In my home town of Melbourne, binge drinking and violence among younger people is a growing public concern.

In a poll taken early this year, 72% of respondents believed that the city is becoming more violent.  Responses from government and police have included restricting entry to drinking venues after 2am and increasing the police presence in the city.
Let’s take a look at some of the possible cause and effect links here, based on Clare W Graves’ research into human nature.

The teen years and early twenties are a time of great personal change as we transition to adulthood.  This involves breaking away from our family-focused childhood and exploring our identity and our personal power.  The emotion driving this transition is anger; hence the stereotype of the ‘angry young man’ (or woman) attempting to make a mark on the world.

When we go through this type of major change, from a psychological perspective it involves achieving some form of detachment so we can look back objectively at our previous way of being.  What was once a subjective experience becomes the focus of our detached, objective consideration.

This detachment is an altered state of awareness.  Something changes our viewpoint enough to allow us to see things differently.  This can be achieved in myriad ways, one of which is through the use of alcohol or drugs.  In 1973, Clare W Graves said ‘You go to any society…at any time it changed from one way of thinking to another and you’ll find it always has a drug problem.’

Other ways to achieve altered states include exercise, meditation and art – there are countless options.  Interestingly, research has shown that human development can be accelerated through the regular practice of altered states of awareness, particularly meditation.  There are obvious disadvantages in using an excess of alcohol for this purpose though, due to its long term health effects and its impact on behaviour.

Graves’ research also looked at physiological changes in the brain and found that as we transition through stages of development, our brains literally rewire themselves and activate new capacities.  His theory correlates with the findings of a recent study conducted by the University of Melbourne[2] into teenage brain development.  In an article published early this year, lead researcher Nicholas Allen said of teenagers ‘Their emotions are developing much faster than are the parts of the brain that help them to manage their emotions.’ (read more here)

This is an important issue in terms of understanding their behaviour.  It means that they haven’t yet developed the capacity to modulate their emotions or to be fully aware of the impact of their behaviour on others, in the same way most adults can.

So all this tells us it’s natural for young people to seek out opportunities to explore their personal power and identity.  It’s also natural that they’ll seek opportunities for altering their state of awareness, since this is normal human behaviour when experiencing change.  And while their brains are still developing, it’d be silly for us to expect them to exercise the same restraint as an adult.

So the question is, how does society attend to the needs of young people so they can navigate this transition to adulthood more easily and safely?

Postmodern society has downplayed formal rites of passage, structured discipline in schools and strict moral codes.  Once teenagers grew up within well defined moral boundaries, but today there is much greater freedom.  That freedom allows them to push the limits of acceptable social behaviour more easily.  In the absence of any formal initiation into adulthood, together with their peers, teenagers often create their own rites of passage to mark this milestone.

When problems arise like our current drinking and violence issues, they’re symptoms of something deeper.  In this case, they point to a need to support young people in transition.  This means creating safe opportunities for self expression, allowing them to both explore their personal power and begin making their mark on society.  Some practical examples might include an increased use of sport and exercise as an outlet, legal graffiti galleries, organising more music and dance events specifically for the younger age group etc.  Perhaps there’s also a need to reinstate some kind of formal celebration of the rite of passage to adulthood – something that’s appropriate for this day and age.

Since the expression of personal power is a natural aspect of this phase of life, any attempt to ‘eradicate’ the behaviour is destined to be unsuccessful.  If it’s squashed down in one area, it will soon reappear in another. In fact, attempts to confront ‘power with power’ can actually generate more of the same.  It makes much more sense to channel the energy in safe and socially acceptable ways.  If we empower young people by allowing them to co-create these alternative channels for their energy, it’s a win for all concerned.

There will always be a minority that goes to extremes and therefore a need for enforcement of the law.  But until we provide more and better outlets for aggressive young energy, we should expect more of the same.

Incidentally, Graves’ theory also holds true at a collective level.  So communities and societies that are moving beyond a tribal mindset will exhibit the same need to express power and explore identity as teenagers do, but on a larger scale.  These are the very same dynamics that our troops are facing in places like Iraq and Afghanistan and they’re the same issues that are causing grief in Aboriginal communities, evidenced by substance abuse and power based anti-social behaviours.

The keys to managing all of these situations are firstly, understanding the natural dynamics at play and secondly, shaping the life conditions so that the natural energies can express themselves in safe and socially acceptable ways.