Society wakes up to rise in armed assaults

REPORTS indicate that Saudi Arabia is one of the countries in the world with a very low crime rate thanks to high vigilance of its security officers. However, the number of armed assaults has risen over the past two years, according to a report in Al-Riyadh newspaper. According to crime statistics for last year, physical assaults accounted for 57.7 percent all criminal cases registered all over the Kingdom. These include assaults with guns (6.8 percent), knife attacks (2.9 percent), murders (0.7 percent), kidnaps (0.6 percent), while other types of assaults constituted 19.9 percent. Dr. Abdullah Al-Yousif, professor of sociology at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University, said physical assaults against government employees as well as hospital and school staff are on the rise, which he said indicates serious problems in the way people interact with one another. “Pressures of life can be one of the reasons why some of us lose control and resort to violence over peaceful means to resolve a dispute. Nowadays, every one of us should be cautious when dealing with others because you don’t know when the person you are talking to will fly off the handle and lose control,” he explained. He stressed the pivotal role of parents in bringing up children by effectively instilling positive values in them at an early age. “They must teach them to be in control and always try to keep calm,” he added. Al-Yousif called for imposing deterrent penalties for such crimes. “Nothing justifies physical assaults against others. As a modern society, only the rule of law should reign and no one should be above the law. If someone takes the law into their hands by attacking others, he or she should be punished severely. Strictly applying criminal laws will make every member of society think twice before assaulting others,” Al-Yousif said. Sulaiman Al-Aqel, professor of sociology at King Saud University, said any deviant behavior or activities that take place in society can be attributed to three factors: upbringing, social and communal backgrounds and external influences. “An assault case should not be viewed as something isolated; it should be viewed within the big picture of society,” Al-Aqel said. “Saudi society needs to rebuild its culture, making it up to date with major changes taking place around the world. We cannot advance and move forward without taking into consideration the importance of changing some of aspects of our social traditions,” he stressed. Dr. Asad Sabr, a psychology professor, said drug abuse makes people lose their temper easily and they may attack others, even kill them, under the influence of drugs. Another reason is the way a child has been raised. Some parents teach their children to take the law into their hands and get revenge. Those children, when they grow up, do not hesitate to pull the trigger to get what they want or solve a problem, he added. The third reason, according to Sabr, behind the spread of such assaults is the Internet and satellite channels that are full of movies and video clips showing violence.