Weeks without noticeable incident and suddenly it explodes.
Brawls between gangs, "it's really cyclical," notes Cécile Lalumière, the deputy director of the judicial protection of young people (PJJ) of Val-de-Marne.
"In 2020, we recorded 104 facts, 68 injured and one death", deplores for her part Laure Beccuau, the prosecutor of the Republic of Créteil.
An assessment drawn up even before the two tragedies that have just experienced the Val-de-Marne, with the death of Marjorie in Ivry, against a background of altercation via social networks and Matteo in Champigny, linked to a dispute whose reasons still remain unexplained.
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These clashes between young people, the various stakeholders do their utmost to anticipate them, to spot the signs in order to avoid them.
On March 8, 2021, two teenagers were seriously injured with stab wounds in Champigny-sur-Marne.
But behind the legal responses, the players in the sector are adapting, innovating and trying new approaches to curb the phenomenon.
"This forces the speakers to listen to the others and this is fundamental"
Thus, after a meeting with Rachid Santaki, journalist and author of the book “Laisse pas trainer ton fils”, the idea of a different approach takes shape within an open environment educational unit (UEMO) in Val-de- Marl. “We are dealing with collective violence. We will treat them with group work ”summarizes Céline Lalumière. "How to work on raising awareness of violence?" We started from this observation, ”adds Rachid Santaki, who also works in some prisons.
Working collectively, "this forces the speakers to listen to others and this is fundamental", insists the director of UEMO, who prefers to remain anonymous.
Since December 2020, it has welcomed a dozen teenagers who participate in writing workshops, speaking on gang violence.
"They are all the subject of educational measures in a penal framework", specifies Cécile Lalumière.
Rachid Santaki, journalist, and Cécile Lalumière, the deputy director of the judicial protection of young people (PJJ) of Val-de-Marne, set up a collective workshop with minors involved in brawls to try to break the phenomenon.
LP / Sylvain Deleuze
Out of their neighborhood, their gang and then immersed in another group, the adolescents work together on a short film on this violence.
Writing the script, cutting the scenes before filming which should start in a few weeks, they are all moving towards a common goal.
Not always easy when some could have fought a few weeks earlier.
“Words allow us to work on the difference between disagreement and conflict, the former allowing us to reflect, to find another way,” explains Cécile Lalumière.
Young people learn to think for themselves again
Fundamental, long-term work carried out with minors who have chosen to participate.
"We do not bring together young people from neighborhoods, sometimes rivals, without work upstream," says the director of the unit.
We cannot afford to put them in danger and we have to be sure that they are ready.
Some have also participated in serious events.
"Some participants left the workshop at the first meeting", testifies the director of UEMO.
“The judicial aspect puts them on the rails, in a framework, notes Rachid Santaki.
Then they must find their place in the workshop, put words on what brought them here, make decisions, move forward.
The adolescents who often socialize in the heart of a group, a gang, relearn to think for themselves in front of others.
“We are in a group because we are together, from the same neighborhood.
When one gets hit, we are all concerned, summarizes Olivier, 16, one of the participants who discusses his dropout and the environment of the neighborhood at the foot of the towers.
Younger people always want to prove and when you hang out you are influenced by others.
You no longer think for yourself.
"
"Me or someone opposite could have stayed there"
"If I continued in this environment, it was going to go nuts, says Julien, 17, another member of the workshop who specifies: I realized that this (
Editor's note: the conflict
) was going to take me very far.
Me or someone opposite could have stayed there.
"
Read alsoRixes between gangs: prevention, criminal responses, how police and justice work together in Val-de-Marne
Caught up by the patrol, taken in charge by the justice system, this teenager lucidly analyzes his journey.
“Before, I would have done things on the edge of the nervousness even if it means regretting it then, he says, like a fate.
There, I know that I must avoid confusion, stay away from it.
I know where I want to go, as I did before, except that I didn't believe it at the time.
Now I am going 100%.
"
"We have to adapt, learn their code"
Everyone brings their own stone for the writing of the screenplay.
“With this work, we try to get a message across.
Moreover, we did not agree on the end, optimistic or pessimistic, ”explains Olivier, as if to spare the suspense.
“It is sometimes very intense. We must adapt, learn their code, feed on them, on their experience, notes Rachid Santaki, who hopes that these young people will swarm around them to break the spiral of violence. This issue remains crucial for the future of the youngest. "
