Blunting the Blades

The psychology of knife crime - With evolutionary psychologist Chris Grandison

The fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Baptista Adjei in October 2019 was particularly egregious.

It happened in broad daylight. Baptista got off the 242 bus outside Stratford Shopping Centre on his way to McDonald's when a youth stabbed him twice in the chest with a hunting knife, the Old Bailey Heard. His friend was also stabbed in the arm and the leg but was rushed to hospital with non-fatal wounds.

The 16-year-old offender was found guilty at the Old Bailey on 11 August 2020.

The reason behind the stabbings? ..."Snapchat beef."

On a fundamental level this equated to verbal taunts over a social media group chat between Baptista and the youth who allegedly stabbed him.

Youth: "If you've got no bodies on your blade, leave the group chat." the court heard.

"Shut up. You'll be the first," was Baptista's alleged response.

A seemingly trivial exchange of inflammatory messages led to the loss of a talented footballer who had had trials at League One's Ipswich Town.

Chris Grandison is a researcher into the evolutionary psychology of violence and knife crime in particular.

"I've worked with young people who exhibit impulsive behaviour patterns and an assertive personality. In every class there are usually a couple of boys who struggle to control their energy - it's not a bad thing, as long as they have skilled caring adults in their lives to make sure that in a tough neighbourhood they stay on the right path. Without this support, they are vulnerable to following the wrong path."

Chris passionately explained that the back and forth Snapchat feud was far from trivial.

"It stems from honour culture. In many cases including this one, conflicts of interest between groups of young men are resolved internally - they will never turn to the police, who are already perceived as having a bad relationship with them. This leads to more violence."

He stated that within Baptista's group chat, members were attempting to gain respect and status of other members by abusing and challenging each other, whilst everyone else were an audience to impress.

The young men were operating within a cultural system where verbal and physical aggression were highly valued. To operate in any other manner would have been perceived as cowardly, hence the escalation towards a fatal stabbing - the ultimate psychological triumph, resolution of an issue, and acclaim of peers.

Chris provided an American study by Nisbett and Cohen (Culture of Honour: The Psychology of Violence in the South -1996) that mirrors the mentality of the young boys.

Chris emphasised educating young children about de-escalation techniques in order to negotiate potential conflicts that could arise over trivial things such as catching the glimpse of someone whilst walking past them.

For a few years, he has been giving interactive lectures in East London schools to pupils as young as eight. They are taught how to diffuse provocative situations through pupil-led reconstructions and question and answer sessions.

He also speaks to school staff after the lectures on how they can identify vulnerable boys, how they should communicate this matter delicately with parents and how parents and staff should work in tandem to prevent them from straying into precarious situations.

"I had a boy about 12 years ago. Every year he was getting in trouble due to his quick temper, then he came into my class and I just figured him out. He was a smart boy but had different interests outside of maths and science - cooking was one of them. Now he's a chef. It's about finding these boys early, having the right support system around them and they'll be fine," said Chris.

One of these support systems is the youth club. It provides young people with a space outside of their home and school to express themselves positively, build their character and interact with people of similar ages in safe surroundings.

Tariq (19) gave his perspective as a member of the Reaching Higher youth club in Croydon, which has the motto of 'Challenging young people to be leaders of their own lives."

"I joined Reaching Higher at the age of 12. I joined the club as I needed a secure base after I nearly got robbed.  I felt very low. I felt anxious to simply get out of the house on my own with the fear of it happening again. It was a hard process to get back onto my feet."

He mentioned that upon joining the club he lacked self-confidence and didn't take part in may of the activities organised under the Summer Scheme of which he was part.

"Nonetheless it was possible. I was able to step outside of my comfort zone and come out of my shell. This is because of the people I have met during the last five years. I felt supported after my youth group helped me and supported me through this period. They acted like my guardians, my parents, and my friends."

For Tariq, as with many others fortunate to have an operational youth club near them, the environment fosters friendships and lays foundations for many young people to learn, grow and motivate themselves.

As a Youth Mentor myself for the National Citizen Service for the Borough of Redbridge, I saw the personal development of some teenagers in the space of only four weeks.

One boy, whose mother tongue was Urdu, evidently struggled with his confidence in English at the beginning and rarely spoke to his other team members, but by week three of the scheme he had delivered a passionate speech about cricket to rousing applause and cheers from fellow members.