Veneer of innocence shielding provincial communities hides darker truths about violence and human nature

Instances of conflict have increased throughout Greece over the past decade as people have lost their sense of solidarity and faith in institutions

By Lina Giannarou - Kathimerini

The recent massacre near Agrinion, where a young farmer shot and killed five hunters who had trespassed on his land, shocked the public. To protect a few square meters of pasture, a young man ended the lives of five young men and ruined his own.

Now that the initial shock has abated and the hysterical talking heads on television have moved on to other tragedies, people are taking a closer look at the crime. For instance, some are considering the words of the perpetrator’s father, who said the tragedy was a result of a “bad moment” in the otherwise tranquil life in the Greek provinces.

But others are not buying this perspective or the idea that the provinces are ensconced in a veneer of innocence.

Vassilis Karydis, a criminologist and associate professor at the University of the Peloponnese, was not at all surprised by the news of the murder.

“Especially now, when we can look at it with more detachment, the only substantive difference with this murder is the number of victims,” Karydis told Kathimerini. “In rural communities disputes over a few meters of land often end in tragedy when a flock strays onto the wrong spot.”

Karydis noted that in the culture of a closed provincial community, the issues of defending property rights and of honor are seen in a totally different way from the way city dwellers might see them. “There are codes, limits beyond which you cannot retreat. You cannot tolerate having your property or your honor questioned.”

It is not by chance, the research shows, that people convicted of such crimes have hitherto led blame-free lives. And in prison offenders serving life sentences for such crimes typically do not enjoy any status or respect.

“People who belong to the subculture of the underworld recognize that what sent such offenders to prison was no more than a coincidental event,” Karydis said.

“It is obvious that the crime derives from a code of values in which safeguarding one’s land is a right, and that justifies taking the law into one’s own hands, even by means of violence, against anyone who threatens it or infringes on it,” Yiannis Panousis, professor of criminology at Athens University, told Kathimerini. He explained that this was a notion of manliness, which arose in earlier historical and social eras, but which continues to linger in closed communities.

This does not, of course, mean that all the residents of Kalyvia would react in the same way as the killer of the five men. However, as clinical psychologist Anastasia Paraskevopoulou-Rush told Kathimerini: “When there is a predisposition, the oppression exerted by a closed provincial community can act as a catalyst.” Every small community has its own rules, values that you should adapt to if you want to survive in it. Besides, in the provinces material things are far more important. Everyone tries to demonstrate their worth by what they own. Those things define them. So it is not unusual for someone with a slightly dysfunctional personality to be oppressed in a community that places so much emphasis on fields and money and at some moment snaps. Small communities breed illness.”

Most crimes of violence in Greece occur in the provinces. Of the 260 murders committed throughout Greece in 2005, only 49 took place in Attica.

“In addition, official crime statistics are only the tip of the iceberg. Since the provinces present most of the visible crime, they presumably also present most of that which does not become known. In short, everyday life in the provinces is much more violent than the statistics show,” said Karydis, who pointed out that in the past decade violence has overflowed into the entire community.

“The fact that our trust in institutions has decreased has made all of us willing to take justice into our own hands,” he added. “This is apparent from the way we handle a minor traffic incident or a rebuke from a manager. Understanding and solidarity have diminished considerably. These effects are magnified in the provinces and the fact that people carry guns means the consequences are often tragic.”

Panousis added: “At some point we must realize that to the so-called little secrets of local communities are lethal. This is why a society of solidarity and trust must have prevention and support mechanisms, and not cover-ups.”