quote:

---

The murder of a young man on Clapham Common by assailants who taunted, abused and kicked him to death is the latest in a series of violent homophobic attacks that underline the callous brutality of yob culture.
...
Homophobia is as intolerant and dangerous as racism. It is wholly arbitrary in picking on people who often offer no provocation or motive except to stir atavistic prejudice. It sometimes ends in murder.
...

Yob culture is a descent into the barbarism that targets minorities and potential victims. It is the same culture that was fanned by the Nazis to make the persecution of Jews — and homosexuals — official policy. It is incompatible with the values of Western society, and it is intolerable that it still has a hold over disaffected young people.

---

The BBC takes a slightly more expansive view:

quote:

---

The usual suspects include lager louts, soccer hooligans, and teenagers who hang out on street corners. In fact any young person who displays a disregard for orderly behaviour, and a disrespect for their elders, is likely to be labelled a yob.

While it may be identified with the young, yob culture is not confined to one age group, or indeed one class. It's a form of behaviour that has been observed among a wide range of social groups.
...
Teenage curfews have been widely used in the United States, often during school hours as a means of countering truancy. But according to a study carried out for the Justice Policy Institute, a US-based public policy research organisation, curfews do not stop youngsters getting into trouble.

The report concludes: "On virtually every measure, no discernible effect on juvenile crime was observed. In fact, in many jurisdictions serious juvenile crime increased at the very time officials were toting the crime reduction effects of strict curfew enforcement." Here, there are claims that imposing a blanket curfew could breach the human rights of young people.

---

So I guess my questions are, do you buy the idea that there is something relatively new and dark going on there, and if so, what can be done?

[ 18 October 2005: Message edited by: Tape_342 ]

quote:

---

Yob is an Aussie term Also closely related to the Aussie term "bogan".

---

But really, few people use 'yob' anymore, and 'chav' (pikey, townie, ned, etc.) are the new words, varying by region. Interestingly, many of them were and are synonymous with gypsies/travellers, but have been extended to cover people living in housing estates.

A website dedicated to the concept: www.chavscum.co.uk

How to profit from this kind of social phenomenon:
http://tinyurl.com/dv73b

[ 19 October 2005: Message edited by: aRoused ]

The term "chav" has its roots in Roma language. It comes from the Roma word chavi, meaning baby.

Anyhoo, this is the ultimate yob/chav couple: