Breaking the cycle of violence

Youth experts discuss the roots of bad behaviour

Repression is not the solution to youth violence. On the contrary, institutions should attack the social, cultural and economic reasons behind juvenile crime. This was the message given this week by the Cycle of Violence workshop, organized at York University. Sociologists, experts on youth and representatives of other parts of society tried to understand the issue of youth violence, outlining its contours, underscoring its root causes and proposing possible solutions.
"There's an obvious link," remarked sociologist Livy Visano of Atkinson College, "between youth crime and marginalization, as well as between teen violence and poverty. We still lack appropriate tools for understanding the logic behind this type of crime." According to Prof. Visano, there is a sort of generational short circuit. "Youth, especially those who exhibit deviant behaviours," he said, "must be understood in their own language. In order to be able to do so, we must master how they express themselves, communicate, relate." According to Visano, "police officers, politicians, and very often even teachers are unable to do so."
Intellectual honesty and humility are required; we should recognize our limits and ask hard questions. "What are the values of a youth who chooses to become a criminal?" asked the sociologist. "How much influence do misogyny, racial intolerance or class affect this choice?" Society can answer in multiple ways, posing human beings at the centre of the reasoning, "giving new value to principles like trust in interpersonal relations and fighting social and economic root causes" that give strength to youth crime.
"Nobody is born a criminal," echoed Dudley Laws, founder of the Black Action Defense Committee and long-time civil rights activist. "It is always the condition of society that pushes youth to crime. Anyone coming from a background marked by poverty and intolerance risks entering the underworld."
Laws criticized the repressive approach of many police officers. "There has been change in society," he forcefully remarked, "in institutions, in politics, in our collective mindset; only [the attitude of] police never changes." Jamal Clarke, director of Friends in Trouble, also mentioned the lack of communication between youth and police. "Youth who take the wrong path need help, but very often no help is forthcoming. There are problems in the community," he said, "and the distance from institutions is often very perceptible."
"We must re-discuss," underscored Arnold Minors of the Community Safety Secretariat, "the definition of security itself. Poverty causes insecurity, and insecurity often favours the development of juvenile crime."
The workshop included a screening of Youth Against Violence, a documentary by Masani Montague that investigates the connection between youth and crime. Bob Hill of Toronto Artists for a Better World gave his testimony on the role that artists can play in helping problem youth.

Publication Date: 2005-04-03
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=5070