The recent rioting in the UK has caught many people off-guard - particularly the police. Here are headlines describing the events:
“Shops looted, cars and buildings burnt out, young adults in hoods on the rampage”.
“Thousands of police on the streets of cities in England, hundreds of people arrested and charged.”
“Punish those responsible for the violence because they are "opportunist criminals" and "disgusting thieves"
On commenting on the recent riots, Professor John Pitts, a criminologist and youth culture expert said “a generation bred on a diet of excessive consumerism and bombarded by advertising had been unleashed,” he added “Where we used to be defined by what we did; now we are defined by what we buy”.
Who were the rioters? We saw pictures of the ‘rioters’ some as young as 11 years old, looking very vulnerable. Among the accused were also for instance a lifeguard, postman, chef, charity worker and Laura Johnson, the 19-year-old daughter of a successful company director. Some of them clearly did not need to steal! So what was it – perhaps a lack of parental care!
The post-mortem continues…..some are blaming the unrest on lack of policing brought about by spending cuts; others blame it on police not caring enough about the community. "Young people are bored and feel they have nothing to lose," said former gang member Kim Gardner, who now mentors young people in gangs to try to help them turn their lives around. Many of London's teenagers have been rioting because they "lack hope" and "feel let down by society", according to youth group leaders.
Darcus Howe the columnist and civil liberties campaigner speaks about the mistreatment of youth by the police.
Camila Batmanghelidjh, the founder of the charities The Place To Be and Kids Company points out that rioters “feel they don't actually belong to the community. For years, they’ve felt cut adrift from society.” In a recent article she pointed out that “it costs money to care. But it also costs money to clear up riots, savagery and antisocial behaviour.”
On the other hand David Cameron condemned the "sickness" in parts of British society and historian David Starkey told BBC's Newsnight "the whites have become black". Starkey also hit out at what he called the "destructive, nihilistic gangster culture" which he said "has become the fashion."
Most reflective people will agree that there is no one single cause, that a complex set of emergent problems in society led to these riots. Indeed the BBC has put forward 9 competing arguments used to explain the riots.
The recent rioting in the UK has caught many people off-guard - particularly the police. Here are headlines describing the events: