Experts stating that anxiety and stress levels increase in individuals during periods of major economic crises and worsening social problems, warned, “Individuals stigmatized as having a criminal record or mental health issues are the weakest links in the social chain, and they are the first to violate norms. But if the rusting and decay in the chain continues, even the strong links of the chain can eventually break and detach.” The experts stated that citizens exhibited a “civilized indifference” to the incidents, emphasizing the maturity of Turkish society.
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan from the Sociology Department of Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, evaluated the abnormal events that have recently come to the agenda.
Incidents should be analyzed from a social framework
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan stated that many incidents, such as sexual acts in the street, self-immolation, molesting a child in a mosque, and citizens walking naked in the street, which were widely discussed on social media, shocked Turkey. Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan said, “Comments were also made suggesting that these deviant behaviors, coinciding with the anniversary of the Gezi events and violating social norms, were an operation orchestrated by various intelligence services against Turkey. These comments may be right or wrong, but as a sociologist, these events need to be analyzed from a social framework. Looking at these incidents from the perspective of Turkish society, I see both a saddening and a gratifying aspect for our society.”
The weakest links violate norms
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan said, “It should not be forgotten that there are social reasons behind these deviant behaviors, which appear individual and are associated with psychological problems”:
“If we look at the perpetrators of these incidents one by one and say that one has a criminal record and the other has mental health issues, we cannot see the real problem and the big picture. During periods of major economic crises and worsening social problems, anxiety and stress levels increase in individuals. Individuals stigmatized as having a criminal record or mental health issues are the weakest links in the social chain, and they are the first to violate norms. But if the rusting and decay in the chain continues, even the strong links of the chain can eventually break and detach.
Because during these periods of crisis and depression, if the solutions to problems are beyond individuals, if individuals feel helpless, they may try to change the rules of the game they are playing. In other words, an individual who cannot get the desired response or satisfaction in life by conforming to social norms may this time try to continue their life by stepping outside the norms and engaging in deviant behaviors. To reach the pleasure and enjoyment they feel deprived of, they now feel free from all social norms. Unfortunately, there is a possibility that such deviant behaviors will increase in the coming days, and this would truly be a saddening outcome for society.”
Citizens exhibited a civilized indifference
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan stated that citizens exhibited a “civilized indifference” to the incidents, and said, “If we look at the incidents other than the alleged child abuse in Esenyurt, the citizens at the scene virtually exhibited a “civilized indifference.” They just passed by. Unlike citizens in a Western country, they did not show violence towards the perpetrators in such an incident; in fact, they ignored them and waited for law enforcement to intervene. If a similar incident had occurred in a Middle Eastern country or in Afghanistan, Pakistan, there would have been lynching attempts. It is gratifying that Turkish society shows this level of maturity.”