In a contribution for Erasmus Magazine, Frank Weerman, Professor of Juvenile Criminology at Erasmus School of Law, writes about the criminological perspective on the nationally scattered riots of the past week.
Weerman finds it remarkable that looting also took place after the demonstrations against the curfew. According to Weerman, this indicates that the young people present felt free to do things they would normally not do. According to Weerman, a term like 'moral holiday', as this phenomenon has been referred to earlier, covers this concept.
Previous research by Weerman shows that social media is one of the causes of the decline in youth crime. The fact that social media can play a reinforcing role due to the prevalence of crime on these platforms does not contradict this thesis, according to Weerman. “Because young adults now spend more time online, they have become less likely to loiter in the streets”, Weerman suspects that there is a group in society that is more sensitive than others to this kind of peer pressure via social media.
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You can read the full article in Erasmus Magazine here
