WILLIAM REVILLE,
Sir, - In my opinion, the analysis given by Sister Stanislaus Kennedy (Opinion, May 16th) of "joyriding" and other uncontrolled behaviour by some young people is mistaken and even dangerous.
In a nutshell, Sister Kennedy absolves these young people and their parents of responsibility for their actions on the grounds that these actions are the inevitable consequences of poor social circumstances. The only solution she prescribes is societal reform to abolish social disadvantage.
To be human is to be endowed with certain basic rights and responsibilities. For example, we each have the right to life and the responsibility to respect that right in others. The removal of responsibility from a human diminishes him or her just as much as the removal of rights. No poor social circumstances can excuse the removal of responsibilities, although these circumstances do mitigate responsibilities. To remove responsibility is to treat the human as an animal and to deny the importance of free will.
To be sure, poor social circumstances and social inequalities make it more difficult for people to exercise their responsibilities. And, of course, we must strive for social justice. But societal changes are slow and right now innocent people are being injured and killed by people who exercise no responsibility. Are we to continue to take our lives in our hands as we go for an evening stroll in the city, or as we leave a city club at 2 a.m., while we wait for society to grind out solutions to the problem over several generations? Apparently Sister Kennedy thinks we should.
This type of analysis is quite influential and commonly goes unchallenged. It tends to muffle legitimate outcry, particularly from people living in disadvantaged areas suffering at the hands of the irresponsible few in their neighbourhoods. This muffling can lead to support for vigilantism and extreme right-wing politics.
This problem needs to be addressed on several levels at once.
We need an effective law and order initiative to make the streets safe. We need to provide adequate resources to give problematic young people appropriate care and rehabilitation so that they can play a constructive role in society rather than being relegated to the role of helpless victim. And on the general political level we must take measures to minimise the economic and social gap between the better-off and the disadvantaged. - Yours, etc.,
WILLIAM REVILLE, Waterfall, Co Cork.