March 18, 2011 -- A myriad of political, social and moral factors, coupled with the collective memory of the recent past, account for the use of violence in contemporary Algeria, participants at an Algiers forum concluded on Monday (March 14th). "Specialists were negligent in examining causes [of violence] that were clear in Algerian society, especially in the armed aspect: the phenomenon of terrorism, which is the most dangerous type of violence," sociology professor Slimane Madhar argued at the event held by the Echaab Centre for Strategic Studies. Violence that shook Algeria at the height of its security crisis took place under religious or ideological slogans, he said, but many tried to link it to Islam for purely political goals related to the usurpation of power.

According to academic and media professional Farouk Mazouz, some manifestations of violence were seen in the recent Algiers protests. He said that there are a number of causes of violence, mainly related to the first nucleus, which is the family. The family "has been emptied of their core, and their noble message, which is to ensure sound upbringing of children, has now become absent", Mazouz said. School is another factor, he argued, due to the tense relations between teachers and students in the absence of communication. The changing system of values and moral deterioration of the society to the point of decadence also trigger the phenomenon, the expert explained. "It's enough to walk down the street to see these patterns of behaviour that give rise to violence and counter violence that has gone past red lines," he said. "Its reform, therefore, has become a matter of life and death and a fateful battle."

Professor Nacer Dib concurred that the spread of violence is linked to the erosion of morality. Moral values "have collapsed and have been greatly affected by the Black Decade that destroyed the Algerian social structure and completely undermined its familial values to the point that you would find a brother killing his own brother," he said. "We’re living its reflections today through our daily patterns of behaviour, dealings and the way we express our opinion," Dib added. Commenting on the spreading phenomenon of self-immolations in the Maghreb, he said that a young man who resorts to setting himself ablaze has reached an unbearable condition and found no other means to satisfy his demands for job or housing. "However, has that young man asked himself for a moment whether setting himself ablaze and doing that act would enable him to get what he wants?" he wondered. The speaker stressed the importance of opening channels of communication with youths. "We have to understand and realise the thing which that young man who committed suicide wants to convey from his message to us," he said.

For his part, Bachir Messaitfa, a professor of economics at the University of Algiers, evoked the problem of political violence that has spread in different Arab countries "in an environment where freedoms and democratic practices are absent". It is a natural reaction to the failure to exercise citizenship and obtain rights, given that citizens demand a lot and are not given the minimum freedoms, political participation and oversight of public money, he said. Political violence is the result of shallow political culture on the part of sovereign decision-making institutions, which see liberties as a threat to their interests, the professor argued.