Rise of 'happy slapping' craze

What worries me is that this trend seems to involve a coming together of several 'forces'; the P2P panopticon thing where everyday life is surveilled by us and our peers, acts of violence modelled on advertising and films, violence as entertainment and the desire to be celebrities in the sense of starring on our own screens and those of our friends. It's a potent mix and has enough contributory factors in it to take on a life of its own through self-reinforcing feedback/reflexivity.

Most concerning is the objectivising of others into extras in scenes meant to be humourous where the perpetrators are the 'stars'. The humour is all to easily found in certain kinds of avant-garde comedy. Yeh, I know that there are studies that show no direct link between viewed violence and enacted violence, but I think that there is evidence to suggest indirect links. Given the imitative ['mimetic'] nature of human beings it can't be a coincidence that the forms of violence here are similar to things being shown on TV.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Concern over rise of 'happy slapping' craze