Scotland is failing to adapt to new "different and urgent" online and social media trends that are facilitating violence around young people.

A three-year study has shown that, despite world-leading reductions in violent crime in the country, rates remain stubbornly high with Glasgow seeing more violence than many cities in Western and Northern Europe.

Violence reduction has slowed and the aftermath of Covid-19 has seen swingeing cuts to local services and physical spaces for young people - sending them on to social media platforms where conflict and intimidation is becoming an increasing concern.

Experts said there is a "fear bubbling up" around the part technology is playing in modern gang culture - and authorities are being slow to respond.

The report, Safe Space? The past and present of violence reduction in Scotland, saw researchers from Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities and the Open University interview nearly 200 participants about their experience of violence.

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Professor Alistair Fraser, of the University of Glasgow and co-author of the report, said: “The story of Scotland’s violence is an important one to tell.

"Over the course of the last 20 years we have seen how a growing chorus of support for a public health approach to violence, led by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit, has brought about real change.

"However, this success doesn’t mean the story has ended, and these new trends around youth culture and violence feel different and urgent.

"Having spoken to many young people, youth workers and practitioners as part of this research, there seems to be a fear bubbling up around the part technology can play in today’s forms of violence."

The report details a young person telling the research team about arguments starting over the social media platform Snapchat, which has been used by young people to organise gang meet ups.

He said: "You start arguing over Snapchat, two full schemes going at it…telling them you’re going to kill them and [all] that… it’s no good man, it’s frightening.”

Youth workers shared their concerns at the loss of physical spaces for young people to meet and socialise, turning them instead to online spaces.

One youth worker said a local youth project had been converted into a Covid-19 testing centre but, instead of reinstating the young person's space, the building now lies derelict.

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The worker said: "There are these spaces, but they're lying empty, so there needs to be people actually in them, and facilitating activities."

Another supported this by saying: “If there’s nothing in their communities and there’s nothing happening, then they’re going to build a community digitally”.

Professor Fraser urged policymakers, social media platforms and youth practitioners to "work together and learn from young people about how to create and protect ‘safe spaces’ between community and digital sites".

He said: “There is a lot of fear about the impact of technology but it’s here to stay and we need to learn from young people about how to support their safety both online and on the street.”

Scotland's Violence Reduction Unit - initially set up to deal with high levels of violence in Glasgow before turning country-wide - has helped shift policy makers and the courts towards a public-health approach to tackling the issue.

However, academics said, there was a gap in any specific research looking at exactly why this approach worked.

Rates of violence in Scotland, while still comparatively high, have remained relatively stable for the last seven years but appear to be increasing south of the border, which has led to 20 violence reduction units being created in England and Wales.

New South Wales in Australia has also copied the Scottish model with a VRU set up there.

The report also details that, while the overall trend for Scotland is similar to that for other countries, the homicide trend for Glasgow was very different to other cities, especially during a particularly sharp increase between 2004 to 2006.

However, homicide in Glasgow fell by 60% from its highest point in 2006 to its lowest point in 2014 while the reduction in London’s homicide rate was lower than Glasgow, at 48% between 2004 and 2015.

The overall homicide rate in Glasgow remains higher than London.

The research team interviewed 190 participants including third sector, healthcare, government, police, youth work and young people affected by violence.

Co-author of the report, Dr Keir Irwin-Rogers of the Open University, urged politicians to back the violence reduction units with long-term funding and support.

He said: "We must provide VRUs with the resources and space to focus on the root causes of violence.

"At the same time, we should recognise that significant and sustained declines in violence will require a long-term, cross-departmental commitment to reducing a range of harms in children and young people’s lives."