www.abc.net.au/news/2013-02-25/judge-calls-for-action-on-alcohol-violence-epidemic/4536718Select to expand quoteNew South Wales's most senior magistrate has warned that alcohol-fuelled violence has reached "epidemic proportions" and the community is "fed up" with the perpetrators.
The latest figures show that each year as many as 70,000 people are involved in alcohol-related assaults, which cost the community $187 million annually.
Discuss.
Encourage to be people responsible for their actions. If you are the victim of a crime you should be allowed to seek monetary compensation from the perpetrator rather than having them just locked up by the state.
how about actually punishing them properly, not give them a slap on the rist and put back on the street and not jail either. make them pick up crap off the highways, clean up the beaches, parks etc give back to the community u know the crap jobs nobody wants to do. putting them in jail or handing out big fines that they cant pay only leads them to do more crime. ban them from dinking for a month, stop them from entering pubs, clubs etc
IMO the age limit for minors is where the problem lies.
The age of the offender should be irrelevant depending on what crime/crimes he or she committed - same punishment should be applicable regardless of age
Let's be honest - how many times have U got drunk and assaulted someone?
For me it is zero - when I used to get drunk as a kid - well merry - I would be in no state to assault anyone - the 3 & 5 legged pub crawls were bad enough (the things we do for charity
)..
So IMHO blaming alcohol period is wrong. The law has been biased towards using excuses as a reason why the person who did "xyz" was not really meaning to do it and in the clear light of day they are as good a citizen as the rest of us.
I would establish a cost for any and every assault being 1) the cost of police time, 2) if required the cost of any other professional service - Ambulance / Fire Brigade etc.
Before any charges can be heard the parties involved must pay upfront or go to jail until they can - jail being a low security affair in a remote town - i.e. outback.
1 month of jail time = $1000.00 till the debt to society for abusing the public facilities has been paid. If one party can pay (being exceedingly rich) and the other can't then both in till debt cleared.
(First cut open to being refined!!)
Then the court case can go ahead with the usual appalling approach to the reality of the outcome on the victims.
The basis here = responsible for your actions regardless.
I do not think absorbing the public facilities free of charge for this use should be at no cost to the abuser(s)...
We have created a very insulated culture once you are on the inside (i.e.an AUSSIE) - to our detriment. (American (US of A)prisons are basically privately run labour camps).
So many other things to do than use alcohol as a prop to assault others...
M O N E Y H U R T S T H E M O S T A F T E R S T I G M A
Cheers (from a 2pot screamer)
AP
Throw them in the punishment battalions. They have to be first across the wire and the mine fields.
I doubt raising the drinking age would help (and I'm not in the bracket that would make me underage again). Teenagers start drinking well before the 18 age is reached.
And I'd be sure plenty of those assaults are committed by people >21.
I think the driving thing has been solved a bit with the 0.00 BAC for P platers. When I was on my Ps we were allowed 0.02 or something. If people are going to drink and drive they will do it regardless of drinking age laws. But at least 0.00 means no 'ohh i guess i can have one'.
The lack of punishment is probably an issue. Assaulting someone is a serious crime and if someone beat the **** outta me I'd want them in prison. I'm not talking a little punch up, but a decent working and I know that brings up grey areas etc but there will always be some biffo.
Another issue is that it seems a few people think it is 'cool' to get into a fight. I don't know if this is a modern thing or not. Or that it is acceptable to brutally beat someone after the fight is 'over'.
I go out at night a lot and I've never been in a fight, or had mates involved in one. Sure there are close calls, but they are avoidable if you're reasonable.
Peoples privileges need to be revoked. Lose of license, no entry to night venues (nearly everywhere has finger scanners now, wouldn't be difficult to get some set up going), some decent fines, going to the slammer etc.
Speaking of violence, I was just watching a really interesting vid on y-tube. Amongst other things it talked about aggression from a genetic behaviorism point of view. It turns out that social groups of primates with a lot of internal aggression are relatively peaceful between groups while groups comprised of members that get along peacefully are prone to organized inter-group violence.
Male baboons for eg are violently competitive but there is very little aggression between troops of baboons. Chimps on the other hand get on really well within their group but they actively hunt and kill members of other chimp communities.
This difference is due to the different strategies used to avoid inbreeding. In baboons the post adolescent males go wandering of to join a new troop. With chimps it's the females that wander. So all the chimp males know each other well and have learned to get along peacefully. The opposite is true for baboons. Why the chimps feel the need to indulge in group violence (they seem to practice it like sport) I don't know. Maybe they are competing for resources. Maybe they are just venting.
You can't draw parallels to human behavior but then again ...
People have always gotten pissed but they didn't always try to cripple or kill others.
Alcohol hasn't changed, but society has.
