On Mon, 12 May 2008 09:40:48 +0100, "The Todal"
wrote:
>Has there been any research into the mindset of those kids who carry knives
>and "shank" (stab) each other? Do they really understand that they are
>likely to kill or cause serious injury, or are they under the impression
>that most of the time the injury is trivial?
>
>If I was responsible for sorting out knife crime I'd send people to schools
>to do presentations: (a) from a medical point of view (b) from a criminal
>law point of view and (c) showing the effect on the families involved.
I suspect that kids who carry tools to stab know full well the likely
consequences of stabbing. They see it on TV with great regularity. A
lot of these kids feel totally powerless and possession of a knife
gives them the sense of power that society denies them. They are
probably failures at school and the only way they can get respect is
being handy with a knife. In certain sub-cultures, violence is a
virtue and the more violent the young man is, the more he is admired.
If he manages to evade conviction, he will probably join the police or
the army when he is old enough to legitimise his violent behaviour.
--
Alasdair.
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