Wake Me Up Inside: Asbos

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Wake me up Inside By Melissa Jane Knight Do Anti-Social Behavioural Orders (ASBOs) serve as a tool of behavioural reform or do they act as an instrument of cultural reproduction?

This was my final year dissertation and was awarded 81 marks from Goldsmiths College, University of London in 2006. The statistics may have altered since then but I hope you think as I do, that the theory still very much retains its relevance. Melissa Jane Knight 2009 + 44 7886 116 055 [email protected]

1

22032864 Sociology and Politics

‘Asbos do nothing to deal with the causes of anti-social behaviour and can distort the work that is being done to build stronger communities. The government is increasing the use of Asbos, despite the fact there is no evidence that they work. Home Office figures show that more than four in 10 Asbos have been breached.’ (Asboconcern.org 2005)1

1

http://www.asboconcern.org.uk/asbowrong.html. [footnotes used for internet addresses and bibliographical references have not been counted in the word limit]

2

22032864 Sociology and Politics

‘A class is defined as much by its being-perceived as by its being’ Pierre Bourdieu (1984), Distinction

Introduction This dissertation principally deals with young people with ASBOs issued as a consequence of deviant behaviour. Wake me up Inside argues that for a young person (10-17 years old) an Anti-Social Behavioural Order (ASBO) is an inappropriate form of behaviour management. Currently holding a minimum of two years before they can be withdrawn, ASBOs actually serve as an instrument of cultural reproduction, operating as labels that enforce the particular subjectivity initially created within the act that permitted the ASBO that then becomes reinforced through the everyday lived experience of being the performer of that act. By using exclusive methods of punitive justice, ASBOs further dissipate community bonds. Consequently ASBOs have a high re-offending rate and therefore the antisocial actions communities wish to stamp out seem to only work on individuals who were never that ‘anti-social’ to begin with. More worryingly, ASBOs can deject adolescents from cultural rites of passage - being in a gang, wearing hoods, making noise, playing football - into an unnecessary space of criminalisation. This is not a definitive account of how ASBOs affect all those young people issued with them. This is a theoretical account, using the works of thinkers and drawing on my experiences as a youth worker.

3

22032864 Sociology and Politics

I have divided this dissertation into three main parts. Part One deals with ASBOs in relation to government papers and legislation, official documents, and media coverage, outlining what ASBOs are, what they do, the arguments both for and against. Part Two then deals with what ASBOs represent, questioning the term ‘anti-social’, understanding adolescent behaviours within an interdisciplinary framework comprising cultural-criminology, sub-cultural theory and discourse surrounding cultural reproduction. Part Three then offers practical ways forward, contextualised through an analysis of what it means to discipline a young person in order to receive a genuine feeling of punishment without witnessing further ‘anti-social’ behaviour, self-exclusion, or rejection of the community.

4

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Part One: ASBO Legislation and Media Coverage Since 1st April 1999, Magistrates courts have been given powers to issue Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). ASBO legislation forms part of the overarching Crime and Disorder Act 1998 that aims to locate ways to reduce overall crime and disorder in England and Wales. The Act states a number of factors why a person may be issued with an ASBO that surround causing ‘harassment, alarm or distress’ to a person or people who do not live in the same home as the individual in question2. An ASBO can be issued to an individual from as young as ten years old. If an Order is issued, it prohibits the defendant from the actions that are brought against them. The Order lasts for a minimum period of two years from the date issued and cannot be withdrawn before that date unless the issuing authorities wish to do so. These Orders are not criminal, they are civil, and are negotiated through the rules of civil evidence. ASBOs, therefore, do not give the holder a criminal record however to disobey them is a criminal offence. Breach of the ASBO must be clearly evidenced. This usually sees communities filming each other, if required with local authority owned filming equipment. Though they are civil orders, ASBOs can hold some severe consequences. Individuals in breech of their ASBO can serve a maximum of six months in prison and/or a fine ‘on summery conviction’ or up to five years imprisonment and/or a fine ‘on conviction of indictment’ (Crime and Disorder Act 1998)3. In March 2002, Parliament pushed forth some reforms on ASBOs which included creating an ‘interim ASBO’ while the full process to obtain an ASBO proceeds; for ASBOs to travel with the individual should they move; to extend the right to issue Orders to Transport Police and registered social landlords; and allowing County Courts to make Orders.

