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Crucifixion
was a barbaric form of punishment employed in the
ancient world against political enemies, dangerous
criminals and the marginalised outsider. Besides the
obvious cruelty of physically brutalising the victim
before driving iron nails through the hands and feet,
crucifixion carried with it a public message stating
the victim was regarded as the lowest of the low -
a non-person. It was thus psychologically brutalising
to both the victim and his family, relatives and peer
group.
The
beating that young Harry Mc Cartan endured prior to
having his hands nailed to a wooden style was horrific
in itself and was probably more physically damaging
than the wounds caused by the nails. The nailing of
his hands, so symbolic of crucifixion and all that
it stands for in the human psyche, was more about
psychological pain than physical pain. The message
that someone wanted to send to young Mc Cartan and
his family, and to other alienated young people, appears
to be “you are one of them - a non-person - and
this is what we think of you”. If that is so
it is a sad indictment on our society for both Harry
Mc Cartan and those who brutalised him are products
of our society - a society that has in many ways reverted
back to the intolerance and cruelty of ancient times.
And all this in the midst of a so-called peace process
at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
I
don’t know Harry Mc Cartan. Like the majority
of I know only what I have read in the press and have
heard through the grapevine. But whatever Harry Mc
Cartan’s is alleged to have done he is not a
non-person. He is not an alien to planet earth. He
is one of us. A product of our society - of our education
system, of our social system, of our political system.
If he is one of the hundreds of young people who feel
alienated from the mainstream of social and political
life and who express that sense of alienation through
anti-social behaviour and petty crime, who is to blame?
It is easy to blame him, and the likes of him, and
certainly they must be held accountable for their
own actions. But surely we have to look deeper into
the heart of a society that is sick to the core. Of
course that would mean looking at ourselves and at
the social, economic and political mess that we have
managed to immerse ourselves in - and for most of
us that just wouldn’t do.
I
can hear the “hang ‘em high” brigade
muttering “bleeding heart liberal” under
their breaths. Let me make it quite clear, I have
no soft spot in my heart for those who prowl our streets
and housing estates preying on the weak and the vulnerable,
robbing and vandalising and turning our estates into
prison-houses of fear. They need to feel the wrath
and the anger of the communities that they harm but
that wrath and anger must be controlled and channelled
with a view to seeking behavioural change and social
integration rather than in increasing alienation and
social exclusion through the administration of cruel,
inhuman and unusual punishment. They need to be shamed
in the midst of society but that shaming must be positive,
not negative. Positive shaming always provides a way
back into the community for those have wronged it.
Brutalising people who already feel alienated from
us simply helps to perpetuate a vicious cycle of alienation,
conflict and violence. And it most certainly will
not make our communities any safer.
Rather
that lift a pick-shaft, or gun or hammer & nails
should we not be seeking out the reasons why so many
of our young people exist on the margins of what we
call ‘normal’ ‘respectable’ society.
Indeed should we not be trying to define what exactly
what we mean by ‘normal’ and ‘respectable’?
In my previous article Addressing Organised Crime
I argued that organised crime is first and foremost
a community problem that demands a community response.
It is the same with socially harmful behaviour and
petty crime. Anti-social behaviour is generally carried
out by disaffected members of the community against
other members of the community. It undermines community
trust and breaks community relationships. It generates
fear within the community and frustrates endeavours
to engage in sustainable community development. It
is, first and foremost, a community problem and it
is up to communities to address that problem. Outside
agencies may help but the issue must be addressed
from start to finish by the local community.
To
look to the police, the social services and the criminal
justice system is to look in the wrong place. They
live and socialise in ‘other’ communities
and their primary mission is to serve those ‘other’
communities. It is only when the problem is in danger
of spreading from working class communities to those
‘other’ communities or when something like
the Seymour Hill crucifixion hits the headlines that
the statutory bodies will make a show of being seen
to be doing something. If, for example, government
bodies were really interested in helping local communities
to address petty crime and anti-social behaviour they
wouldn’t be holding back essential funding and
other resources from community-based youth initiatives
and restorative justice programmes, nor would they
be subjecting community organisations to subtle forms
of political vetting. If the leaders of ‘civic
society’ were really interested - especially
in loyalist areas - in addressing socially harmful
activity they would be active in giving positive and
practical leadership to local people. Condemning joy-riding
from the pulpit or political soapbox and then condemning
those who react violently to joy-riders is no substitute
for leading your congregation or constituents in practical
non-violent action on the streets.
Following
another brutal beating of a young man in Camlough
on Tuesday evening one nationalist politician remarked
that such beatings would continue until the issue
of policing was sorted out. The idea that, by implementing
Patton and getting the Shinners to endorse the PSNI,
we will have a police service that effectively addresses
crime and anti-social behaviour in working class areas
is a myth. It hasn’t addressed it in inner city
areas and peripheral estates in other cities across
the U.K. and other western ‘democracies’.
Policing is generally designed to protect the interests
of those who live in middle and upper tiers of society,
and to control those who exist in marginalised working
class communities. Implementing Patton will not change
that, it will simply reinforce political support for
the traditional notion that policing for the working
classes is about control, not protection.
So-called
‘punishment’ beatings will continue so long
as people believe that human behaviour can be changed
or controlled by violence and exclusion. There has
to be another way - a way that helps to heal broken
relationships within communities and that gives all
members of the community an equal stake and sense
of worth within that community. The community restorative
justice movement may well hold the answer, particularly
if the philosophy of restorative justice is incorporated
into the strategic programme of established community
development initiatives. The development of class-based
politics, where selfish individualism is replaced
by social responsibility and mutuality, may also hold
the answer. Those of us who look at society from a
left-of-centre perspective need to open up a debate
on the issue - a debate that will, hopefully, lead
to positive action.
It
is not a new beginning to policing that we need, but
a new beginning to doing politics and the development
of a true sense of community where each member is
valued for his or her basic humanity and potential.
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