No End to Violence?

There seem to be an ever increasing number of incidents of violence and lawlessness being witnessed and reported in the press on a daily basis. We've had families going on the run with gravely ill children, spouses refusing to truthfully declare assets in divorce court, stabbing in schools, a parent on the run with a child after losing custody, incidents of road rage, and a father shooting up a police station after losing custody of his son. 

There is a real concern that people are becoming increasingly prone to resorting to violence to resolve disputes. It really does echo back to 'Wild West' times. It is shocking the amount of violent imagery and language that is taken for granted nowadays. Whether it is in real life or online there seems to be little restraint applied when threatening violence. It is equally scary that most people who witness these threats actually find them amusing and fun. It is unclear if people are getting more violent or just have less of an awareness of the consequences of violence. While the media might not be singly responsible for this, the portrayal of violence in film, games and TV does appear to be a contributory factor. The preponderance of vicarious violence seems to transport otherwise docile people into a realm of violence they would never have hitherto imagined. The access to weapons has allowed some to actualise their lethal fantasies. 

The violence and lawlessness raises the question of whether some people are losing faith in the rule of law. An ever growing vein of selfishness and egocentrism in some people means that they see no reason why they shouldn't exact retribution where they deem it due. In many cases the public have seen a lack of action by the police on so called low level crimes as evidence that they are unlikely to see justice done if they report crimes. Police violence against certain communities has also eroded police authority in many quarters. And when certain cases do get prosecuted perceived incompetence by prosecutors or an excessive focus on winning cases rather than securing justice has left a lot of victims frustrated. 

There was a time when violence was mostly associated with abnormal behaviour but it seems to be getting more normalised these days. There is a culture of violence becoming ingrained in society. Language is increasingly violent. Entertainment is violent. Education has become violent. Violence is often a first resort in settling disputes. If the epidemic of violence is going to be tackled it will require whole societies to start changing the normalisation of violence in day to day life. It is down to individuals to change behaviours and attitudes. Both adults and children need reeducation on the harmful effects of violence. Until societies are prepared to speak out against the symbols of violence they will continue to suffer the ill effects of it.