Opinion: Rehabilitating a culture of violence

With recent attention focused on the rise of acid attacks in London, it seems the government is finally taking note. Met Police have announced the use of a tagging spray that could potentially lead back to the offender. But whilst this move might bring one or two perpetrators to justice, will it address the core of the problem?

UK prisons as they stand currently are overflowing with inmates. Every so often, violent protests break out and hit the headlines, whilst the numerous smaller protests that occur daily go unheard. With diminishing funds, cuts to services, and prison workers too stressed to manage, it’s a system that will collapse under its own weight. Yet the number of prisoners keeps growing, many stuck in a cycle, returning to the familiarity of the four walls. It raises the question – is rehabilitation within the prison systems working?

Government schemes to lower the number of inmates by speedily processing lower category cases through the parole system and potentially release, seems to be one way of trying to bring numbers under control. However, in many cases, release is not granted and so the backlog keeps on growing. Given that this is the situation, perhaps it is time to look at ways of addressing crime before they escalate and become part of a trend that reflects a wider societal problem.

Acid attacks in inner London areas are related to robberies and have been rising over the last few years. The typical characteristic of the acid attacker is male, with an average age of fifteen, who probably travels into London from one of the home counties. Figures estimate around 11,400 crimes have involved mopeds and bikes last year alone. Acid is used to force people to leave their vehicles and belongings so that they can be stolen. Such attacks have traditionally been associated to hate crimes, specifically to honour attacks in the Asian community. In contrast the trend among young disgruntled British youth, emerging on the streets of East London seems almost misplaced.

Walk around Hackney and Old Street and you’ll find signs that warn you to be vigilant because criminals operate in the area. Muggings are prevalent with a disturbing trend of phones being snatched out of people’s hands. The attackers operate as part of a gang, and can often be seen veering around on mopeds, endangering themselves and other road users. Boredom could be one of the main reason for this rise of anti-social behaviour, but the more likely reason, could be related to something more obvious such as the disparity between the wealthy and the poor.

Whilst it might provide a little hope to someone who has already been violently sprayed with acid to know that there is a chance of finding the perpetrator with the use of a ‘tagging spray,’ the fear is that the crime will not go away, but will happen again and again unless the core of the problem is addressed. Criminality is not a trait that people are born with but becomes a way of life through years of vulnerability, rooted in personal experiences. Young people growing up in environments such as London, and the surrounding areas, where there is a clear distinction between social groups, are more likely to feel socially excluded due to the disparities of wealth. We all know how important it is to belong and belonging in today’s world means having what our friends have. A disproportion that emphasises the gap between the rich and the poor, intensifies a feeling of vulnerability, worthlessness, and desperation. This feeling combined with a culture that pressurises people into wanting the latest fashions and trends, is a thriving ground for crime.

East London has been undergoing a gradual make-over, and over the last few decades has attracted a diverse range of people to the community. In recent years, it has seen the intensification of a socially adept class that centralises and promotes a middle-class lifestyle. The countereffect of this lifestyle is that it is also attracting criminals who live in the deprived and poverty-stricken areas on the outskirts. Gangs operating with an intent to rob people in broad daylight and by any means travel in to inner London. For these criminals, the intent in not to simply hurt the victim, but to scar them for life. The attack is undertaken with a vengefulness that has no remorse. What this shows is not simply boredom and a need for cash, but that the rise of violent crime among these youth, is deeply ingrained and associated to the inequality between the haves and the have nots. Attacking someone for their possession with acid is a hateful crime, and at the centre of this type of hatred, is a jealousy of the wealthy, even if it is often not the wealthy, but people working on a basic rate of pay, or service workers, such as ambulance staff who are the victims.

At this stage of criminality, where the crime traumatises a person psychologically by disfiguring them, prison is the only way. Acid attacks is the current fad among disgruntled youth. But what next? The issues are ingrained within poorer communities in and around London and need to be addressed before they escalate into something else. The question that needs to be addressed, is how do we support and encourage youth to make positive changes to become socially mobile, and gain access to the privileges of those they attack? It is a fact that offenders who get trapped in the prison system become a part of a dehumanising cycle that often diminishes an already lacking confidence, which only conceals vulnerabilities with a tough-guy façade. Facilitating creative and educational programmes at a grassroots level, on the other hand, could encourage alternative approaches to managing tensions before they lead to crime. Prison should not be the answer.