As a second year student at
the University of Lincoln studying BA (Hons) International Relations, sometimes
I have to do work. A lot of the time assessments are incredibly tedious, but on
rare occasions I actually enjoy the extensive research. This week was
thankfully the latter. The subject of Law, Order and Politics has led me to
delve into some scholarly works on the Riots that took place last summer,
starting in Tottenham that quickly spread to a number of major cities across
the UK.
Now before I discuss my academically backed up feelings towards the riots I must admit my personal vendetta for the events of the 6th-11th August 2011. A vendetta that I will out-rightly admit is for purely selfish reasons. You see my 18th Birthday happened to fall on the 12th of August and a celebration of epic proportions had been planned for the 11th to ring in my birthday at midnight. Unfortunately at the time I was living in Wolverhampton, one of the areas that was subject to the 'Copycat Criminals' who decided it would be fantastic to smash windows and swipe odd shoes from JD. This led to a number of my friends feeling (justifiably) uneasy about going on a night out in case more violence broke out. And while thanks to my brave friends (and a quick change of location to Cannock) I still had a great night out, a lot of my friends were not there and because I'm completely rational, I blame the riots for this. Why I deem this relevant I am not entirely sure, perhaps it just proves that I have no sympathy for the participants.
Anyway back to more
intelligible arguments. One trend that I noticed throughout academia published
on the subject was the excuses given to those who went out and rioted. Blaming
a tightening welfare state, poor education and growing youth unemployment for
the extensive criminal damage and looting took place. I will be the first to
admit that I don't agree with the current government cuts, or more specifically
who the cuts are aimed at. But smashing shop windows is probably the most
idiotic response to grumbles about how difficult it is to get a job. That
criminal record you've gained from vandalism is certainly not going to make you
any more employable.
I think these excuses are just another example of people's childhoods and backgrounds being wrongly used to justify their poor decisions. I certainly acknowledge that this can be the case, but more often than not it feels like a bad start in life is used a defence for bad decisions in people's adult lives. As someone who had an arguably turbulent childhood; growing up in a single parent family with hardly any money among other personal issues, nothing infuriates me more than those who are allowed to break the law and be a horrific person because of their background.
The riots of August 2011 stemmed from the shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham. What started out as a peaceful protest by his friends and family, looking to gain justice turned into extensive property damage and arson. How this led to those individuals in other parts of the country deciding to loot their nearest JD I am unsure, but if I had to hazard a guess it would be that they felt because others were doing it they might be less likely to get caught. Unfortunately for them David Cameron went all hardass on the "mindless criminality" and gave them some pretty substantial sentences (Some might say these sentences were much too severe but that's a whole other issue).
Taking Wolverhampton as an example (seeing as I live there and this blog is named after the fantastic city), economically there's certainly reasons for social upheaval. Our unemployment levels are some of the worst in the country with 8.1% of the borough claiming Jobseekers Allowance. The area is considerably multicultural and racial tensions can become heated. A lot of the people in the area don't have a lot of money and with unemployment increasing steadily, more and more residents are likely to feel jealousy towards more fortunate neighbours. But the answer to unhappiness with the economic system will never be to go and deface your town centre. Areas like Wolverhampton - with notorious reputations - need their citizens to take pride in their city, who else will if they won't?
So as a concluding statement I will admit that: Our country isn't perfect, class and social status are a huge factor in dividing our people. Race and ethnicity also contribute to a disunited society. But whether someone you believe to be innocent is shot by the police (someone who had a rather extensive criminal record and previous involvement in gangs) or you see on twitter that a group of people are planning to cause some mayhem in your local shopping centre, participating in the August 2011 riots wasn't smart and it wasn't right. No matter what your excuse, responding to your frustration with the current recession by costing the country loss of business and the price of property repairs will always be STUPID.
Someone who reiterates my views much more eloquently on the subject is John Lea http://www.britsoccrim.org/newdocs/bscn-69-2011-JohnLea.pdf his concise argument here backs up my feelings. Plus he criticizes David Cameron and that's always fun!
I think these excuses are just another example of people's childhoods and backgrounds being wrongly used to justify their poor decisions. I certainly acknowledge that this can be the case, but more often than not it feels like a bad start in life is used a defence for bad decisions in people's adult lives. As someone who had an arguably turbulent childhood; growing up in a single parent family with hardly any money among other personal issues, nothing infuriates me more than those who are allowed to break the law and be a horrific person because of their background.
The riots of August 2011 stemmed from the shooting of Mark Duggan by police in Tottenham. What started out as a peaceful protest by his friends and family, looking to gain justice turned into extensive property damage and arson. How this led to those individuals in other parts of the country deciding to loot their nearest JD I am unsure, but if I had to hazard a guess it would be that they felt because others were doing it they might be less likely to get caught. Unfortunately for them David Cameron went all hardass on the "mindless criminality" and gave them some pretty substantial sentences (Some might say these sentences were much too severe but that's a whole other issue).
Taking Wolverhampton as an example (seeing as I live there and this blog is named after the fantastic city), economically there's certainly reasons for social upheaval. Our unemployment levels are some of the worst in the country with 8.1% of the borough claiming Jobseekers Allowance. The area is considerably multicultural and racial tensions can become heated. A lot of the people in the area don't have a lot of money and with unemployment increasing steadily, more and more residents are likely to feel jealousy towards more fortunate neighbours. But the answer to unhappiness with the economic system will never be to go and deface your town centre. Areas like Wolverhampton - with notorious reputations - need their citizens to take pride in their city, who else will if they won't?
So as a concluding statement I will admit that: Our country isn't perfect, class and social status are a huge factor in dividing our people. Race and ethnicity also contribute to a disunited society. But whether someone you believe to be innocent is shot by the police (someone who had a rather extensive criminal record and previous involvement in gangs) or you see on twitter that a group of people are planning to cause some mayhem in your local shopping centre, participating in the August 2011 riots wasn't smart and it wasn't right. No matter what your excuse, responding to your frustration with the current recession by costing the country loss of business and the price of property repairs will always be STUPID.
Someone who reiterates my views much more eloquently on the subject is John Lea http://www.britsoccrim.org/newdocs/bscn-69-2011-JohnLea.pdf his concise argument here backs up my feelings. Plus he criticizes David Cameron and that's always fun!
Anyway there's my first blog
entry, if you're reading this I sincerely thank you for giving a shit about my
opinions. I promise my next entry will be on a subject a bit more current.
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