Society effective defense against antisocial threats

Editor's note: Eight people were killed and 25 others injured after a hijacked bus plowed into pedestrians in Longyan, Fujian province, on Tuesday afternoon. The suspect, an unemployed man in his 40s, is in police custody. According to the local government, the man had a grievance against officials in his neighborhood committee and he wanted to take revenge on society. Lyu Dewen, a sociology researcher at Wuhan University comments in a post published by People's Daily on its WeChat account Xiakedao:

The fast growth of China's economy has brought fundamental changes to society. That a series of antisocial violent incidents have happened in recent years－in which innocent people, including children, have been the victims－highlights how urgent it is for those who feel deserted and forgotten to be offered a friendly hand.

In these incidents, the perpetrators often have typical anti-social personalities, and their behavior is not restricted by legal and moral constraints. Indeed, challenging social norms is their motive for committing violent acts; and their harm is not specific, but indiscriminate. The antisocial tendency of those who feel excluded by society is a challenge that almost all nations have to face after their economic and social development reaches a certain stage.

And the faster a society evolves, the more prominent the issue becomes.

Although cities provide conveniences for people, they by no means eliminate antisocial behavior and violent acts. Instead, the fast pace of life and increasingly detached personal relations have transformed indifference into a self-protective mechanism for urban residents, which in turn fosters antisocial feelings of some, who attribute their personal problems to all members of society.

Indiscriminate killing is a way to vent their anger and anxiety.

China should rely more on society－especially communities－to spot individuals with antisocial tendencies as early as possible and initiate a process of resocialization, or a form of psychological intervention, before their personal problems escalate into public threats.

The self-correction function of society is more effective than the State in reducing the threat of antisocial violence.