Anti Social Behaviour
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UK National Anti Social Behaviour Policy
Over the past decade, UK government concern has led to the development of comprehensive legislation and the dedication of resources to tackling the problems of anti social behaviour.
The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act defines anti-social behaviour as 'behaviour which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more people who are not in the same household as the perpetrator'. Among the forms it can take are:
- graffiti, fly tipping and abandoning motor vehicles
- abusive and intimidating language
- noise nuisance
- drunken or rowdy behaviour
However, the emphasis on tackling anti social behaviour and the constant search for tougher remedies has led to some stark anomalies across the country with some local authorities supporting frequent use of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (Manchester and Camden being two examples of the blanket use of these orders) whereas many others have strictly limited the use of ASBO's and have been more inclined to provide intervention and support services to divert people from anti social behaviour - see ASB Intervention Process Map.
With the demise of the Respect Task Force in October 2007 and the change in emphasis of the current government toward a separation of youth anti social behaviour - to be addressed by the new Youth Task Force - from general anti social behaviour (which one assumes will be once again broken down into its component parts such as criminal damage, noise nuisance, threatening behaviour/harassment etc) the concept of Anti Social Behaviour - as a specific description for a form of illegal activity may well be on the way out.
Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships and Anti Social Behaviour
Most CDRP’s have, since their inception, been committed to reducing anti social behaviour (ASB) and have identified this area of work as a local priority. In consequence many local authorities have joined with their partners to provide a holistic approach to reduce ASB through multi agency strategy implementation and, in some cases, joint enforcement services. It is now widely agreed that no one agency can effectively tackle these problems in isolation.
The principle of partnership working is now well recognised by the Government and local agencies alike and has been incorporated into legislation including the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which created statutory partnerships and the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003.
The problems associated with anti social behaviour are complex and so are their solutions but it is now generally accepted that left unchecked, anti-social behaviour brings misery to people's lives and damages communities. Its effects are most destructive in areas that are already fragile and where services are over-stretched.
Anti Social Behaviour Strategies
Many CDRP’s have developed ASB Reduction Strategies written with the aim of providing a co-ordinated partnership response and intended to be compatible with all the partners’ efforts and commitments to reducing anti social behaviour and realising the ‘Anti Social Behaviour National Strategy’.
These developments should be seen in the context of a range of other measures and initiatives, mainly arising from the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, and the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act aimed at ensuring a satisfactory and peaceful environment for local residents.
Controlling Anti Social Behaviour on the Streets
Research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Trust into the use of anti social behaviour enforcement against 'street users' points to a need for a major reappraisal of the types their use. The impact of enforcement on street users in England, identifies that 'softer' forms of enforcement, such as controlled drinking zones and environmental design simply displace the problem, whereas harder formers of enforcement, such as ASBO's, have a powerful effect. But that any use of enforcement was a high risk and unpredictable strategy when working with vulnerable people (also see below).
New
powers to tackle underage drinking, including making it easier for
police to confiscate alcohol, move on groups of young people causing trouble and a new offence of persistent possession of alcohol by a young person came into effect on the 29 January.
The
powers were introduced through the Policing and Crime Act 2009 and can
be used by police forces across England and Wales. Guidance on the new
tiered approach designed to tackle underage drinking in public places,
culminating in the use of the new offence is available at:
A TIERED APPROACH TO TACKLING YOUNG PEOPLE DRINKING ALCOHOL IN
PUBLIC PLACES
Sustainable Anti Social Behaviour Reduction
ASB strategies need to support a range of interventions if the reduction in anti social behaviour is to be sustainable. They will focus on effective prevention, intervention, enforcement. An unbalanced strategy will focus on one of these areas (such as enforcement) but will consequently not lead to a sustainable reduction in anti social behaviour but rather, at best, a temporary reduction.
PREVENTION - This focuses on ways of ensuring that anti-social behaviour can be prevented from occurring through work to guide, advise and educate people, effectively deal with behaviours which if allowed to continue would cause anti social behaviour (for instance mental health issues, neighbourhood disputes and environmental degradation) and social and economic alienation. Reduction programmes must include targeted youth activities and youth services, schools advice and guidance programmes and ‘community capacity building’ through active social and economic regeneration.
