The nation is shocked, the blame game has started with politicians, police and society in general all pointing fingers at each other. The Prime Minister has called for more policemen on the streets. Perhaps needed in the short term but isn’t this merely attempting to suppress the symptoms without addressing the causes?

There is of course a lot of soul searching going on with in depth discussion and analysis of why it has happened. Some observers will correctly identify some of the root causes while others will simple fail to understand how law and order has broken down and the true causes of what has been called the “English Disease”, failures in the basic fabric of society, will be lost to them.

The evidence suggests that society has failed these young men.

Back in the 1980’s Margaret Thatcher created the “economic miracle.” She is acknowledged as the creator of the “Yuppie” generation in which the basic values of society were forgotten in the pursuit of the economic success of the individual. Those who could not compete fell by the wayside. Social observers of the time expressed serious concerns for the loss of social cohesion and human values in English society. Are we now seeing the result of the seeds sown all those years ago?

The Western world lives in highly competitive societies where if you don’t succeed you are considered a failure and sadly in Britain there are always plenty of people around to remind these failures of their place in life.

This confidence draining environment is not helped by the constant bombardment of seductive advertising to stimulate the ‘I want’ hormones. We have to wonder how this affects young men who simply can’t take part in the economic system around them.

In the economy based environment of our modern world both parents work and when they do come home they want to sit in front of the television all night. Children are often left to themselves out of sight and out of mind. They are deprived of attention, of discipline, guidance, affection and respect.

To make matters worse there are also not the opportunities there used to be. Our profit hungry business world has meant that many large corporations have exported their manufacturing operations to countries where labour is cheaper in the endless search for greater margins. There are few apprenticeships these days and, as a result, there are not many work opportunities for young men if they are not academically
inclined and excessive regulation in Britain makes it very difficult for people to simply start up a small business.

But this is only a small part of the picture, there are deeper factors at play here.

There was a time when human beings lived in tribes. Members had obligations to the tribe and in return the tribe looked after them. Time progressed and tribes evolved into communities living in villages.

Then as industry developed people moved into towns and cities, the communities broke down and people started to live as extended families, grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents and kids all living in close proximity. Parenting was shared and families looked after each other.

As people became more affluent and transport improved they moved away from their relatives and started living as nuclear families, mum, dad, 2.4 kids, a mortgage, a car and a dog living in isolation from the rest of the family.

But then society changed again and divorce became commonplace and these days many people live as individual adults with or without children. For many there is no immediate support structure, nor any sense of belonging to a community or a family. Is it surprising that social values have started to break down? With the changes in social structure the traditional process of growing into manhood, of proving yourself and being accepted into the man’s world simply doesn’t exist anymore. For young men there is little support, mature men don’t spend time with them, there are no role models. The process of initiation is more likely to come from other, slightly older, young men who come from the same troubled backgrounds.

Life for a young man in Britain these days is safe and boring. Testosterone filled young men need dangerous things to do. In a carefully regulated and over protective society there is nothing dangerous for them. Is it surprising they go out and create their own danger?

People for a generation have known that if you go into a pub in England you don’t catch a young man’s eye. If you do you are likely to get challenged “What are you looking out? Come outside.” Indeed quite a number of young men in Britain these days are constantly looking for a fight. They go to a dance hall or a pub with the intention of finding trouble. If they don’t find it they will soon create it. This has lead to the creation of “firms”- groups of violent young men who link themselves to football teams for the purpose of fighting gang battles often preorganised and at locations away from the football match. The testosterone is released and young men are able to get a dose of adrenalin, fight for “glory” and earn the respect of their peers.

To break this cycle of violence will not be easy. Some commentators will inevitably call for the introduction of national service but is this an answer? Surely put into a war situation these angry young men could easily become sadistic killers. Also is the imposition of military discipline and the teaching of killing skills appropriate for those non violent, well balanced young men?