Over the past decade, groups of immigrant youths have been causing growing problems in Holland's major cities. The young people come mainly from Morocco, but also from Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles. They often hang out in squares in the evening and commit petty and violent crime.
Jan Dirk de Jong, a researcher at the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies at the University of Amsterdam, has spent the past seven years studying these youths and has just finished his doctoral thesis on the issue.  |
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Loitering immigrant youths in Amsterdam's Slotervaart district |
It's good to be bad
But de Jong disagrees. "I think there are just basic human needs that these kids have. It's the same type of street culture that you will find in Brazil, in Los Angeles and Oslo. But because they are immigrants, they are also seen as the black sheep of society. More than any other group they have the feeling that they can only prove themselves by being a tough boy or a gangster."
These immigrant boys start spending time on the streets as early as the age of 10. The streets offer an escape from overcrowded houses in neighbourhoods where there is little or nothing to do. Crime and bullying are rampant.
According to de Jong, "the older kids perpetuate the idea that the world is bad and you have to defend yourself against it. One of the best ways is to join these groups because you know that the other kids will help defend you. You learn that it's good to be bad."
Gang life
De Jong's description of these young people seems very similar to the gang culture of the United States. These immigrant youths are very familiar with US street culture thanks to films and music.
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Jan Dirk de Jong |
"It's more like a neighbourhood network of boys. They're a nuisance, and some might get violent. They don't make money out of crime, but they do flirt with the image of criminal."
Rehabilitation
Troublesome youths have existed for decades in The Netherlands, but Dutch society today is much less tolerant of them. "Dutch people want more repression," says de Jong, particularly since they view these youths as outsiders, even though most of them were born and raised in this country.
"People believe that Moroccans are the bad seed in society. I just read an article in the paper yesterday that Moroccans are harassing ducks and bunnies in some park! These kinds of stories make the headlines."
National and local authorities have developed a wide range of programmes to get these young people back in school and on the straight and narrow path, but de Jong believes that the authorities need to intervene earlier. "We're missing so many important years of development," he says.
Moroccan immigrant groups are trying to deal with this problem, but it's an uphill battle. Some of the youths do eventually finish higher education and find good jobs. But most of them are unable to fit into Holland's service-oriented economy. According to de Jong, "there are a lot of kids who have invalidated themselves by being entrenched in this street culture for so long. They're unlikely to be successful in work or in school. Basically, they are the lost causes".
Tags: antillean, crime, dutch, holland, Immigrant, moroccan, netherlands, petty criminals