Violence in Society

After watching "Invisible Children," what have you learned about the "psychology of violence"? What are the root causes of the abductions and youth violence in Uganda and the surrounding region? How has this affected the mental health of these children?

            After watching the “Invisible Children” video on violence in society especially concerning youth I have become more aware of the dangerous affect of our powerful and persuasive media system can have on society. The invisible children video discussed how young men are given a distorted perception of what a “real man” should be. In the video Jackson Katz presents the “crisis of masculinity” and explains how young men are pressured to put on a tough guise. Katz illustrates our dominant culture creates a persona that boys and young men should be strong, powerful, intimidating, muscular, and tough. Through movies and TV shows, such as the expendables or lights out a famous boxing television show, the media creates a perception that men need to be violent in order to be respected and to be considered a real man. This negative persona can be reflected in our society through the high violent criminal actions of men in contrast to women. For example, the developing nation of Uganda has an extremely high crime rate, especially concerning gang violence. The purpose of gangs is to display superiority and power by corrupting civilians through violent criminal acts of killing, mutilations, and even cannibalism. Uganda is filled and corrupted with gang violence. However, Uganda is not the only country plagued by gang violence, these offenders also exist at home. The other day I was told about a violent gang story that took place in down town Hamilton. In order to be initiated into the gang you had to seriously injury or disfigure someone, resulting in the assault of several pedestrians. Where does such violence stem from? The tough guys persona presented by media, peers, and society with the help of gang members prowling for potential young children to join in such violence, are the root causes of this horrific behavior. Evidently, this issue of a “tough guise” and violence among youth is undoubtedly a serious concern. Not enough is being done to create awareness of the issue and our governments as well as society have taken little to no action of solving this problem.