Influence of Social Media on the Rising Menace of Jungle Justice in Aba, Abia State
Chapter One
Research Objectives
- To determine the major source of mob attack information in
- To determine the forms in which information on “jungle justice” or mob justice is presented.
- To determine how mob attack information are imported into and accessed from social
- To identify the effects the dissemination of mob attacks through social media have on occurrences of mob justice in Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Justice
Defining the concept of justice can be very difficult especially when in matters of state control and balance of individual rights, either as positions of criminals or victims. Stemming from the lack of absoluteness to the scope of justice, there are evolving arguments on the need to define justice not as an outcome (equality, equity and freedom) but rather as a process. Results can be just if they were obtained by a just or fair process. Justice is therefore the process that yields equal, predictable, accessible, rational outputs – based on the certainty of applying legal rules developed over time to prevent or remedy what would arouse the sense of injustice and to resolve disputes (Conflict Research Consortium, 1998). Rather than using justice to mean liberty or freedom, by defining it in terms of who shall make certain decisions, justice is seen as a process concerned with how decisions are made while taking note of the frame of mind and the expected results. Justice is concerned not only with the consequences of actions but with their significance. This is why, in legal matters, emphasis is placed on procedure that produces the expected outcome. This is in accordance with the work of Cooray and Leonard (1988), who argue that, aside being interpersonal adjudication and resolution of conflicts between persons, justice, is equally law based and can be broadly defined by process defined by law.
Criminal Justice System
“Criminal justice system” refers to the set of agencies and processes established by the state to manage crime and impose penalties on violators of criminal laws (Newman 1978). It is a system used by government to maintain social control, prevent crime, and enforce laws through procedures for arrest, charging, trial and confinement of a suspect (Osasona 2015). Its main objective is to reduce crime by bringing more offenses to justice and to raise public confidence that the system is fair and will deliver for the law abiding citizen (Nwankwo 2010). Okogbule (2004) adds that one of the requirements of the criminal justice system is the application of necessary rules and provisions for the protection of the rights of an alleged offender. The World Justice Project Report (2015) positions effective criminal justice system as very vital to state strength in all ramifications. An effective criminal justice system is capable of investigating and adjudicating criminal offenses successfully and in timely manner. This can only take place through a system that is impartial and non-discriminatory, free of corruption and improper government influence, ensuring that the rights of both victims and the accused are protected.
The effectiveness of the criminal justice system is assessed by measuring the components that constitute the system. These are the criminal legislations and policies, the law enforcement agencies and the investigative agents (the prisons and police) as well as the judiciary/court system (Osasona, 2015). As elaborated in the work of Dada, Dosunmu and Oyedeji (2015), criminal procedures pass through these agents in stages, all of which function together to ensure that there exist social influencing agents that are concerned with orderliness, peace and tranquility in communities. Cases enter the system either through the police’s detection and investigation and/or through public reporting of crimes. This is followed by prosecution and the pre-trial series of the police-court phase. The judiciary phase is identified with adjudication, sentencing and sanction which is followed by the enforcement of verdicts by correctional agents, the prison. When these organs fall short of their functions, there is a break in due process and procedural justice which consequently creates friction and room for illegal alternatives to the administration of justice, including “justice” from the mob.
Mob and Mob Justice
A mob is a form of crowd, which is different from causal crowds that are without organization, conventional crowds that are assembled for a specific purpose such as witnessing a ball game, or expressive crowds that are involved in expressive behavior, such as dancing and singing. Several sociological perspectives have been employed to describe the mob. The works of Momboisse (1967), Canetti (1973), Schweingraber (2000) and Surowiecki (2005) point to the fact that mob is an expression of a type of crowd which is characterised by destructiveness. Momboisse (1967, pp. 80-89), while giving vivid illustrations of what mob means, explains it to be a kind of crowd that has latent potential for widespread civil disobedience. All crowds can transform into law- breaking mob, characterised by “leadership, organisation, a common motive for action, emotion, irrationality” and typically, “non-law abiding.” To Schweingraber (2000), crowds begin to become mobs with some climatic event. The mob is a form of hostile or aggressive organized crowd that are willing to be led into lawlessness.
The mob, compared to individual destructive or violent tendencies, is more extreme. This is because, according to Canetti’s (1973) description, when human beings find themselves within a crowd that pursue similar goal, whether destructive or not, they careless of the risk of being surrounded by alien bodies. They are therefore prompted to engage in unpleasant acts without minding the consequences on their individual safety and security. Within a crowd, human beings are capable of being free of the fear of being touched, armed or oppressed and they perceive themselves as equal. This peculiar feature is a basis for the formation of an aggressive crowd or a mob. In addition to the desperation of the mob to carry out a particular act, irrespective of threats to individual safety, the mob is equally dangerous because of its inherent capacity to rapidly increase in size. This striking power of the mob is what Schweingraber (2000, pp. 371-389) describes as its “spiral of stimulation” that creates an urge to continuously grow in size. The mob’s growing density becomes an additional strength it has over individual capacities.
