How images of knives intended to stop youth knife crime may actually be making things worse

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

How images of knives intended to stop youth ****** ****** may actually be making things worse

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

You’d be forgiven for thinking that young people are behind most ****** ****** in the ***. Media coverage often focuses on youth involvement, and the government’s plan to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

focuses specifically on young people and vulnerable teenagers.

Evidence shows that most ******-involved ****** is committed in the home, between adults, in the form of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Only around

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

are carried out by 10- to 17-year-olds. These usually involve other young people.

Although young people’s share of ****** ****** is low, their involvement is a significant concern and has risen starkly in the last decade.

Choosing to carry a ****** out of the home, into the streets, or into school is a rare choice that most children never make. Estimates show that

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

young people carry knives.

For those few who do, it is important to understand the complex factors behind why. This is what we and many other academics have been studying in our

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Both

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

cite protection as a factor in ******-carrying. Many young people are fearful of being victims of ****** ******, and ******-carrying may offer a sense of security and defense from potential threats.

This ***** is not necessarily

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Young people tend to overestimate the prevalence of *******-carrying among their peers. What’s more, those carrying knives for defense often end up having their own ****** used

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Seeing images of knives

One reason that young people may have a ***** of ****** ****** is because of how the threat is presented to them through images.

Media reports and anti-****** campaign material often feature images of shocking weapons, such as zombie knives. Depictions of piles of seized weapons and vicious blades all paint a picture of a risky landscape.

You probably noticed that the photos illustrating this article do not include a picture of a ******. This is a deliberate choice. Our research has found that such ****** imagery can

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

for some young people.

Their heightened emotional responses suggest that these young people are the most likely to be vulnerable to future ******-carrying. Those who feel most unsafe in their communities are the most likely to respond negatively to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Interestingly, the young people who participated in our research self-reported ****** imagery as having little impact on them. But our study investigated their unconscious emotional response through an implicit association test. This approach is key in a research area vulnerable to self-presentation bias, where young people might attempt to hide their true feelings.

The test we used assessed response speeds to determine associations between images of knives and words relating to ***** and excitement. Overall, response times were faster (showed more association) for *****-related words.

Other evidence suggests that anti-****** ****** imagery and messaging can create

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

about the prevalence of ******-carrying. This may increase–rather than reduce–the ***** of victimization, and further encourage people to carry knives.

Floods of ****** images in a young person’s social and educational environment may

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

******-carrying. Nearly

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

report experiencing secondary traumatic stress when viewing ****** ****** news on social media.

When ****** imagery is used in intervention materials presented by someone in a position of authority (a teacher or police officer, for example), it can validate the fears even more.

In other words, the more we talk about ****** ******, the scarier it can seem, and the more young people feel the need to protect themselves by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

Labour’s plan to cut ****** ******—including a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

that has just come into effect—should go a long way to reducing the availability of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. It may also mean that images of these knives are less prevalent in the media, which, given our research findings, would likely have a positive effect.

But, as noted earlier, most young people are not at risk, and have had no exposure to ****** ******. ******-carrying is not normal behavior for most young people. Anti-****** messaging would serve young people better by avoiding the use of ****** imagery, and instead focusing on discussing how to stay safe by avoiding risky behavior, and how to get help if a dangerous situation arises.

Provided by
The Conversation

This article is republished from

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

under a Creative Commons license. Read the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Citation:
How images of knives intended to stop youth ****** ****** may actually be making things worse (2024, October 17)
retrieved 18 October 2024
from

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#images #knives #intended #stop #youth #****** #****** #making #worse

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up