
Investigating the reproduction of violence in virtual space in conversation with Gholamreza Alizadeh, sociologist/ Morteza Hamounian
Representation of violence in Iranian artworks and films, as well as religious rituals such as self-flagellation, can contribute to an increase in the inclination and action towards violence against oneself, which manifests in the form of self-harm. The phenomenon of self-harm is considered a social issue in the world, and is particularly prevalent among young people. Iran is not exempt from this rule, but there is no official and accurate statistics available on the quantity and quality of this social phenomenon in Iran.
There is no reliable and worthy statistics about self-harm and self-injury among Iranian youth. Unofficial statistics, however, indicate a 40% prevalence of self-harm in the form of scratching, burning, and hitting among students. On the other hand, self-harm can be a precursor to suicide or a warning sign for the onset of severe depression. But what is the reason for the spread and increase of this phenomenon among the Iranian youth? Does the internet and virtual space play a role in increasing this social harm? We asked these questions from Gholamreza Alizadeh, a sociologist.
Given the increase in self-harm with blades and sharp objects among adolescents – especially during high school years – what do you think is the reason for such behaviors?
Social behavioral phenomena among adolescents have multiple factors and reflect various types of violence that exist in the social environment. When these violent behaviors enter the realm of individual behavior, they manifest in different ways, such as self-harm; for example, when a person is humiliated or wants to show that they are grown up and say, “Don’t treat me like a child, I can handle the pain of such wounds on my body.”
Furthermore, from a psychological perspective, there is sometimes a tendency towards self-harm in individuals, which is caused by a sense of guilt and manifests itself through self-punishment. One of the things we do is to spread guilt deeply and superficially among adolescents and young adults. We criticize every action or inaction of theirs, which leads them to feel guilty and these self-blames are a form of compensating for their guilt. The individual punishes themselves in this way to calm their inner turmoil to some extent.
Another factor is the display of ritualistic behaviors, which reproduces these types of behaviors and has no basis in belief or conviction, but has entered into religious relationships as a behavior. When an individual sees others performing these actions in various ceremonies, they also practice and exercise in order to enter into these self-immolations. This year alone, four people died and a large number were injured as a result of flagellation. When these rituals and ceremonies are reflected in society, it causes individuals to become somewhat delusional, fashionable, or socially insane. These are transitional and behavioral phenomena that appear in special times and especially among adolescents and young people as an epidemic.
In addition, in Iranian society, there are no mechanisms for young people to express their emotions, and these opportunities are very limited. Even the possibility of artificial leisure activities does not exist, and individuals do not have a way to express their emotions. For example, in other countries, artificial celebrations are held for young people to express their emotions. Currently, not only does this not exist in Iran, but the channels for expressing emotions are blocked. This type of self-harm is a sign of repressed anger that exists among young people, and because the conventional and balanced way of expressing this anger is not possible, it manifests itself in a pathological and damaging way. This phenomenon is a warning and a red flag that the young population in Iran is suffering from psychological damage. These behavioral occasions show that there is a flood, but there is no channel for these floods. If these issues are not addressed, there will be problems that will be irreparable.
Can it be said that such behavior is necessary for acceptance among peers?
“Teenagers are accepted into their own groups and play a role there, but the social harm is that teenagers and young people are not taken seriously in society. They do not see any real value in society and wherever they go, everyone advises them; to the point where young people and teenagers have developed a conflicting reaction to advice and admonition. We do not know their problems and we do not know their spiritual worlds. A seventy-year-old person does not know the needs of a twenty-year-old and when this seventy-year-old person plans for this young person, their plan is incomplete and unrealistic and has no attraction for a teenager or young person.”
No pleasure has been created for living happily. In Iran, there are many institutions that exist to make people cry. There are only certain places in society that can make people shed tears and this increases the level of depression. One of the signs of depression is self-harm; even part of the cutting that is done with needles and pain can be considered one of the causes of depression.