2 3

Crime and Disorder Act 1998: <www.opsi.gov.uk/act/act1998/98037--b.html#1> (cited 2 April 2006) Crime and Disorder Act 1998: ibid

5

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Local authorities and police use ASBOs as part of ‘local crime and disorder strategies’ under the guidance that ASBOs are an appropriate form of discipline (crimereduction.gov)4. ASBOs are not viewed by authorities as a last resort. A first time offender can be issued with an ASBO as easily as an individual who has threatened or intimidated the community for many years. The Home Office outlines ASBOs are the result of much needed reform with the main aim of ensuring the wider public do not feel powerless when faced with constant threatening behaviour such as vandalism, violence, and intimidation. ASBOs are therefore a public protection strategy. Official recommendations are made to issuing courts about serving an ASBO to an individual or individuals based on complaints made by members of the community with the clear intention of legally protecting the safety and needs of that community. ‘The common element in all anti-social behaviour is that it represents a lack of respect or consideration for other people. It shows a selfish inability or unwillingness to recognise when one’s individual behaviour is offensive to others, and a refusal to take responsibility for it. More fundamentally it shows a failure to understand that one person’s rights are based on the responsibilities we have towards others and towards our families and our communities.’ (Home Office 2003:17 in Bond-Taylor 2005: 3)

Bond-Taylor (2005) understands the Government stance on antisocial behaviour through Wilson and Kelling’s ‘broken window thesis’ (1982), the idea that if broken windows are left unfixed, grafitti left to expand, and youths left to hang around shops, ‘crime increases, fear goes up, and people feel trapped’ (David Blunkett in Home Office 2003, in Bond-Taylor 2005: 1). Bond-Taylor explains that the government, however, has an inconsistent approach to anti-social behaviour, at one level positing a stance that strong communities are ‘integral to tackling anti-social behaviour’ yet then identifying some communities as the direct cause of anti-social behaviour, targeting 4

crimereduction.gov: <www.crimereduction.gov.uk/asbos1>

6

22032864 Sociology and Politics

‘less affluent housing estates’ for example, giving powers to social landlords to make moral judgements over the behaviour of tenants and individuals (Bond-Taylor 2005: 4). ‘Whilst providing new powers to tackle behaviour which is not criminal, [the government] also strengthens control over those engaging in criminal acts, by allowing a lower standard of proof to be used in granting an ASBO in a civil court and allowing the admission of hearsay evidence. This has clear implications for the administration of justice. The discretion and accountability of those professionals engaged in newly acquired ‘policing’ roles, such as those acting for the local authority, must therefore be scrutinised.’ (Bond-Taylor 2005: 5) ‘What makes this even more complex is that those communities with high levels of anti-social behaviour might well be more tolerant of it, and vice versa and therefore there must be an element of relativism to our conceptualisation of what is anti-social.’ (Bond-Taylor 2005: 4)

Anti-social behaviour was once the concern of communities, with newspapers reflecting a moral panic; Waiton (2006) argues: ‘Anxiety has now been institutionalised by the political elite’ (p.3). ‘The elevation of crime and, more recently, antisocial behaviour into a political issue has helped both reinforce the significance given to this kind of behaviour and to frame the way social problems are understood.’ (Waiton 2006: 2)

The politicising of behaviour as a social problem began with force when the conservative party announced in 1970 it was a party of law and order, reinforced by Thatcher’s speech about the ‘enemy within’ (Waiton 2006: 4). Criminals - whether trade unionists or burglars, were responsible for the denigration of society. The victim became a symbol of societal break down, moving the crime further away from the individual towards a crime against the state. Waiton marks 1992-1993 as the period where young people became intensely focused on as a major threat to social order.

