Attack with a hammer in a school, discharge of firearms, violent fights that end up on social networks, violence in romantic relationships, not to mention the last one, the violent attack on a homeless man by five young people aged 13 to 18 years… I could go on like this.
As you can imagine, adolescent violence is not new. However, the concern is palpable in the school environment (primary and secondary) and among the population. This violence is perceived as more intense, more frequent and involves increasingly younger perpetrators.
How to separate impression from evidence? A rather complex exercise, given the lack of data. Furthermore, great care must be taken in their interpretation.
Take the example of homicides. If I told you that in 2022, Statistics Canada reported an increase in homicides committed by minors and that this was twice the average of the last ten years, your reflex would be to believe that young people are increasingly violent.
However, if you look closely, this increase represents 90 young people across Canada and a good part of these homicides were committed in Manitoba. Certainly, we see an increase, but how can we interpret it? Especially since this kind of peak was also observed in 2009 and 2006.
Epiphenomenon or trend?
You see, you can make numbers say a lot of things.
Does adolescent violence have a face?
When a minor or even an adult exhibits violent behavior, we tend to look for the causes or what we call, in criminological jargon, “risk factors”. We dissect the individual concerned by analyzing all aspects of their life.
Usually, we seek to give a face to this violence: poor attendance, victimization in childhood (physical, sexual and psychological abuse), dysfunctional family, substance use, delinquency, personality disorder, mental disorders, exposure to violence , membership in criminal groups, etc.
To a certain point, this type of analysis attempts to bring out the contours of a certain type of perpetrator of violence.
The fact remains that violence is a mosaic of faces that transforms depending on place, space and our level of tolerance. She has no class, race, gender or age. Moreover, not all dysfunctional families produce violent children.
What changed?
According to the Canadian Internet Use Survey (CIUS), 7 out of 10 young Canadians aged 15 to 24 will have been exposed to hatred and violence in 2022.
The real change is here!
Before the advent of the Internet, minors’ exposure to violence was confined to criminogenic environments and certain dysfunctional families. Since then, minors have been bombarded by two major cyber niches: sex and violence. Children as young as 5 years old have access to violent and pornographic content.
Adolescents are the first victims of cyberviolence and sexual exploitation. Observing them, they absorb the violence of adults, the hatred that circulates on social networks and this social polarization which is plaguing the world.
Do you really believe that a violent society produces doves?