The reason for these behaviors is that in Iranian society, young people are not allowed to engage in natural, conventional, and balanced behaviors. Families constantly criticize them and the individual feels like they are always under scrutiny. Our society has not been able to fulfill the desires of this group. Interestingly, the advice and admonitions have no basis in social reality; meaning that those who give these warnings as adults, do not themselves practice any of those actions.
On the one hand, there is a significant gap between public and private spaces. A healthy society is one in which there is not much difference between public and private spaces, but in Iranian society, there is a deep and wide gap between these two spaces and unfortunately, we have a sick society. Just as a physical illness has clinical symptoms, the occurrence of violence and self-harm are also symptoms of a sick society.
According to your statements, does the dominant media and culture in Iran intensify the tendency towards violence?
Yes. If our reference groups engage in violence, it will be reproduced in society and lead to social imitation; therefore, reference groups must be careful with their social control tools. When reference groups engage in violence and this behavior is glorified in some way, it will be reproduced in different social layers based on their characteristics and abilities. Violent behaviors of social control are reproduced in different social layers. When everyone behaves violently, a type of violence imitation is established in others.
Could these self-harm behaviors be a warning sign for suicide?
If these issues are not addressed and these problems are not solved, naturally depression leads to suicide, as one of the reasons for suicide is depression and if this depression is not treated, it also leads to suicide in its own process of transformation.
Do these behaviors lead towards self-harm and self-violence?
Unfortunately, in Iran, there has been no research done on this subject to determine the extent of prevalence of these behaviors. This topic requires a research survey. In general, it can be said that these acts of violence have increased. Currently, even the smallest issue in society or within a family can lead to conflict; from a minor accident on the street that turns into a dispute, to family problems, all leading to violence. Violence enters the family from society, reaches individuals through the family, and is reproduced again in the social sphere.
These behaviors show that Iran is an angry society. This anger should not be mistaken for the tribal and ethnic anger of Ibn Khaldun. Anger has increased in Iranian society and it needs to be examined through field research. These issues have not been addressed and society has been left to its own devices; therefore, we have a society that acts like a gel.
According to your statements regarding the lack of research and field work on these issues, sometimes these issues are addressed in the reports of the Parliament Research Center or in the interest of the system, but what do you mean by “unexplored work”? Does this mean that universities have not addressed these issues and what is the reason for this?
There are multiple reasons for this. Some senior managers and decision-makers do not want some of these issues to be brought up and discussed in society and prefer to keep the damages hidden. Some individuals do investigate, but they do not publish their findings because they believe that the statistics can affect society, and they only want a small group of top officials to know and not others.
Dealing with social problems is like dealing with inflation; for example, they publish statistics about inflation that show that certain goods have become cheaper, or instead of reporting an increase in rent or basic goods, they replace them with other goods that have little impact on the overall statistics. The same goes for social problems. They use statistics to confirm the opinions of the elites. This is also a type of illness in our society, where even in transparent statistics, we are not sure if it is desirable and approved by the elites.
Given the entanglement of young and adolescent generation’s lives with the digital space, can it be said that behaviors such as self-harm have increased under the influence of these spaces? Has this generation become more aggressive compared to the previous generation?
Digital space is the phenomenon of today’s life and every phenomenon has positive and negative consequences. Its positive consequence is easy and fast access to information and current knowledge, but excessive use also has side effects; for example, the hearing and vision of this generation have weakened due to excessive use of this tool and they have physical consequences or their vital mass has increased.
Some people say that this space has more disadvantages than benefits. In every statement, there are two types of functions. We must see what the purpose behind these actions is. Do they want to restrict access to the internet or do they really want to find a solution? It seems that authorities in Iran want to create restrictions that are not feasible. It is not possible to separate social spaces from the global space and turn it into an island. It seems that the media has been ordered by the government to make this issue bigger and help restrict the internet.
Can we see violent behaviors related to this space considering the generational difference that the internet has created?
The reasons for violent behaviors are not related to the internet; although violent games can have an aspect of increasing violence, kindness and compassion are not portrayed in Iranian society’s artistic works. In films, we see more violence. Kind faces are disappearing from all artistic works, especially in films, and are censored; while there is a need to strengthen aspects of friendship, love, and kindness. Restrictions have prevented emotions from being expressed, but violence is constantly portrayed. We must look within and know that many problems stem from within.