7

22032864 Sociology and Politics

‘The “violent trade union militant” was now replaced by this “persistent young offender” as the “typical” criminal, and, as then home secretary Michael Howard explained, ‘self-centred…young hoodlums’ would ‘no longer be able to use age’ as a way of hiding from the law.’’ (Waiton 2006: 6)

This is now a cross party issue. The Labour MP Frank Field’s book ‘Neighbours from Hell: The Politics of Behaviour’ (2003) neglecting issues of housing and lack of opportunities outlines ‘how politics had become a matter of regulating behaviour’ (Waiton 2006: 8)5. New Labour insists ‘“securing people's physical security and freeing them from the fear of crime and disorder”’ is the ‘“greatest liberty government can guarantee”’ (New Labour in Waiton 2006: 9); ‘Liberty was transformed from the active freedom of individuals, to the protection given to them by government and the police’ (Waiton 2006: ibid). ‘Imprisonment, antisocial behaviour orders and more intense forms of behaviour management of parents and children increasingly became the political solution offered by New Labour to these problems.’ (Waiton 2006: 10)

It is important to view ASBOs within the wider context of behaviour management legislation. In October 2004, the government introduced compulsory parent training for ‘chaotic families’, including ‘family behaviour contracts’ and ‘on the spot’ fines for under sixteen’s, with parents responsible for payment, including any damage to property perpetrated by those under the age of ten (Tempest, The Guardian, 14 February 2005). In 2005, Home Office minister Hazel Blears set aside £1.25 million to monitor 50 anti-social ‘action areas’, threatening family evictions if their children do not stop misbehaving (Tempest: ibid). Since these measures, the Home Office reports decreasing figures of anti-social behaviour -‘25 per cent to 19 per cent over the last two years’ - in government targeted ‘Trailblazer and Action Areas’6.

5

In January 2004 alone there was over a thousand articles published highlighting anti-social behaviour as a major concern for government (Waiton 2006: 1). 6 Home Office link from: (cited 26/2/2006)

8

22032864 Sociology and Politics

But are these measures the most appropriate? According to Asboconcern7, in the second quarter of 2005 another 918 ASBOs were issued8. The total amount of ASBOs issued currently stands at 7,356 (crimereduction.gov)9. The percentage of those ASBOs that have been issued to young people has remained ‘a steady 43 per cent’10 – this translates to a total of 3,165 issued to those aged between ten and 17 years old11. In Manchester - recently coined ‘ASBO capital’ - ASBO legislation has been administered widely, comprising one of the highest issuing rates in the country with one in every 150 young people owning an ASBO12. British law usually protects the identity of minors, but ASBOs work differently with some localities printing regular ASBO-watch newsletters showing young peoples’ faces along with the reasons administering ASBOs13. The newsletters aid public surveillance, financed by local authorities who firmly believe the community should police itself, but consequently, this can further damage and divide communities: ‘Naming and shaming can stigmatise whole families and communities. It can lead to vigilante attacks. It can also, perversely, lead to asbos being seen by their recipients as ‘a badge of honour’ - hardly an outcome that helps reduce antisocial behaviour.’ (Asboconcern.org)14

Ben Taylor, a solicitor working full-time on ASBO cases, argues that governmenttargeted Manchester encourages ASBOs to be issued without proper consideration of the real effects these Orders have on the culture of the housing estates targeted. Taylor explains that: ‘“Estates in Manchester are imploding because of the council’s 7

