The above illustrates the diversity of possible causes for the riots. Sociologists argue that many of the reasons are interrelated and that multiple factors combined to lead to the violence and...

The above illustrates the diversity of possible causes for the riots. Sociologists argue that many of the reasons are interrelated and that multiple factors combined to lead to the violence and disorder of August 2011. It is certainly not as simple as politicians like to suggest. The government has a vested interest in trying to blame particular ‘troubled families’ rather than address the fundamental underlying causes relating to the ever-increasing social and economic inequalities: Public discourses of feral youth and failing families elide and mask questions of structural disadvantage, individualising inequality as the outcome of personal ‘ills’ rather than systematic material inequalities. (Allen and Taylor 2012) This is one of the central questions of sociology: to what extent are individuals or society to blame for social problems? This brings to the fore the relationship between structure (wider social processes) and agency (action of people), between ‘personal troubles’ and ‘public issues’ (Wright Mills 1970) which we will consider later in this chapter. Sociologists argue that social problems have underlying social roots, often linked to a diversity of social, economic and emotional processes of exclusion and discrimination (Murji and Neal 2011). In contrast, governments prefer to turn to individual explanations, blaming particular criminals, gangs or ‘chaotic families’ in order to avoid having to provide a collective, political solution for wider social issues. As we have seen, there are multiple and complex explanations for the England 2011 riots which move ‘from and between themes of criminality, moral nihilism, social breakdown, gangs and lawlessness to themes of social exclusion, hopelessness and the anomic consequences of a consumerist and materialist society’ (Murji and Neal 2011). Interestingly there were some key differences of causes cited for the riots between the public opinions generated via a Guardian/ICM poll and the views of the rioters themselves as Table 1.1 indicates. The issues which both groups agreed on were unemployment (79 per cent), media coverage (72 per cent), greed (70–77 per cent), boredom (67 per cent) and racial tensions (55 per cent). Poverty, policing, government policy, the shooting of Mark Duggan, social media and inequality were perceived as more relevant causes by the rioters, whereas criminality, moral decline, poor parenting and gangs were cited more often by the general public. This illustrates the importance of directly asking the people who were involved for their views of the causes rather than only relying on media or political accounts.

Table 1.1