For example, in order to prevent women from going to stadiums to watch football, games are held without spectators. This issue prevents the younger generation who wants to experience football through watching it, from having this opportunity; as a result, their excitement diminishes.
A large part of the problems in Iran can be attributed to poor cultural management, which has been unable to solve issues after forty-three years. Sometimes a small violation turns into a major crime. Society does not tolerate even a small behavior outside of norms, and that behavior eventually becomes a big problem and harm.
According to generational categorization, the generation born with the internet is called the Z generation; has this change and transformation had an impact on the emergence of violent behaviors in the Z generation?
Every generation is a child of its own time and demands its own necessities. Rumi has a poem: “When you deal with a child/ You must open from the language of childhood”; Therefore, you cannot tell this generation anything that is not true, because they can immediately find the truth of that matter with the help of the internet; Therefore, our language must be closer to the language of this generation and we must reduce this gap. Children of the 2030s are known among sociologists as the “sociology of stuff” because every electronic device that entered homes was considered stuff due to the lack of repairmen and spare parts; So it can be said that my generation in the 2030s and earlier have a kind of phobia towards new devices; At the same time, learning and communicating in this space is difficult for them, and these factors have created a generation gap. The type of education is no longer from parents to children, but in many places it is
In the past, the family had fourteen functions. Now, society has taken over these functions. The role of parents in education has been taken and given to children; therefore, the relationship that previously existed, based on age, has gradually changed in advanced and industrial societies.
Has these changes and shifts in the source of human education led to an increase in violent behaviors?
“If human tragedies are the result of the environment, then we must humanize the environment. A society that is violent, passes on its violence to the family, reproduces it within the family, and then it returns to society; therefore, there is a dialectical relationship. We cannot say that the internet leads to violence. Iranian society has become violent for other reasons. We have made our society violent; for example, since inflation has risen, the rate of crime has also increased; therefore, there is a relationship between inflation, crime, and social problems; or bullying and harassment have increased. Instead of searching for the cause of our problems outside our borders, we must look for the cause of our damages in our own geographical and natural environment.”
Social events in Iranian society and institutions and social organizations reproduce violence; therefore, there is a need for social surgery. First, the unfair distribution of wealth and societal problems must be solved; for example, astronomical salaries still exist and these same individuals have created these problems. Due to the equalization of basic rights, they raised the minimum wage to five million and eight hundred thousand tomans and added fourteen million and seven hundred thousand tomans to their own salaries. This way, they harmed workers and minimum wage earners. Around two hundred and seventy factories closed and twenty-two-year-old workers were laid off; so we see that the issue was not the concern for workers’ rights, but rather they gave themselves this increase in salary.
In countries like Italy, the gap between minimum and maximum wages is around four to five times, but in Iran, there was a gap of around thirty times that they wanted to reduce to seven times, but in reality, this did not happen. Whenever the statesmen in Iran prioritize the interests of society and the nation over their own interests, problems are solved. They have created something like oligarchy in all social classes. In the field of education, from kindergartens to high schools, there are active mafias. A terrible monopoly has formed in the political, economic, social, and cultural spheres in Iranian society; meaning that wealth, power, and social status are all in their hands and the people have no place.
What warning does this increase in self-harm among adolescents give to society?
This shows a type of social harm. In the process of social acceptance and cultural acceptance of adolescents and young people in Iran, gaps and problems have arisen and they have not maintained their natural and normal process. Just as malnutrition has physical consequences, social malnutrition also has its own consequences. Iranian society, especially among the young population, is suffering from severe social malnutrition and this problem manifests itself in syndromes such as self-harm, violence, suicide, and depression.
Thank you for the time you have given to the peace line.
Tags
3 Peace Treaty 1363 Beautiful generation Breeding Generation Z Gholam Reza Alizadeh Monthly Peace Line Magazine Morteza Hamounian Mountaineering peace line Self-practice Sociology Violence Virtual space Zomraha پیمان صلح ماهنامه خط صلح ماهنامه خط صلح