Asboconcern is a mixture of charities, professionals, trade unions, community groups, young people and others who are concerned with ASBOs ‘stigmatising vulnerable groups including children and young people, people with mental health problems or disabilities, and the homeless’. Asboconcern supports inclusive initiatives by ‘social care, youth work and justice fields’ that encourage social inclusion in ‘appropriate, just, proportionate, positive and effective’ ways, campaigning for ‘properly funded, high quality youth services and support for vulnerable people’. 8 Asboconcern.org.uk, figures cited 20 January 2006 9 crimereduction.gov.uk: (cited 11 April 2006) 10 Asboconcern.org.uk, (cited 20 February 2006) 11 Figures from Asboconcern were accurate on 11 April 2006 12 According to a report on CBBC’s Newsround, BBC One, Tuesday 11th April 2006 13 It is also of concern that children and young people under the age of eighteen have their orders heard in an adult court room since the Youth Court do not own powers to hear civil proceedings see, Asboconcern.org: 14 Asboconcern.org.uk

9

22032864 Sociology and Politics

failure to listen to both sides in neighbour disputes”’ (Taylor in Weaver, The Guardian, 14 February 2005). Arguing ASBOs are only ‘“fanning the flames of an already difficult situation”’, Taylor believes that authorities should discourage court intervention in disciplining anti-social behaviour, instead mediating disputes within the community (Taylor in Weaver, 2005: ibid). Under increasing pressure from organisations including Asboconcern and Liberty, the Government has decided it will review the ASBOs of juveniles after the first year. This is still inadequate to Asboconcern, who, calling for an independent review of ASBOs, disagree that Home Office figures on decreasing anti-social behaviour justify the damage ASBOs are causing, including the criminalisation of vulnerable young people with learning difficulties, as well as ASBOs doing little to stop those young people who engage in anti-social behaviour from re-offending, (citing a minimum forty per cent breach rate). Using information from Youth Offending Teams, preliminary research by the British Institute for Brain Injured Children found that 1 in 3 ASBO holders under the age of 17 are considered to have ‘a diagnosed mental disorder or accepted learning difficulty’ (Asboconcern.org)15. Currently, there is ‘no routine monitoring of ASBOs by race or condition’ including if individuals have mental health problems: ‘In answer to a question from John McDonnell MP on 13th July 2003 asking how many anti social behavioural orders have been made in respect to children who suffer from (a) Tourette’s Syndrome (b) autism and (c) Asperger’s Syndrome, the Minister [Hazel Blears] replied “Information is not collected centrally about the characteristics of persons issued with an anti social behaviour order’ (Fletcher 2005: 4).

Hazel Blears made a similar statement in Parliament when asked about ASBOs being issued to persons with disabilities, yet also stated: ‘We have not received any evidence to suggest that ASBOs may disproportionately affect individuals with a disability’ (Fletcher 2005: ibid). Panorama also investigated this danger, emphasising

15

BIBIC Link from: cited 26/2/2006

10

22032864 Sociology and Politics

how young people with psychiatric problems and/or learning difficulties are incapable of understanding the ASBO they are breaching: ‘One is sixteen-years-old, of very low intelligence with an IQ of only 65, and suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. His ASBO prevented him for meeting in groups of more than three and banned him from entering streets close to his home. Over six months he breached his ASBO twenty-four times, each time is a criminal offence, resulting in numerous arrests and periods in police custody. This triggered self-harming which saw him set fire to himself in a cell and try to hang himself twice.’ (BBC Panorama, ‘Asbos on Trial’, 20th November 2005)

There are complex issues involved here. Does the law treat everyone equally or should the law positively discriminate in order to protect the vulnerable? Thollebeek and Baert argue equality under the law becomes impossible when ‘people can get completely different outcomes when given the same resources’ and therefore ‘ASBOs, when implemented should take into account the context of a specific behaviour’ (Thollebeek and Baert 2006:10). Other media attention on ‘wacky’ ASBOs include Trevor McDonald’s ‘ASBO Madness’ programme, which included ‘the girl with Tourette’s Syndrome whose Asbo bans her from swearing’. Fletcher (2005) reports numerous others, including the 15 year old who suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome banned from staring into his neighbour’s garden, and the 10 year-old boy from Bath who committed £80,000 worth of arson related damage, banned from using matches until he turns sixteen (Fletcher 2005:7).

