has to stop.
David Cameron cannot be blamed for his poor understanding of the reasons why the UK's social infrastructure is currently facing disintegration. He is an Etonian with his life set up right in front of him. He cannot understand the obstructions faced by every young person every day in the UK. He does not understand the inflexibility of the police state. The oppression felt by many is crippling in many ways.
The authorities around him have of course studied the problem. Over the last decade, report after report has been released but little has been done to address the problem. Politicians offer empty promises, authorities are essentially lethargic and the UK exists in a spiral of unaccountability. Coupled with this, there is limited access to the courts for anyone facing injustice. Civil remedies are now virtually non existent.
The first element to observe is the current state of living. This provides the baseline assessment of "quality of life".
"This report shows that the squeeze in living standards, caused by the combination of rising prices and stagnant incomes, is hitting people on low incomes hard. This is partly because they face relatively high inflation rates, but also because of policy decisions that have restricted their net incomes. As the Universal Credit is introduced, the effect on the ability of working-age families to make ends meet through modest earnings will become a key issue. This report is an early sign of the huge impact that even seemingly modest changes in the welfare system can have, especially for low-income working families who depend on it to achieve an acceptable living standard. In particular, the reduction in support for childcare has made many low-earning families worse off, and has also substantially reduced work incentives for childcare users"
Young people from any class bar the upper socio-economic classes are seriously disadvantaged in the United Kingdom. Access to higher education is curbed no matter how many "loans" El Gov offers as lip service. The government's recent' cuts on education were seen as a betrayal. The preliminary to the current anarchy was the Student Protests in November 2010. Again, the government did not listen to their concerns.
Despite draconian imprisonment for those causing damage, the rebellion has still continued. Indeed, the rebellion will not stop until David Cameron understands the psychological make-up of the current rioters - they are fearless, unsympathetic, uncaring and a product of the society created by the two governments. Their logic - you don't care for us, we don't care for you.
BBC Footage showed a girl shouting "We will respect them, when they respect us".
They clearly believe that the government and society have forgotten about them. No one was there, when they were in trouble - why should they have any consideration for the world around them? In their mind, society is the cause of their destruction and suffering - therefore it is now society's turn to listen to them. Moreover, if society and the government will not listen - violence will be used to "make them listen". Violence sells newspapers; it gives rioters a sense of temporary power against those who they perceive as "oppressors".
Anyone who has approached authority knows and understands that all approaches are blocked. MPs fail to listen; organisations are generally dismissive and judgmental. You are often left as the "victim of society" without hope for the future - no matter how much you try - each rejection on a job application causes disappointment. How much disappointment can a young person take? Young people are no longer willing to accept the dictatorship of the government. Perhaps it is time not to dictate but to understand.
The police cannot remain blameless - they have never been pro-active in understanding the importance of communicating with people - one rioter complained that he was being harassed for minor issues by the police. No doubt they have many issues with the police that may or may not have affected their Enhanced CRB leading to a catastrophe in terms of employability - a warning, a arrest even if cleared is listed on an E-CRB. The prejudice is obvious. There is no dialogue or communication between the police or the rioters or even the communities. The police offer a dictatorship approach - to a young person, this is likely to result in further rebellion. This is despite their in-depth knowledge of the specific causes of youth crime.
It was listed in a Middlesbrough Study . Risk factors included "experience of early entry into the social care system, a failure to complete mainstream education, special educational needs and learning disability status, mental health issues, a history of substance misuse problems, significant experience of bereavement and family loss including lost contact with biological father, and parental criminality."
"Meanwhile the socially mediated risks and vulnerabilities they face and experience in their everyday lives are largely ignored. There is much talk of the risk posed by children and young people to others. There is much less consideration of the risky social arrangements that result in so many children and young people growing into a young adulthood marked by poverty, insecurity and mental distress
The current rioters are currently cited as "young people". They are also cited as " mindless criminals" by the vast majority of the population. There is an understandable demand for "justice and imprisonment". This is natural human behaviour. David Cameron has laid the law down by his recent speech. He believes he can "control" those who have already decided not to be controlled.
Violence is unacceptable. Both Cameron and his people agree on that. The basic issue missed by today's government is this - young rebellion is classically magnified by increasing efforts to "control". The violence at the moment is a product of young people requesting that their voice is listened to. No one has asked the rioters what their actual problem is, what they want, why they are being violent and what changes they want to see in their lives. Admittedly, the fire power from the rioters does not make communication easy. Young babies and children often throw their toys, cry helplessly and cannot phonate the problems affecting them. The rioters are in a frenzied state allowing their anger to speak through the fires, criminality and destruction they create. We have heard trickles of information filter through the media and Twitter but not enough. A simple view is to perceive these individuals as mindless thugs and to dismiss them. A more difficult approach is to assess why they have resorted to dysfunction. Were they driven to the edge by the system we currently have? This concept is potentially and understandably difficult for innocent members of the community to have lost so much in the riots.
A long term solution is required for the future. A short term solution is draconian policing, a long term solution has to include some kind of dialogue with the rioters, however unacceptable or difficult it is. If this proves impossible, we are looking at repeated episodes of mindless rebellion that will affect our communities for the foreseeable future. The UK has already seen two serious violent episodes in the last year. How many more can the country tolerate?
The solution to a long term problem is not silencing the baby. It is discovering what the problem is so it can be fixed for good. If I were in the Custody Suites, I would be asking the rioters to state what caused their problem and what they wanted so we have some idea about a potential future solution. Criminal punishment may well be one solution for the rioters but a long term solution is based on meeting them on middle ground and communication/mediation. Without it, anger, revenge, resentment and rebellion will be the ingredients of further uncontrolled frenzied violence creating more "Rebels Without a Cause".
Those in authority are excellent at dictating. They are unable to decipher the psychology of the rioters and are quite happy to pigeon hole them into "mindless criminals looting shops who are not worth listening to". This was the message sent by the Prime Minister and his men when they remained on holiday . He was not about to cut his holiday short due to a bunch of "thugs". What he failed to understand is that as the man who elected to take the paternal role of the country - his role was to return to those who did cry for help - the communities and the rioters. On his return, he issued numerous ultimatums. The violence failed to stop. It is up to the PM to consider whether his method is a effective long term solution.
Left Food Forward featured the most sensible article to date. Clive Stott described The Crowd Psychology of Riots
"The difficulty we are faced with, as a society in the context of a 'politics of riot', is that meaningful dialogue to address this important question is almost impossible"
"Our argument then is that to render the riots meaningless is actually to deny the opportunity that we must take to understand them if we are to take the appropriate measures that will prevent them in the future"
The message here to the rioters is this - stop the violence, write your ideas down, communicate with your government, communicate with those who can help. If they do not listen, peacefully protest every day like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi did . He achieved more in India by peaceful protest than any act of violence ever did. This is now Independence and Respect is achieved. He once said
"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent"
If Gandhi could do it, every single person in this land can do the same. David Cameron can learn a lot from the Indian leader who did not judge those who were violent but merely took the position to understand what the problem was.
This is a way forward for the rioters to change from - Rebels Without a Cause to Rebels With a Cause. Anything is possible if they try....................Just like the Nike Advert for the trainers stolen by some - JUST DO IT.
Related Links
3.Centre of Social Justice - Being Tough On Causes Of Crime.
Declared Conflict. As a former psychiatrist, I have worked as a locum in the Prison Sector