The use of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) on children needs to be reviewed. That is according to new research titled Make Me A Criminal, from the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) to be published next month.
According to the think-tank, the report argues that ‘ASBO culture’ can become a self-fulfilling prophecy and that ASBOs for young people should be made more effective.
The call comes ahead the widely anticipated Children’s Plan, expected to be published by the Government shortly. One in four of all young people aged 10 to 25 (almost three million young people) offend each year. Of those, more than half reported committing a serious offence(including assault with injury, theft from a person, theft of a vehicle, burglary, selling Class A drugs or robbery).
The report is critical of the lowering of the age of criminal responsibility to 10. It will argue that:
ASBOs should not be used on children younger than 12 unless accompanied by family or parenting orders.
All children, including older children (13-18), should be assessed before being given an ASBO
ASBOs for children should be scaled back to between six months and two years, instead of the current two to ten years
Anti-Social Behaviour legislation should be reformed, so that the most-at risk parents are targeted with tailored support and services to divert their children from crime.
ippr says that its report will show that a lack of adult supervision of children and teenagers in communities where adults do not know their neighbours and where teenage groups go unsupervised on the street has increased the risk of youth crime and violence. The report recommends:
New supervision in play areas (like new style ‘Play Rangers’ or traditional Park Keepers)
More welfare teams of professionals (like social workers, behavioural psychologists and family welfare officers) located in schools where children are at greatest risk of underachievement and anti-social behaviour
New staffed adventure playgrounds in disadvantaged areas.
What they say
ippr Co-Director, Carey Oppenheim, said: “The problem with ‘kids these days’ is the way adults are treating them. Britain is in danger of becoming a nation fearful of its young people: a nation of paedophobics. We need policy which reminds adults – parents and non-parents alike – that it is their responsibility to set norms of behaviour and to maintain them through positive and authoritative interaction with young people.”
ippr’s report will argue that children need adults who give them:
Consistency in rules and discipline
Warmth and interest
Stability and security
Authority without hostility.
ippr’s report identifies beneficial activities which combine skills-acquisition, hierarchy, interaction with adult authority figures and constructive activity, including:
Sport, drama or arts based activities at which attendance is regular and consistent, skills are acquired and a final goal is worked towards
Uniformed activities such as Scouts, Guides Martial Arts and Cadets where skills are acquired and rewarded through badges, belts and ranks.
But ippr’s report warns that activities which are associated with offending include:
Regular, unsupervised socialising with peers in disadvantaged, high-crime areas
Regularly socialising with older antisocial teenagers, without adult supervision.
The report warns that early or isolated use of ASBOs, juvenile curfews and boot camps can be counter productive and actually encourage youth crime:
