Knife Crime in London

Introduction

Existing data on knife crime indicates that in the UK, knife crime is classified under attempted murder, homicide, threats to kills or attempted injury (Rand, 2006). It entails the use of a knife or a sharp object to injure, or the presence of a knife during the action of injuring an individual (Van Dijk, 2007). When one is charged with a knife possession offence in London, it means they have threatened another person with a sharp blade, have used another individual to look after an offensive sharp weapon or threatened to injure someone with a sharp object. Nonetheless, Knife crime is a significant security issue in the UK, owing to existing statistics that it has been in the rise across the UK, and that the knife crime incidences in London account for at least 30% of the reported cases nationally (Authority, 2017). Furthermore, statistical reports show that in the period between 2016 and 2017 March, there were at least 12,000 cases of reported knife crime in London (Authority, 2017). The main aim of this essay is to critically analyse three peer- reviewed research articles on knife crime within London. The essay will conduct a systematic search or journal article from online databases such as EBSCO, Google Scholar and Proquest, and the search will be based on three main keywords, including offences, knife, and London. More importantly, the search process was subject to inclusion/exclusion criteria, where only the peer-reviewed articles published after the year 2000 were included for the review. This was to ensure that only the most current evidence were evaluated.

The Search

The search process began in EBSCO, where the researcher identified 234 articles. However, when the researcher applied the two inclusion criteria, only 34 studies matched the criteria. Only one paper was selected from this database. The second search process was conducted in Proquest, yielding 563 articles in the first search, and 28 articles after the application of the inclusion criteria. One article was picked from the Proquest database. The last search was done on Google Scholar, whereby 365 articles were retrieved in the first search and 22 articles identified after the application of the inclusion criteria. Only one study was picked for further analysis from Google Scholar. Ultimately the resultant studies were Manojkumar et al (2011), Pallet (2013) and Shepherd (2008). The selected papers were then thematically analysed to identify specific patterns of data from each study. The researcher identified three specific themes as highlighted in the subsequent sections.

Risk Factors for Knife Crime

Across the three studies, the researchers discussed some of the main factors contributing to knife crime in the UK. For instance, while investigating the changing trends of knife crime patterns based on stab injury data from a hospital in North London, Manojkumar (2011) identified a variety of risks factors to knife crime that is worth mentioning (Manojkumar, 2011). Evidence by Manojkumar (2011) show that a variety of the cases they explored involved the youth below 20 years of age, with a reduced number of cases in the age group of between 20 and 30 years. However, it is important to note that the observations made by Nair et al might have been affected by their sampling limitations, as the area within which the hospital is based (Haringey) is a district with a generally younger population. However, this does not erase the fact that other studies have found higher rates of stabbing among the youth in areas popular with gang culture and possession of illicit weapons. Similar results were also obtained by Pallet (2014), whose main aim was to explore knife injuries in a London knife trauma centre (Pallett, 2014). The observational study relied on cross-sectional methods of data analysis and found that at least 50% of the self-reported injuries occurred to people under the age of 32 years. Besides Pallet (2014) found that the median age of individuals traumatised by penetrating knife assault was 21 years. However, whereas Shepherd (2008) do not discuss age as a specific risk factor for knife crime in the UK, the researcher mention child protection as one of the remedies for knife crime, hinting that children are also exposed to knife crime in the UK (Shepherd, 2008). Therefore, age emerges as a significant risk factor for knife crime in the UK, and this implies the need for effective policy measures to ensure that younger people do not involve in knife crime. Looking for further insights on Feminist Perspective on Domestic Violence? Click here.

Effects of Knife Crime

All three studies have highlighted the serious health effects of knife crime in the UK. For instance, Manojkumar (2011) demonstrate how knife stabbings in the thorax are associated with health complications that require complex treatment procedures (Manojkumar, 2011). The author asserts that patients stabbed on the chest may have either thoracotomy or thoracostomy medical procedures, all which are complex and bear significant health risks. Similarly, while investigating knife injuries in a London trauma centre, Pallet (2013) asserts that knife stabbings are associated with combined abdominal and chest injuries both at the point of incidence and at the emergency department during emergency treatment procedures (Pallett, 2014). As opposed to Nair et al (2011), Pallet (2013) hints at death as the ultimate result of knife crime, despite acknowledging a decreasing trend of mortality rates emanating from stabbings as at 2014 (Pallett, 2014). Health and hospitalization effects of knife crime in the UK have also been hinted by Shepherd and Brenan (2008). For instance, the authors show an increasing trend of hospitalization out of knife crime in the UK between the year 2000 and 2007. Despite not discussing this in details, the authors’ mentioning of hospital admission is a significant indicator that knife stabbings cause health complications that require medical procedures to remedy. Therefore, the theme of health effects has emerged across the three reviewed studies, leading to a conclusion that knife crime in the UK can have a major effect on the victim’s health, including death.

Bibliography

Authority, G. L. (2017). The London Knife Crime Strategy. London: Greater London Authority.

Manojkumar, M. ,. (2011). Changing trends in the pattern and outcome of. Journal of Emergencies, Trauma, and Shock, 456-460.

Pallett, S. G. (2014). A cross-sectional study of knife injuries at a London. Ann R Coll Surg Engl, 23–26.

Rand, C. (2006). Criminal victimization. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice Statistics, 20-26.

Shepherd. (2008). Tackling knife violence. BMJ, 1-12.

Van Dijk, v. K. (2007). Criminal victimisation in international perspective: key findings from the 2004-2005 ICVS and EU ICS. Tilburg University, 30-36.