Shades Of Psych

Adolescence perfectly touches on the impacts Knife Crime is having on not only young people but their families, communities, peers. It further touches on how these areas can also impact young people’s perceptions when committing a crime.

A child’s development is not just shaped by their home but by the influences around them.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (1997) reminds us that the environment is layered through various systems that include: microsystem, mesosystem, ecosystem, marcosystem and chronosystem. These systems consist of influences from: parents, schools, social norms, and even government policies. This all play a role in shaping young minds. But what happens when theres flaws within the system?

Adolescents are caught with managing what they are taught, what they experience, and what society expects of them. Schools struggle with limited resources and overworked teachers, while parents, juggling work demand are at risk of becoming distant figures in their children’s lives.

As a result young individuals are looking to their peers and social media for guidance and often absorbing distorted perceptions of identity, self worth and societal norms. Which we see can lead to not only bullying but distorted views.

If you haven’t watched this mini series yet, I thoroughly recommend it, It was incredible and I really hope it will continue to spark more conversation around more ways that we can support young people to develop healthy perceptions of gender expectations and the additional support that is needed for parents, schools and communities to help improve this.

I really hope this series gets all the flowers it truly deserves.