Discuss teen violence in Germany and France. Does, in your opinion, teen violence in these countries mirror teen violence in the US? Explain

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• Germany has also been plagued with skinhead violence since reunification in 1989 .
• Most German skinheads are social misfits, with minimal education and few employment opportunities. Because unemployment is high, they feel helpless and hopeless regarding their future, and many resort to physical violence in reaction to their plight.
• Most of the increase in German youth violence has been encountered in what was communist East Germany before the reunification.
• Youth violence in the east is considerably higher than in the west, a factor linked to the exposure of eastern youth to greater poverty and unemployment than their West German peers.
• France too has experienced a surge in violent hate crimes, as well as (to a lesser extent) street crime in Paris.
• A more modest increase in juvenile violence has been reported across the country. In 2005, riots erupted in the suburbs of Paris and quickly spread to other regions of the country.
• The immediate cause of the riots was the death of two teenage boys of African descent who were believed to have been chased by police and were electrocuted upon entering a power substation in the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.
• The larger cause was escalating tension between the government and immigrant populations who charge that the government is to blame for their communities' high rates of unemployment because of long-standing discrimination against them and their French-born children.
• The rioting lasted for three weeks and caused immense property damage.
• Student views will vary.