These extreme cases highlight ASBOs as an overall

counterproductive way of reforming behaviour. Some broadsheet newspapers have taken a closer examination of the wider issues that surround the ASBO holder, including the Guardian’s series on ASBOs, identifying underlying factors which include poverty, an unstable home life, and educational underachievement. Though media attention can add to the problem. Tabloids can particularly heighten mass fear of youths as seen in the Mirror’s campaign to crack down on terrorising teens, publishing numerous sensational articles on the minority of

11

22032864 Sociology and Politics

dangerous young criminals and gangs. Justin Griggs, Head of Development at NALC (National Association of Local Councils) on the role of ASBOs told the British Youth Council that giving young people ‘good press’, sponsoring initiatives to set up local democratic structures run by young people, as well as lowering the voting age to sixteen, would see a dramatic shift in how young people are viewed, treated, and behave in Britain. Griggs argues that governments and the media could do more to disperse the negative myths that all young people are troublemakers and believes that ASBOs do nothing to protect the rights of young people but actually serve to disrespect them16. Some politicians have also spoken out against ASBOs. The European Commissioner for Human Rights, Alvaro Gil-Roblest, states: ‘It is essential…that measures to combat behaviour be both fair and effective. It is doubtful whether the excesses of the antisocial behaviour order and the high levels of juvenile detention achieve either of these aims’17. ‘Youth Justice Board figures show that nearly 50 young people were in custody for breaching an asbo in any month in 2004. That compares to an average of three young people a month between 2000 and 2002.’ (Asboconcern.org)18

The Police Reform Act 2002 and Anti-Social Behaviour Reform Act 2003 increases the powers of ASBOs, with additional legislation including the implementation of CASBOs – ASBOs with a criminal conviction attached. Both Acts allow ASBOs ‘to ban activity that is not in itself criminal, such as begging, prostitution, and even playing football and being sarcastic’ (Asboconcern.org)19. Asboconcern explain that issuing courts can administer ASBOs based on ‘hearsay evidence…that can criminalise people for behaviour that is not criminal’; breech of ASBOs only increases the number of prisoners, sometimes when ‘the original offence would not carry a prison sentence. Around 10 young people a week are imprisoned this way’ (Asboconcern.org)20. 16

British Youth Council: <www.byc.org.uk/wsmyc-jgans.html> Asboconcern 18 Asboconcern 19 Asboconcern: ibid 20 Asboconcern: ibid 17

12

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Though authorities insist ASBOs are working. With more than half of ASBOs being adhered to, police explain that the high breech rate simply means officers are able to tackle anti-social behaviour instead of being powerless when faced with badly behaving youths; if a young person is in breach of their ASBO they can be arrested, which immediately combats the problem (PC Pescud, in Osley 2005).

Many

residents cite a reduction in anti-social behaviour from individuals issued ASBOs, believing this also sends out messages to others that certain behaviour is unacceptable. Awards ceremonies now take place to empower community members who tackle anti-social behaviour. Hazel Blears recently presented ‘Respect Awards for Taking A Stand’ that give recognition to families, couples and individuals who stand up to those committing anti-social behaviour (Home Office 4 April 2006). ‘ASBOs make a real difference to people's lives by helping to rebuild confidence in communities and bringing the actions of a selfish minority to task’ (Hazel Blears, Direct.gov news, 29 June 2005)

It is interesting to analyse the language the government use to regulate behaviour. Lynn Raphael Reed and Pat Mahoney explain how war-like language is used within the education system (‘targets’, ‘strategies’, ‘hit-squads’, and ‘action zones’) rests heavily on an exclusive masculinity that often serves to further dislocate the disadvantaged (Raphael Reed and Mahoney in Epstein et al 1998:56-73). ASBO legislation resonates similar aggressive semiotics, using related rhetoric, for example ‘dispersal zones’ to describe areas where not more than three young people can be seen together, constituting a gang, allowing authorities to break them up. In the Home Office guidance notes on ASBOs the foreword mentions the community can ‘fight back’ and that anti-social legislation ‘is intended to help you to make the most effective possible use of two of the most important weapons in your armoury – the anti-social behaviour order or ASBO, and the ABC’ (John Denham MP, Home Office 2003: 4). Aside from belligerent language, a more dangerous, pervasive, and fundamental problem comes when ASBO discourse prohibits actions that are criminal offences (for example punching somebody) and juxtaposes these with actions that are non13

