The terrifying abyss of insignificance: Marginalisation, mattering and violence between young people
Keywords:
Young people, mattering, violence, Jóvenes, ser importante, violenciaAbstract
The concept of mattering can be helpful for understanding the ways in which structural and historical factors affect individual psychologies. This paper lays out the usefulness of mattering as a lens through which to examine why a small minority of young people in Britain commit violent acts. We first explore what it means to matter and the evidence linking the quest to matter with violence, and then examine the factors in contemporary Britain which can diminish a young person’s sense of mattering, using recent community research. We then critique the British government’s attempt to address the problem of violence through Gang Injunctions and Knife Crime Prevention Orders. We conclude by suggesting that policy-makers could gain substantial insight from investigating the connections between marginalisation, mattering and violence, rather than focusing disproportionately on the music young people choose to listen to or create, or the specific weapon that they opt to carry.
El concepto de ser importante puede ayudar a entender cómo los factores estructurales e históricos afectan a la psicología individual. Este artículo muestra la utilidad del ser importante como una lente a través de la cual se puede examinar por qué una pequeña minoría de jóvenes de Gran Bretaña cometen actos violentos. Primero, exploramos qué significa importar, y cómo queda demostrado que la búsqueda de ser importante está relacionada con la violencia, y después examinamos los factores de la Gran Bretaña actual que pueden mermar el sentido de una persona joven de ser importante, para lo cual utilizamos investigaciones comunitarias recientes. A continuación, criticamos el intento del Gobierno británico de resolver el problema a través de órdenes de restricción sobre las pandillas y sobre la prevención de delitos con arma blanca. Concluimos sugiriendo que los legisladores podrían tener una mejor visión si investigaran las relaciones entre la marginalización, el sentirse importante y la violencia antes que centrarse de forma exagerada en la música que los jóvenes escuchan o crean, o el arma concreta que portan.
Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1178
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Copyright (c) 2021 Luke Billingham, Keir Irwin-Rogers
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