Dominanskriminalitet: Dominance-Criminality

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I read a lot of articles about issues that I don't report on because I have not figured out how to fit them into a framework that clarifies their meaning. For instance, how are we to understand reports from Europe about urban areas in which Muslim immigrants predominate where the delinquent 'youth' throw stones at fire trucks and ambulances? Why attack those who have come to help? The stoning of police cars is 'rational' by comparison. Criminals and the police are enemies. But firemen and medical workers? What's the point?

Well, Steen Raaschou, editor of Snaphanen, offers a suggestion in a recent article. He notes that "the attacks on fire service . . . have no traditional justification" ("angrebene på brandvæsen . . . har nogen traditionel begrundelse"), but he suggests that we classify these with other nontraditional violence. He gives the example of street muggings in which old people or children are robbed and beaten though little of value is stolen. He suggests that "These robberies have the character of harrassment" ("Disse røverier har karakter af chikane"). To these, he adds "vandalism and arson against public institutions" ("hærværk og brandstiftelse i forhold til offentlige institutioner"). Raaschou argues that this "criminality is mainly designed to establish or demonstrate superiority" ("Kriminalitet hvis hovedsigte er at etablere eller demonstrere en overmagt"). To label such crimes, he proposes a new concept: "dominance-criminality" ("dominanskriminalitet").

Raaschou perhaps implies, though he does not explicitly state, that the Muslim culture to which these 'youth' belong is unaccustomed to dealing with non-Muslims in positions of authority. Such 'youth' would therefore apparently believe -- if Raaschou is correct -- that non-Muslims should be either pushed out or subordinated to them even if these 'youth' themselves are not especially pious.

Whether Raaschou further classifies "dominance-criminality" under jihad is unclear, but he does call this sort of criminality "guerrilla warfare" ("guerillakrig"), which suggests that he is thinking along such lines. Before I'd go that far, I'd need to see more evidence, though I suspect that the Danish state is looking into the possibility.

Disclaimer: I know nothing of Steen Raaschou's larger views, nor am I otherwise familiar with Snaphanen, a site written in Danish, so I cannot vouch for it.