My role in mental health clearly shows enormous differences in those elements of society with poor or absent parenting. And not necessarily low socio-economic areas.
Kids need mothers AND fathers who show them responsibility and accountability.
Unfortunately society is into it's 3rd generation of narcissistic selfishness, (post the social revolutions of the 60's and 70's) such as separating marital partnerships because it's "too hard".
For **** sake, it's not a joy ride. That's why marriage vows state "for better for worse". Work it out and stick it out for the kids sakes.
Have a look at the DSM4 TR regarding 'Personality Disorders', Axis II, Cluster B personalities and see how much modern personality you can identify in todays society.
Clearly aussies just can't handle their piss! Can't do anything or go anywhere without alcohol being present, the footy, speedway, fireworks, gota have a beer.
The weak justifications parents come up with for allowing their kids to consume alcohol while under age is pathetic.
Where to start? maybe limit access to alcohol.
Beerdead - bloody spot on.
But also add
Insular society (don't know your neighbours) and more indoor personal entertainment like 30 TV channels, internet etc etc) and many kids are no longer subject to discipline from the friend's parents, neighbours, coaches, clubs etc.
Dumbing down of education standards (nobody fails anymore) so mediocre is just great
Lack of personal responsibility - told all about rights not responsibilities. That seems to be starting to (slowly) correct?
Big one - desinsitisation to violence and lack of empathy. For the same reason there is outcry over online bullying with people taking their own life, and /or normal people saying horrid things to others on FB etc ........ same reason we see more frequent vicious assaults. Lack of real personal interaction due to social media combined with glorified violence on movies is a massive issue. the, say, 15 - 21 y/o of today has bugger all empathy toward fellow man.
Soft magistrates. Zero punishment in children's court - after 3rd or 4th conviction they may get a suspended (pretend) jail term. MAYBE. What do they learn? Teachers can't touch me, dad doesn't care cos he left years ago, I am bigger and meaner than single mum so she can get fkd, now in court the Magistrate just told me I am naughty and I have to to go see a counsellor for 30mins a week. lol all the way home.
Actually its been a pastime through history to get drunk and then get violent. Read Norse sagas or what happened in Georgian England. It makes what goes on today just part of life. There is nothing new about it.
Back in the day the consequences were dealt with differently. I like the old European medieval way where the results of crime were measured and the perpetrator and their family was forced to pay in one way or another. They didn't need police forces or huge criminal justice systems to keep the peace. Everyone knew the law and the consequences of breaking the law.
Collective consequences could go a long way to improve individual responsibility.
raise the drug age to 21 for women and 35 for men
give them mdma instead of alcohol
Happy Drugs.
Alcohol specially the cheap stuff is evil.
Dungeon (hydro & synth stuff) weed is also evil (very).
Death penalty for assaults. After 1 generation they should be gone.
alcohol is a terrible catalyst for violence. i went to a lot of dance parties, festivals and clubs back in the day. everyone was off trolley, but i never saw any fights. yet when i'd go out to pubs, there were always blues.
I think it is too late guys and gals. The horse has bolted.
Its not only Australia that has this problem. Its world wide with the twitter generation. Don't think any of the "raised" drinking age or stiffer penalty's will make a lick of difference.
The world is their oyster I guess, we pretty much farked the planet for them with the ozone layer and sending most of the planet into a garbage dump so I guess we can't be too harsh on em for having a different set of values than my generation
Pretty sad but thats evolution for ya.
Maybe im a pesimist but there ya go.
W
Have to agree with your additions Mark.
Moby I agree that there has always been youthful rebelliousness, but the scale of it seems to be out of proportion to what us old blokes have witnessed through several generations.
There used to be moral codes of acceptable behaviours which don't seem to be observed today. Even fights were marquis of queensbury. Now they use chairs, palings, knives, bottles, or anything they can get hold of.
I have lost count of the amount of acquaintances who have been knocked out by large gangs of juveniles.
My young bloke was knocked out by some one he hasn't seen or met yet. He suffered a concussion. That's brain damage, and only time will tell if it was permanent. He has never raised a hand to anyone, and was open and friendly. He is now an angry surly prick that can't be told anything.
These events are far more life changing than are obvious.
I have lost count of the amount of patients I have nursed with brain damage or PTSD, anxiety etc due to assault.
I have a nonviolent philosophy, but I think it's time for an eye for an eye.
Worrier, I agree that the horse has bolted. It will take a hell of a lot of change to return to observation of moral codes, and it will need to be severe in order to work.
As for the rest of the world, there are certainly some violent places, but interestingly it seems to be the traditional cultures which enjoy the most respect and peace at a personal level, (despite some elements being at war with other cultures). (That should open a can of worms :)
The moral diaspora is complex, but antisocialism, narcisism, and psycopathy at personal levels seem to follow more populated and advanced societies.
