Adeela Shafi: The media must stop tarnishing whole communities with one brush in its reporting of the horrific sex gangs

Adeela Shafi was Conservative candidate for Bristol East at the 2010 general election and is Lecturer in Psychology at the University of the West of England.

Yesterday I travelled up to Oldham to facilitate and co-ordinate several meetings with women encouraging them to use their vote in the upcoming by-election.

However, on my way up I found myself reeling from the horror of the story revealed in The Times (£) on the sexual exploitation of young girls in the north of England, including the Oldham area.  As well as the horror of the crime itself I am also thinking ‘Here we go again. The Muslim tag applied yet again and somehow people will bring it back to Islam’.  Gosh.  Why can’t people see that crimes are committed by people not religions?

Heinous as these crimes are, the Times has accorded it disproportionate space.  I mean, a 5-page spread further creating, reinforcing, encouraging an image that Pakistani men are dangerous.  If they are not terrorists blowing people up, they are terrorising our girls.  How fair is it to label the Pakistani man even further.  Does one particular group really deserve this based on the actions of a few?

What this also reveals, I am sad to say, is a tip of the iceberg, perhaps not just in the crime itself but what it says about our care system.  What made it easy for these men to prey on these girls is numerous ranging from their own profession, the easy access to vulnerable girls as well as a view that, ‘well, these girls don’t have anyone watching over them’.  Even if they did come from decent homes, the Western lifestyle meant that they would still be easily manipulated as there is less parental control.  It is also another prod on the care system as to why these girls are being failed.  ‘In care’ should mean in care.

Adeela Shafi: The internet has diluted the boundaries we normally adhere to in real life - but people must be more accountable for their online activity

Adeela Shafi was candidate for Bristol East at the general election and is a lecturer in Psychology at the  University of the West of England. In the wake of recent "internet gossip" about William Hague, she explores how the internet has diluted the boundaries we normally adhere to in real life and how the internet takes on a life of its own…

Imagine travelling back in time 50 years where you try to explain the concept of the Internet to someone before it was invented.

Well, you might describe it as another world – a virtual world which exists ‘out there’.  Except that it does not actually exist, it’s just a virtual world that you ‘logon to’, hook up to, reach up to.  If you have read Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway tree, it is a bit like the land up there in the clouds, not really real, but when you are on there or ‘logged on’ it feels real.

They call it Windows and that certainly is what it is – a Window out into that virtual world.  Gosh, I might sound a bit bonkers to that someone I am talking to from 50 years ago!

But it is actually a Revolution. Revolution because it has changed modern life for ever.  Never in his wildest dreams would Alexander Bell have thought that his initial invention of the now humble telephone would lead to such a global communication tool and virtual world.  Another place that people would live in.  Not literally, but you could actually live a life through it, such as socialise and meet people, shop, pay bills, gain qualifications, research, play games, get directions, book travel arrangements…basically anything but procreate! 

The globe feels more like a tennis ball, opening up new ways of human interaction through social networks, instant messaging, international trade…the list is endless. 

Now don’t get me wrong.  I love the internet.  My laptop takes its equal turn with my kids at sitting on my lap.  I often imagine the real people that make shopping on the internet a reality.  Me pressing a few buttons has triggered off someone real getting something off a real shelf, packing it and delivering it.  It made a difference of some digits in their bank account and mine.  And I get an item without leaving my house or seeing anyone apart from the delivery man.  Cool !

Adeela Shafi: The welfare state should be reformed so that it is again a stepping stone rather than a landing base

Adeela Shafi was Conservative candidate in Bristol East at the general election and is a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of the West of England.

"We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" - Albert Einstein

The existence of the Welfare State gives me great comfort.  To know that in days of need I will have a fallback, someone to help me, someone to hold my hand as I get back up again, be it a case of ill-health, unemployment or retirement.  Indeed the welfare state could be said to be one of the main achievements of the post imperialist developed world.

But what is the psychological impact of the welfare state upon the individual and society?  The initial and original effect was a positive one, but over time the system has led to some actual and potentially devastating consequences for the individual and ultimately to society.

Knowing that your basic needs will be met gives you the confidence and esteem to reach your potential.  According to Abraham Maslow’s (1908-1970) theory of human motivation and the Hierarchy of Needs, an individual can only reach his/her true potential if the most basic needs are met.  For example, food, water and shelter and other bodily needs would be a human’s most basic needs.  Once these are met, a human can address the next tier of needs of self esteem, belonging, identity, respect.  Only once all these needs are met can a human strive to realise their full potential and reach the pinnacle which is called Self Actualisation.  This is the point where a human being fulfils their potential, is able to bring out the best in themselves and the point where an individual is comfortable enough with themselves to achieve personal growth with a lesser concern for the opinions of others.  It is these people who often are the forward thinkers, the inventers, the innovators, the mould breakers within their communities.

Whilst perhaps not at the forefront when the welfare state emerged, but no doubt somebody, somewhere must have been aware that by meeting basic survival needs, the country could getting to the state where its workforce were so demoralised that they could not, as an aggregate, progress the country. Hence by meeting the most basic needs of its people, Britain could get back on its feet and continue to enjoy an influential position on the world stage as it had done through its history.

Adeela Shafi: Supporting the family is essential if we are to rid this country of the burgeoning knife and gun culture

Adeela Shafi is the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Bristol East and a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of the West of England.

The statistics say that knife and gun crime is no more prevalent than at any other time. But go behind the statistics to the people: we have on average one person a day in the UK being killed by knife crime. Now I don’t know about you, but to me that is a lot in so called civilised society.

Much of this knife and gun crime is being committed by young people on other young people. So what is going on? Why are young people so intent on carrying knives, guns, doing drugs, binge drinking and being part of a gang? Why is "gang culture" now an official term used by politicians and sociologists alike?

No doubt one of the biggest fears facing many parents is that their son, or even daughter, may get embroiled in such a gang. Drink, drugs, knives, guns, gangs… all these terms make me coil in horror and I am already worried about my 7-year-old son.

So what is it that is making our young boys and indeed some girls feel that a gang is the only way to earn respect. Respect is a word used all too loosely and too often people find it difficult to define, but we all know what we mean by it. Interviews with young people have cited it as a reason for carrying a knife, a reason to be involved in drugs, a justification for a criminal act. Binge drinking… to drown reality, lose any inhibitions that might limit what they do. High on drugs… because to have a good time you must be "out of it".