Germany’s cities have seen outbursts of pent-up rage and violence in recent weeks. First Stuttgart, then Frankfurt. On both occasions, police were targeted by an outpouring of aggression from hundreds of mainly young men. Shopfronts were destroyed, stores were plundered. Dumpsters were hurled across the streets. Video recordings from Frankfurt show bystanders cheering on as men make a sport of throwing bottles at police officers.
The violence has sparked fierce debate in Germany. Many are asking to what extent restrictive measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic might have stoked the aggression.
And another question; Why are a majority of the rioters apparently members of immigrant communities? Could Germany face the kind of violence and unrest that has for so long torn through France’s notorious banlieues?
Coronavirus is like a fire accelerant, political scientist Stefan Luft told DW. But he rejects the notion that the pandemic is the main cause of the violence.
Criminologist Dirk Baier agrees. He is head of the Institute of Delinquency and Crime Prevention at the Zurich-based University of Applied Sciences. “COVID-19 has led to a high level of frustration. But there’s more to it than that,” Baier told DW.
It is the same ‘ingredients’ each weekend. Alcohol flows and the later it gets, the greater the tension. Conflicts break out. The police intervene. The situation escalates and begins to get out of hand.
“All you need is for sufficient young men to have crossed the threshold, to have overcome their inhibitions — people who probably already have a history of violence.” And if you have enough people with that kind of background coming together, according to Baier’s analysis: “Things explode.”
The criminologist points out that men with a ‘migration background’ do tend to share ‘violence-oriented male norms.’ Baier goes on to describe them as “young men who don’t have much that they can rely upon beyond their physicality. They’re probably not very well integrated as far schooling, training, getting a profession are concerned. And they are very likely to have a track record of violence, which is something that they probably experienced growing up in their own families.”
Source: Deutsche Welle
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