May 20, 2003
Kamloops Daily News



Eye View

 "Idle hands are the devil's tools,"  18th century proverb.

There's no shortage of theories why teenagers would enter a
petting zoo in Westsyde and bludgeon two caged birds to
death.

One theory is suggested by the above proverb - - a struggle
between good and evil.  In this theory,  work is seen a
virtue.  The devil's influence is exorcised from our
thoughts by work.  Idle citizens with time on their hands
are open to temptation and will likely do no good.

Then there are psychological implications.  The senseless
killing of tame animals is disturbing.   "The perpetrator of
this crime may well be more than just a bored kid with a
penchant for shock.  Perhaps he is he next Clifford Olsen,"
says Greg Dueck in his letter to the Daily News (May 7,
2003).   Psychologists warn that disturbed people may start
off with torture of animals and then move on to killing
people.

UCC Criminologist Linda Deutschman agrees that cruel acts
could be the act of highly disturbed persons. "By highly
disturbed person, I do not mean 'mentally ill.'  The kind of
person who kills birds and sometimes goes on to kill humans
is very rarely someone who is out of touch with reality,"
she told me.

"These people, like Clifford Olsen, are psychopaths, but not
psychotic. Mentally ill people are actually less likely to
commit violent offences than the rest of us. They scare us
mainly because they are unpredictable, not because they are
predictably hurtful," says Associate Professor Deutschman.

Beyond the sacrificed lives of animals, there is the wasted
lives of the perpetrators.  The senseless death of birds is
one thing but what about the senseless lives of those who
did it?   The devil's work is sometimes labour intensive.
 
Take the recent case in which 30 grave-markers of war
veterans were knocked over  by vandals.  The overturning of
headstones amounts to a significant amount of labour.  "They
really had to work at it.  They have a solid concrete
footing," said Chris Pyett, who lives near the cemetery. 
"There's one busted right in half," he added.  That's just
part of a vandal's work.

After a evening of tipping over bus stop benches, 
destroying public toilets, smashing concrete picnic tables
with sledge hammers, is there a sense of satisfaction?  Can
the vandals come home after a hard day's night and relax in
their favourite easy chair with a beer and reflect on a job
well done?

If the vandals put the same amount of effort into a job,
they could earn a living.  If someone would hire them, that
is.  In all likelihood, such vandals probably can't find
work.  Worse still, the longer that they are out of work the
less likely that they will find work.

The Corrections Service of Canada has identified this group
in society with diminished opportunities as the "baby bust."

"Studies indicate the emergence of an unemployed (and
under-employed) group of youths, who are in neither school
or the labour force. This under-employed and under-educated
group is not only large, it seems likely to increase unless
action is taken,"says Correction Canada in an article called
Unemployment and Population Aging: Contradictory Trends
Affecting Penitentiary Populations.

These baby busters sit at home waiting for their parents'
generation to retire from well-paying jobs.   This group of
youths slowly ages as they watch diminished opportunities in
an economy that has been stagnating since the 1970s.

The problem in B.C. has been compounded by the loss of high
paying jobs in the resource extraction sector - - forestry
and mining - - and the highest unemployment this side of the
Atlantic provinces.

Now in their thirties, many of this so-called Generation X
are loosing their job-finding skills.  In a difficult labour
market like B.C., they may lack the basic "social capital"
required to achieve success and attachment to the work
force. 

Legitimate jobs and crime are inversely proportional. 
Vandals are more likely to permanently unemployed youths.
They tend to have below-average education, irregular job
experience.  

"Young males with steady jobs are typically believed to be
at much lower risk of criminal behaviour and incarceration,"
says CSC.

The death of animals and destruction of property is one
thing but what about the pointless and non-productive lives
of the vandals?  They sit idle with more time on their hands
than money.  Maybe this is where the devil comes in.

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