Violence
Culture & Normalisation
When does violence become normal?
Violence does not happen in a vacuum. What people see at home, among friends, online and in their communities can influence what begins to feel acceptable, expected or unavoidable.
That does not mean culture causes violence on its own. Most people exposed to difficult environments do not become violent. But social norms can shape whether aggression is challenged, rewarded, ignored or repeated.
What gets normalised?
It might be carrying a knife because others are doing it. It might be believing disrespect has to be answered with aggression, treating harassment as a joke, accepting controlling behaviour in relationships, or seeing violence as simply part of life in a neighbourhood.
Online spaces can reinforce some of these attitudes too — particularly where status, humiliation, retaliation or aggression are rewarded.
Why does this matter?
The criminal justice system usually responds after something has happened. Prevention asks what happened before it.
If violence is repeatedly excused, ignored or treated as normal, harmful behaviour can become harder to challenge.
That is why safer communities need more than policing. Families, schools, peers, communities and online spaces all have a role in setting boundaries around what behaviour is acceptable.
OUR ANSWER
Culture should never be used as an excuse for violence.
But if we want to prevent violence, we need to understand the environments in which harmful behaviour develops and becomes normalised.
Changing behaviour means challenging ideas such as: respect must be defended through aggression, carrying a weapon makes you safer, control proves that someone cares, or speaking out is weakness.
Change what is normalised, and we have a better chance of changing what happens next.
The figures
1.1 million
estimated incidents of violence with or without injury were experienced by people aged 16+ in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025.
53,047
knife-enabled offences were recorded by police in the year ending March 2025.
68.8%
of knife and offensive weapon offences dealt with by the criminal justice system involved possession of an article with a blade or point.