INTERVENTION - has the perpetrator as the centre of focus to identify Perpetrators of ASB should be given the opportunity to change their behaviour. They should also be informed clearly of the consequences if their behaviour does not cease. Warnings backed up by credible and sustained intervention (often through the use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts - see guidance below), work well to manage and further prevent individual acts of ASB. This should be backed up by work with young people at risk of being involved in higher levels of ASB and their families and carers. Additionally, intervention should include reducing the incidents of identified problems such as, enviro-crime, the ASB associated with drug use and gangs, prostitution in specific areas through targeted activity.
ENFORCEMENT - Ensuring that existing legislation is used systematically and consistently. Enforcement activity will include the active involvement of services to intervene in the lives of those causing ASB (as above) and will also involve the appropriate use of legal restraining orders such as Anti Social Behaviour Orders and injunctions. However, enforcement activity is far broader than and should include the overall enforcement activities of municipalities, the activities of social landlords, environmental and public protection services.
Toward Integrated Offending Behaviour Management
ASBO's
on their own rarely encourage effective intervention by the criminal
justice services and definitely were not intended to be an alternative
to statutory community supervision. Technically they are more or less a
conditional discharge and they are no substitute for either youth
offending team or probation supervision or criminal justice
intervention. Yes, ASBO's can be combined with other, more stringent
interventions but in their original state they were intended as a
simple way of dealing with those on the cusp of offending not as a
cheap way of getting rid of troublesome and more intractable criminal
behaviour.
It is no coincidence that the most visited page on this site is the one which looks at anti social behaviour. The use of the ASBO as a quick way of dealing with more serious offending is demanding more skills and more powers to avoid dangerousness. However convenient the ASBO might at first appear, its inappropriate (but well intentioned) use is leading to underestimations of risk and public protection needs and a lack of approrpritate responses and support to anti social behaviour teams from the police, probation services and youth offending teams.
The upshot is that in many places in the UK there is a slow evolution toward a public protection and multi agency co-ordination of 'Offending Management'. Sometimes it is based upon a local MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements) and sometime it is based upon the local or regional co-ordination body for delivering anti social behaviour reduction. At the moment these developments are piecemeal and need to be owned by both the government and the local CDRP but they are bridging a gap and need to be systematically developed by each CDRP.
Further information contact us at: developmentservice@community-safety.info._______________________________________________________________________________
Anti Social Behaviour Service Links
A Home Office 'toolkit' giving the background to anti social behaviour, an analysis of the issues and local solutions.
ASBO Concern is a campaigning alliance of organisations and individuals who are concerned about the use of anti social behaviour orders.
The website for the Government's now defunct Respect drive - tackling anti-social behaviour and its causes. The Respect drive is a cross UK Government strategy.
Anti Social Behaviour - Practice Links
Tackling Anti Social Behaviour
A
new leaflet (February 2010) issued as part of the new government anti
social behaviour campaign explaining where to go for help to tackle
anti-social behaviour and how to help solve anti-social behaviour
problems in neighbourhoods.
Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC's): Home Office Guidance
An ABC is a written, voluntary agreement between a person who has been involved in anti-social behaviour and the police and local services whose role it is to prevent such behaviour.
Citizens Advice Bureau pages on how to deal with anti-social behaviour in housing including harassment, bullying, vandalism and noise.
This is a summary of the toolkit for anti-social behaviour managers and others who are seeking to use performance measures to develop and improve their anti-social behaviour services.
Guidance On Use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts
An Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC) is a written, voluntary agreement between a person who has been involved in anti-social behaviour and the police and local services whose role it is to prevent such behaviour. This guidance is published by the UK Home Office.
Criminal Damage
Criminal Damage : Home Office Mini-site
Background information and details of ways to tackle criminal damage.
Keep Britian Tidy Group (formerly ENCAMs - Environmental Campaigns)
Home page the environmental charity which runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and which supports the reduction in criminal damage in the UK.
Criminal Damage Act 1971
The Act of Parliament concerned with criminal damage reduction.
Specialist Anti Social Behaviour Articles
Anti Social Behaviour Strategies: Finding the balance
A Joseph Rowntree Foundation study looking at national attitudes to anti-social behaviourand what measures have been taken to tackle it in three case-study neighbourhoods.
New Labour, Anti-social Behaviour and Asbos: Matters Arising
A critical essay by Timi Osidipe of York University.
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