Anti Knife Crime by Mark Davies

One of the things I noticed over the 19 years I worked in an environment where I watched interpersonal conflict on a nightly basis was that violence was changing. When I first started working in pubs & nightclubs violence would generally consist of a bit of 'push me...shove you' & some fisticuffs between two people. It was VERY rare for a weapon to be involved, & the town was buzzing with gossip for weeks if someone got hit with a bottle or something. Over the years I noticed some disturbing changes:

1- People became quicker to use violence, where people would have just argued they now simply lashed out.

2- The level of violence used became greater.

3- Often multiple attackers would jump into the fray against a single person.

4- Weapons began to be used more & more often.

 
What we are reaping now is what we have sown in our society over the past couple of decades. As a military close combat instructor I use a combination of classical & operant conditioning to equip our unit members with combat skills that don't require conscious thought. They become natural motor reactions. 98% of the human race hasn't got it in them to kill or seriously harm someone. Even most of the people who become soldiers fall into this category. The remaining 2% are made up of sheepdogs & wolves. This 2% are the people who are mentally equipped to use violence on another human being.  If this weren't the case, the incidence of violence in society would be astronomical. Think about how many times most people come into potential conflict every day. If it wasn't for this built in 'phobia of interpersonal conflict' every time someone got cut up in their car, bumped into in the street, or called a rude name there would be violence. The sheepdogs are the people who are mentally wired to be able to use violence without any psychological hindrance or trauma afterwards, but who have the morals & control to use violence only when & where it’s needed like a surgeon uses a scalpel. These people usually end up as excellent soldiers or policemen - they end up as protectors (one of the best examples of this type of person is the actor Audie Murphy!)! The wolves are the sociopaths. They have no built in moral or ethical code to stop them from using violence without a seconds thought. For years now we have been using operant & classical conditioning on our young people through violent TV, films & video games. We condition more & more of the 98% to react with violence as a thoughtless reaction. For instance, video games act in the same way as military weapons training. We train our soldiers on realistic pop up targets, so they learn to shoot as an 'instinct' thus getting over the inbuilt tendency not to fire at another human being. When they perform well we reward them, they get various shooting awards. On video games our young have to fire at the 'bad guys' on screen, & have to react quickly. They get rewarded with extra points or ranks if they do well. It's the same thing! Violent TV & films show our hero's using violence as the first, not last resort. It shows the policeman stepping outside the system he's supposed to uphold to wreak vengeance on the wrong-doer. Couple this with the fact that many young people have lost any comprehension of civil responsibility, & have no self discipline or self control; what have we got? We have our current inner city society, which is spreading into small town UK quickly.


In July 2000 in the United States of America there was a bipartisan congressional conference at which the AMA, the APA, the AAP & the AACAP- these are the bodies that represent every single doctor, paediatrician, psychologist & child psychiatrist in the USA- made a joint statement to the Congress of the USA. They reported that "the media is a causal factor of violence in society, & violent video games are particularly dangerous". "Well over 1000 studies point overwhelmingly to a causal connection between media violence & aggressive behaviour in some children". Until 2001 no one had demonstrated what happened when children were disconnected from media violence, and then the 'Stanford Study' happened. Stanford University released a study that less television equalled less violence. The study found a 50% decrease in verbal aggression & a 40% decrease in physical aggression just by removing children from television & violent video games! The data was gathered at two similar San Jose elementary schools. Researchers first carefully assessed the baseline level of aggressive behaviour in 192 3rd & 4th graders. They then introduced a curriculum at one school that encouraged the children to cut back on video games & watch less television. Two thirds of the pupils agreed to take part in an initial 10 day effort to turn off their televisions which was monitored by slips that had to be signed by parents. Over half of them limited their television watching to less than seven hours per week during the next 20 weeks. After the 20 weeks the researchers found the huge reduction in aggression shown above, compared with the other that didn't follow the curriculum. The children who benefitted most were the ones who were the most aggressive at the outset of the study. They also found a reduction in obesity & over-eating.

