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Amélie Boukhobza (Clinical psychologist)
In Marseille, the recent murder perpetrated by a teenager against a VTC driver has highlighted a phenomenon well known to the authorities: the “ultra rejuvenation” of violence linked to trafficking. But how can we explain such acts among these young people barely out of childhood? Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist, gives us some answers.
The people of Marseille are stunned. Friday October 4, a 14-year-old boy coldly shot dead a VTC driver and father. According to our colleagues at Parisianthe teenager was allegedly recruited as a “hitman” on social networks.
14 years old and killer
Early this Friday, the 14-year-old teenager – who claims to belong to the DZ mafia, one of the main gangs involved in Marseille’s drug trafficking – allegedly climbed into a taxi to go to the location of his contract.
The young boy had in fact been recruited the day before, on the networks, to avenge a crime that had occurred two days earlier in the city of Fonscolombes (a 15-year-old boy had been fatally stabbed then burned alive by the opposing gang, the Blacks clan ).
The promised sum is juicy (€50,000); the case seems “simple” on paper: the teenager will kill the opposing target and return home.
Except that on the big day, the situation deteriorates. If Nessim Ramdane, father and VTC driver, agrees to take care of the young boy, he refuses to drive him there and wait for him while he commits the act.
The minor, furious, threatens him and shoots him. The car crashes into the wall of a primary school and the young murderer is denounced.
An “additional degree” in violence
If the (very) young shooter claims that the shot was “accidental“, this gratuitous act, however, results in the death of an innocent person.
He (the driver) was “coldly shot”, which is “a novelty” and an “additional degree” in violence, lamented prosecutor Nicolas Bessone.
Faced with such atrocities, how can we explain such an extreme act of violence in a 14-year-old minor? How can we justify this “ultra rejuvenation” of violence linked to trafficking, to use the words of Nicolas Bessone?
According to a teacher interviewed by Europe 1young people would “fantasize” about these neo-traffickers. Criminals who do not hesitate to use all the codes of online marketing (promotions, colored emojis, etc.) to recruit ever younger soldier-assassins.
“It’s true that for our students, there is a bit of this sort of fascination for these people who are a bit outside the law. It’s not easy to explain to them that behind easy money, there are deaths.“, she explains.
Traffickers exploit the vulnerability of young people
Beyond the lure of easy gain (many of these young people kill for money), Amélie Boukhobza, clinical psychologist, explains that the age at which these young people are recruited plays a determining role.
“At 14, a young person finds themselves in a period of transition, between childhood and adolescence. It is an age where the need for social belonging is inevitably immense, and where the influence of the group can become stronger than that of the family. Adolescence is clearly a fragile period, in search of markers of both identity and community. So when gangs spot these kids, they exploit this vulnerability.” she reveals.
The quest for recognition and acceptance makes some adolescents easy targets for groups with criminal intentions, adds the expert.
“The feeling of being valued or finding status within a group can, for them, surpass the social and moral norms that they have integrated until then. They seek to build an identity, but with little experience, they are easily manipulated by figures perceived as powerful. The goal is to exist, to acquire a place.“
Good in his body, good in his head!
A lack of benchmarks
Another factor that encourages younger people to join the ranks of gangsters: the environment.
“The lack of solid benchmarks is often accentuated by difficult family or school contexts. This may also explain why some young people switch to this type of behavior. If we add to that exposure to violence, sometimes trivialized in their daily lives, everything is distorted by their perception of the limits and consequences of their actions. recognizes Amélie Boukhobza.
Finally, the adolescent brain is not yet fully developed,”especially areas related to decision making and impulse control“.
“This immaturity makes these young people more likely to act under the impulse or influence of figures perceived as charismatic, but destructive. Adolescence is a period of rearrangement of the frontal lobe, the one that allows anticipation and decision-making… We understand better! Ultimately, without very solid and present parental supervision, it is a slippery slope for all these young people“, notes the psychologist, in conclusion.
Slide: 10 things not to say to your teenager