Street violence increasingly involves online threats and viral videos

Police and youth workers are increasingly seeing street violence that also has an online component, according to a new report from the Dutch Police Academy released last week. This includes violence among young people that was preceded by an online threat or of which a video appears online later. More than 60 interviews were conducted for the study with youth workers, police officers, parents, and young people, among others.

According to the researchers, the violence can take various forms, such as a gang beating or violence between rival groups. Filming a humiliation or assault is common. However, the police receive very few reports from victims.

According to the researchers, this is because young people are often afraid of reporting others. The “anti-snitch” culture is widespread among young people, the researchers said. The online part also often takes place outside the view of the police and parents or guardians, which means that there is little insight into it. According to the researchers, “hybrid street violence” still receives little attention and there is still much to be gained in the approach.

Interviewees said that perpetrators are often young people from disadvantaged backgrounds who grew up in poverty and who have problems at home. Perpetrators are also often susceptible to peer pressure and probably often have a mild intellectual disability.

The researchers stated that “street credibility” is an important reason for young people to profile themselves offline and online with violence. “It appears to be difficult for young people to escape the (online) spiral of violence once they have ended up in it,” the report stated.

According to the researchers, boys are more likely to experience the aforementioned violence than girls, although the latter group is also increasingly becoming victims of it. In many cases, they are victims of other girls. Although they are sometimes also victims of “sexual exposing” in which sexual images of them are used to humiliate, for example, a brother or cousin with whom someone has a conflict.