Addressing Serious Male Youth Violence: Missed opportunities within the UK Serious Youth Violence Strategy (original) (raw)
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Previous studies have consistently established young men's over representation in the criminal justice system particularly in relation to interpersonal violence. Despite this, the voice of young men are seldom heard, reducing our understanding of young men's experience of crime and violence. As Northern Ireland emerged from the longest conflict in contemporary European history following the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, a new generation of young men have grown up in a society with a reconstituted police force, sustained paramilitary ceasefires and increased community cohesion. In 2018, 32 young men aged between 16 and 20 from across Northern Ireland engaged in focus groups exploring their perceptions of crime and violence growing up since 1998. The study found that paramilitaries are still present but the extent to which they are active differs greatly between communities; young men's literacy around crime in general is limited; issues of personal safety are critical but they do not always develop the necessary skills to avoid violence until later in adolescence; and contact with the police is generally perceived as negative. It is recommended that young men have spaces to reflect on their attitudes and beliefs, develop skills to avoid violence and professionals are trained to engage young men more effectively.
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Youth workers are on the front line for supporting children and young people with the violence some of them face. However, education and training for this part of the role seemed lacking in our experience as a Youth and Community Worker and a Youth and Community Work Lecturer in the UK. An international project that sought to address this educational gap for ‘youth practitioners’ had a UK arm, which is the context for this article. This project created a three-day training course that sought to improve responses to gender-related violence (GRV) by increasing awareness, improving knowledge about providing support and making referrals, and also sought to prevent or reduce gender-related violence by challenging the inequalities on which it rests. The UK ‘youth practitioners’ who attended the training wrote almost 500 ‘action plans’—plans to act on the basis of the training, and analysis of these offers an indication of their concerns and priorities. Here, we present the concerns that U...
Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 2019
The long-term relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) such as exposure to violence in the home and in the community, healthharming behaviors, poor physical and mental health outcomes, and ultimately, early mortality was first documented by Felitti et al. (1998) in their seminal study with more 8,000 people in the United States. However, it is clear that not all people experience the same types of adversity (Grasso, Dierkhishing, Branson, Ford, & Lee, 2015) and even when they do, the behavioral outcomes vary considerably (Cecila, Viding, Fearon, Glaser, & McCrory, 2017). Exposure to extra-familial violence and subsequent violent offending appears to be particularly gendered (McNaughton-Ryes, Foshee, Chen, & Ennett, 2018; Vaswani, 2018). Since the original investigation, later epidemiological studies, such as those in the UK have confirmed thedeleterious and doseresponse effects of adversity during childhood on later offending behaviors, with those exposed to multiple adversities and violent trauma, significantly more likely to engage in violence (Bellis, Hughes, Leckenby, Perkins, & Lowey, 2014). Violence may be a significant social problem with both social and economic costs (Walsh, 2018) but however pervasive (Krauss, 2006), it is not a new phenomenon. Records suggest that observers were keen to understand the mechanics of intentional aggressive behavior as far back as the time of the ABSTRACT Violent offending is a key concern to criminologists, but current paradigms have not fully explained why some people are violent and others are not. Despite the fact that between 80% and 98% of all violent-related crimes are perpetrated by males, few studies have convincingly examined why this is the case. Violence is traumatic and is one of the most commonly experienced traumas internationally. Violence is the leading cause of death for young men ages under 24 globally, and in addition to fatalities, there are 10 times more violence-related injuries. In the UK, 78% of perpetrators of violent crime are male, and the vast majority of victims are male. Two things appear clear: violence is pervasive and is the most common trauma experienced by boys and young men. This article seeks to highlight the need for both a trauma-informed approach as well as a gender-conscious approach in the discourse around violence prevention research, policy, and practice.
Young Men as Victims and Perpetrators of Violence in Northern Ireland: A Qualitative Analysis
Journal of Social Issues, 2004
This article explores issues of masculinity and violence in the lives of young men in disadvantaged areas in Northern Ireland. Qualitative data were collected in four focus groups, one group of young men from the Catholic community, one group of young men from the Protestant community, one group of community representatives, and one group of Young Offenders (N = 28). Themes were extracted from the data using a grounded approach. Results indicate that social disadvantage is fundamental to experiences of violence and that young men understand the costs and benefits of a masculine identity that incorporates a capacity for violence. Discussion suggests that initiatives to reduce violent behavior should be compatible with socially and culturally acceptable constructions of masculinity.
An Assault on Our Future: The Impact of Violence on Young People and Their Relationships (2008)
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An Assault On Our Future: The Impact Of Violence On Young People And Their Relationships
2008
This report examines how violence against women specifically affects children and young people. It looks at the nature of violence they experience in their homes and their own relationships, its impacts, and the priorities for action if efforts to prevent violence among, and protect, young people are to be successful.It is widely recognised that violence against women is a significant problem affecting as many as one in three women in Australia. This widespread violence has impacts more widely on families and communities throughout our society.
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