Knife images aimed at deterring youth from knife crime may actually be making things worse
It’s no wonder that young people are behind most knife crime in the UK. Media coverage often focuses on the involvement of young people, and the government’s plans to halve knife crime are particularly focused on young people and vulnerable teenagers.
Evidence shows that most knife crime takes place between adults in the home, in the form of intimate partner violence. Only around 18% of knife crimes are committed by 10- to 17-year-olds. These usually involve other young people.
Although the proportion of knife crime committed by young people is low, their involvement is a significant concern and has increased sharply over the past decade.
Choosing to carry a knife out of the house, around town or to school is an unusual choice that most children would never make. Estimates suggest that between one and four in every 100 young people own a knife.
For the few who do, it’s important to understand the complex factors behind why. This is something we and many other scholars have explored in our research.
Both researchers and young people themselves cited protection as a factor in carrying a knife. Many young people fear becoming victims of knife crime and carrying a knife can give them a sense of security and protect them from potential threats.
This fear does not necessarily correlate with reality. Young people tend to overestimate the prevalence of weapon ownership among their peers. Additionally, people who carry knives for protection often end up having their knives used against them.
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One of the reasons why young people are so afraid of knife crime is because of how the threat is presented through video.
Images of shocking weapons such as zombie knives frequently appear in media reports and anti-knife campaign materials. Mountains of confiscated weapons and depictions of deadly knives all paint a dangerous landscape.
You probably noticed that the photos illustrating this article do not include any pictures of knives. This is a deliberate choice. Our research found that images of such knives can evoke fear or excitement in some young people.
Their heightened emotional responses suggest that these young people are at greatest risk of carrying a knife in the future. Those who feel most at risk in their communities are the most likely to react negatively to graphic images.
Interestingly, the young people in our study self-reported that images of knives had little effect on them. However, in our study, we investigated their unconscious emotional responses through an implicit association test. This approach is important in research fields that are susceptible to self-presentation bias, where young people may try to hide their true feelings.
The test we used assessed reaction speed to determine the association between images of knives and words associated with fear or excitement. Overall, response times were faster (showing more associations) for fear-related words.
Other evidence suggests that anti-knife crime images and messages can generate exaggerated beliefs about the prevalence of knife possession. This could increase rather than reduce the fear of victimization and further encourage people to carry knives.
When young people’s social and educational environments are flooded with images of knives, knife possession can become normalized. Nearly two-thirds of young people report experiencing secondary traumatic stress when watching news about knife crime on social media.
Fear may be further justified if images of knives are used in intervention materials presented by someone in a position of authority (e.g., a teacher or police officer).
In other words, the more we talk about knife crime, the more terrifying it becomes and the more young people feel the need to protect themselves by carrying a weapon.
Labour’s plans to reduce knife crime, including the zombie knife ban that has just come into force, should go a long way towards reducing the availability of ‘status’ weapons. It may also mean that images of these knives will be less prevalent in the media, and given our findings this will likely have a positive impact.
However, as mentioned above, most young people are not at risk and have never been exposed to knife crime. Carrying a knife is not normal behavior for most young people. Anti-knife messages should avoid the use of knife images and instead focus on discussing how to stay safe by avoiding risky behavior and how to seek help if a dangerous situation arises. It will have a better effect on young people.
Provided by The Conversation
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Source: Knife images aimed at deterring youth knife crime may actually be making things worse (17 October 2024) https://phys.org/news/2024-10- Retrieved October 17, 2024 from images-knives-youth-knife-crime.html
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