When the medical profession use the words 'Causal Effect' they mean "we are sure". The trouble is that the general public never hears about findings such as these because the last people who want the public to hear about them are the very people who distribute our news.  One thing that world renowned expert on violence David Grossman points out is that just the act of parents making sure that their children know that any violence they see in games or on TV is make believe, & that people don't really act that way as its wrong, makes a huge difference. The parent has to take more of a positive role in their child’s education in life whilst at home. There is actual medical evidence regarding the effects of violent media on the physical structure of the brain in children. Over a two year period researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine studied two groups of youths between 13 & 17 years old. The first group was made up of normal teenagers, the second with teenagers diagnosed with Disruptive Brain Disorder. A diagnosis of DBD is given to children who have shown significant aggressive behaviour & resistance to authority. Subjects were paired according to age, gender & IQ. In step one the teenagers & their parents were surveyed about their exposure to violence in video games & television. In step two the teens were given fMRI scans, which targeted the pre frontal cortex of the brain. The pre frontal cortex is responsible for controlling behaviour, & if it doesn't develop properly they can become problem adults. After studying the results of all the brain scans the results were striking. The normal teenagers with a high exposure to media violence had reduced activity in the logic centre of the brain, similar to teens with DBD. All the teens with DBD had less activity in the logic centre of the brain than normal teens, & the more exposure to media violence the more pronounced the deficit. The normal teens with the least exposure to media violence had the highest levels of activity in the logic centre of the brain. These tests showed actual physical effects from exposure to media violence.

If we are really serious about reducing violent crime amongst our young people we have to bite the bullet that there are big changes we need to make at the very roots of our society. We need to be more serious about teaching young children life skills & social responsibility. One thing I have learned from teaching my Little Ninjas programme is that if you can positively influence a child between 4 & 8 years of age you can set them up for life. Even the ones who aren't getting good guidance at home can be inspired & influenced to make the right choices in life. If children are equipped with good life skills we have a far greater chance of turning out far less thugs in later life. I'm speaking from experience, as someone who has 'turned around' the lives of many kids whose school teachers despaired of them. We can all make a difference to the levels of violence in our society in the long term by being more aware of what is influencing our children. To quote prison gang enforcer Casper Bingham, who is serving two life sentences for attempted murder & who has committed many violent acts whilst in prison- "Nobody was created like this. Everyone in here was somebody’s little bundle of joy, none of their mothers ever thought they'd see a killer, someone who had committed the most heinous crimes staring back at them. It was all taught, we were taught to be the way we are". We are just as capable of teaching good ideals!

Working on pub & nightclub doors, & teaching children & young people I learned that the majority of violent crimes involving weapons are performed by a minority of young criminal 'predators'. However, because many young people live in fear of these 'wolves' they also carry weapons. The majority of young people aren't the 'two percenters' who enjoy using violence & haven't got the life experience to understand fully the consequences of lashing out in fear & anger. If we can persuade these young people not to carry weapons then we can potentially save many young lives from being needlessly wasted. There is no magic bullet or quick fix to the problem, all the solutions are long term & will take a great deal of effort & change. Educating our young people that violence & weapons carrying is not the answer to their problems & fears is an important component of reducing the incidence of violence in our society amongst our youth. The centre for criminal & justice studies found that one of the most effective methods for reducing knife crime amongst young people was through education programmes delivered by people who the youths could relate to. They found that getting teachers, police or other 'authority figures' didn't work as the youths did not trust or relate to them, but using people who had experienced knife crime first hand or those who had been through the system after performing violent crimes was extremely effective.

The Cutting edge programme is my small contribution to the effort to reduce violence & wasted lives amongst our young people.

Mark Davies- July 08

PS- If you are truly interested in learning more about the causes of violence in society, & what makes people able to use violence you should read 'On Combat' & 'On Killing' by David Grossman. His knowledge & research has been invaluable in helping me to create my programmes & courses.