CHAPTER THREE
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
The study employed qualitative (focus group interview) to determine audiences emotional responses to the ‘horrific’ images of jungle justices. The method is useful in investigating audience emotional responses to the victims of jungle justice. The qualitative (interview) method is the best according to Easwaramoorthy and Zarinpoush (2006) when it has to do with generating data on audiences especially when it involves opinion, feeling, thoughts and experiences. In this case, the study investigates the emotional and opinionated responses of Nigerian audiences towards victims of jungle justice.
Sampling and Population
In order to arrive at a reliable finding/conclusion in measuring audiences’ emotional responses, the study employed non-probability sample by using convenience sample as a sampling technique in carrying out the research. Convenience sampling is the type of non-probability sampling in which target population is selected for a study if such members meet “certain practical criteria, such as geographical proximity, availability at a certain time, easy accessibility, or the willingness to volunteer” (Farrokhi, 2012, p.785). In this case, the sample method is chosen because of the proximity between the researcher and her population and also willingness of the chosen samples to participate in the interview. A total of number 58 persons participated in the focus group interview. Participants were assigned pseudonyms in keeping with the ethical requirements.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
Nigerian Audiences’ Reactions to Images of Jungle Justice victims
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusion
Mob justice is becoming not only a social menace but also of global concern. It has developed to be an international issue because the internet has expanded its scope beyond the geographical entity called Nigeria. Concerns have shifted from the general understanding that these illegal activities of ad hoc groups, who unlawfully and indiscreetly administer justice, are manifestations of failing criminal justice system. Other perspectives to explain the increasing level of jungle justice are emerging. Social media, along with its several positive functions, has been identified, on the basis of theoretical assumptions and empirical findings, as not only a trigger for mob attacks but as an extension of the mob, the perpetrators and keen onlookers.
These are the categories of crowd who find jungle justice to be an appealing and justifiable alternative to the formal justice administration system.
This study has examined Nigerian audiences’ reactions to images of suffering on social media. The study has proven that despite the kind of medium used to depict victims of suffering, it is still capable of raising emotional response and reactions from Nigeria audiences. It also shows that when Nigeria’s are faced with images of suffering, responsibilities are assigned to themselves but the permanent solutions are left to the Government. The results have demonstrated that that Nigeria audiences are moved by media images of suffering and not numb as argued by Moeller (1999) who argues that audiences are becoming numb with media bombarding them with images of victims (Moeller’s argument is not empirically proven).. Moreover, the study equally found that women are more emotionally moved on seeing such images compared to a men. This finding corroborated that of Hoijer (2004) which earlier found that women often show more emotional response to images of suffering.
Recommendation
The researcher, while in the field, observed heavy, uncontrolled traffic of mob justice scenes. There is therefore an urgent need to put cyber-laws of this nature in place so as to check these excesses. Continuous efforts that identify several aspects of cyber-crimes are ongoing. Cyber terrorism, malware, drug trafficking deals, cyber stalking, and “Yahoo-Yahoo” (internet fraud), among others, are aspects of crimes committed via the internet and are gradually gaining legislative attention. Crime against persons that includes the posting and sharing of offensive images and videos of brutally killed crime suspects equally constitutes one of the most significant cyber-crimes. It can therefore not be ignored but be given adequate legal attention. Bloggers should take legal responsibilities for all posts and news on their blog. As jungle justice is criminal, the act of filming mob attacks by members of the mob should also be explicitly classified as criminal as a matter of law. Enforcement of these proposed cyber-laws is also absolutely important to keep the escalation of mob justice in check.
In order to enhance effective enforcement of law against “cyber-mob justice,” reformation of the Nigeria Police Force and other law enforcement agencies should be seriously adhered to. It is crucial to continuously improve on funding, training and equipping of Nigeria law enforcement agencies. For example, to meet the UN recommended ratio of one policeman to 400 residents of a country (Nwanze, 2014), the police force would need to be staffed with over 100,000 personnel. This will include the recruitment of cyber-experts among the law enforcement agents to effectively trace the sources of uncensored and obscene videos and pictures and prosecution of suspected perpetrators.
There are no known studies so far that have explored this subject matter(audiences response to images of victims on social media) in Nigeria, which is why this study is important. To this end, more research should be done in this regards since social media have formed part of our everyday life; many people, especially the young adults are dependent on this for information. Although the extent to which the findings in this study can be generalised remains unclear, it is expected that it will contribute to the body of existing literature on media representation/depictions of jungle justice and audiences emotional responses in Nigeria and elsewhere.
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