Swedish Expert Shocked By NZ's Tradition of Violence
When Swedish psychology student My Wilkstedt arrived at Otago University a decade ago, it wasn't only the fact that her friends had been smacked that upset her. "I was actually quite shocked," she says.
But rugby upset her too.
"I really couldn't watch it," she says from Malmo, near Stockholm, where she now works for the Swedish Corrections Service. "Let's face it, it's a violent game."
I am equally shocked when a finger is pointed at NZ's violence from a country with violent crime statistics that pretty much mirror ours. And she works in Corrections so can't plead ignorance.
7 comments:
An important element of living in a socialist utopia like Sweden is a suspension of reality.
New Zealand is well placed to follow suit.
I agree, Lindsay. Obviously the 'soap box' is more alluring than the integrity of what is presented from atop it.
Mind you, Koffi Anan's wife is a Swede isn't she, and wasn't it from her that much of this 'non slap' stuff emanated?
So perhaps disassociation from reality is part of the national character.
I recollect that violence and arsons are a frequent occurrence in the school system too ... googling 'violence and arsons in swedish schools' indicates this remains the case, albeit some of the commentary about the figures could be said to be a little agenda-ised.
The difference could be that violence in NZ is primarily perpetrated by NZ citizens, whereas the increase in violent crime in Sweeden can be closely aligned with the increase in the number of Muslim immigrants. Therefore, the Sweedish 'expert' doesn't count that as Sweedish violence.
Aha, anon, 'tis a 'fine' discrimination you make ... citizens, residents, transients - it is in Sweden that this is occurring beit an artefact of their immigration policies or not, it is what they have become ... it is not the 'dreamland' they are trying to sell.
http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2683&date=20051214
2005
"The study underlined that the majority of crimes in Sweden were committed by ethnic Swedes.
"Slightly under 60 percent of the almost 1,520,000 offences ... registered during the period covered by the study can be attributed to persons who were born in Sweden to two Swedish-born parents," it said.
One quarter were committed by people born overseas, while almost 20 percent were committed by those born in Sweden to one or two parents born abroad."
Lindsay - so that means that in Swden 45% of violent crime is committed by recent or first generation immigrants, who make up what, about 15-20% of Swdens's population?
13.4% of the pop. was born abroad - committing 25% of the crime. No reference to whether that is violent crime.
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