22032864 Sociology and Politics

criminal – such as playing football on the local green with more than three peers. What are we teaching young people about their behaviour if the same ASBO prohibits violent outbursts on the same plane as playing football? The discrepancy between the two actions become blurred within the language of ASBO legislation, sending out a confused message to the adolescent about which behaviour is acceptable or unacceptable, and about which actions the law has control over and which actions the individual has freedom to perform.

Individuals, groups, organisations, local

agencies… should question what power lies within ASBO discourse, who this power affects, and what are the effects of this power upon shaping those individuals, and discuss alternatives to regulating behaviour that do not ascribe negative and punitive forms of punishment, but actually build well-behaved and responsible children and young people. ASBOs serve to suggest that authorities have taken a punitive view of disciplining behaviour without adequately looking at the consequences of ASBOs to the development of these young people into adulthood. Part two aims to make such recommendations.

14

22032864 Sociology and Politics

‘The youth is related at any one time to the whole intricate and complex phenomena of youth culture. He lives inside this world, is immediately part of this world, lives out its meaning at several levels at different moments.’ (Willis 1974: 6)

15

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Part Two: anti-social behaviour as sub-social behaviour From now on, I want to question ‘anti-social’ as an adequate term that best describes deviant behaviours of young people, subsequently questioning ASBOs as an adequate form of discipline, punishment, and reform. I want to put forth the argument that ‘anti-social’ behaviour is actually a product of society. This is not to shy away from those young people engaged in deviant behaviour. Part Two considers ‘anti-social’ behaviour as a way of testing cultural boundaries between childhood and adulthood, suggesting this can often be temporary, shifting, and fragile behaviour in conflict with the determinism of ASBO legislation. Sue Bond-Taylor (2005) argues authorities have failed to view ‘anti-social’ behaviour as linked to complex cultural structures and hence ‘fail’ to achieve the ultimate goal ‘of building socially responsible communities’ (Bond-Taylor 2005:8). Since the term ‘ant-social’ assumes some form of shared beliefs, values, and norms about what is social behaviour, Bond-Taylor necessitates a culturally-led exploration into ‘antisocial’ behaviour. ‘The production of social norms, of moral codes and of expectations of behaviour must be understood alongside the cultural displays of right and wrong that societies present on a daily basis.’ (Bond-Taylor 2005: 5)

For example, through Wilson and Kelling (1982) graffiti is viewed as crime leading to more crime, but Ferrell (2005) suggests that graffiti can also be explained through cultural practices that involve ‘symbolic status’ (Bond-Taylor 2005:7). Bond-Taylor explains:

16

22032864 Sociology and Politics

‘…there are two elements to this – crime as culture, but also culture as crime. Whilst certain forms of crime might be developed into cultural forms, there is also the alternative, that deviant forms of cultural expression can be criminalised and subject to control.’ (Taylor 2005: 5)

To view culture as crime can have some severe consequences upon how the individual is perceived, and hence, treated. Bond-Taylor uses the recent reactions to hooded jumpers as a clear example of how youth culture can be criminalised. Largely perceived to be used by delinquent young people to avoid being recognised by CCTV or members of the community, the hooded jumper has become a symbol of criminal activity, with some public places, shopping centres and even universities banning the garment. However, wearing a ‘hoodie’, Bond-Taylor reminds us, is also an ‘expression of identity reflecting the culture of a generation’ (Bond-Taylor 2005: 6).

To

ban something that acts as a criminal

accessory

but

moreover a popular cultural expression involves an element of control. In this context, ASBOs can act as instruments that legitimise moral judgements, so that when previously the law was unable to chastise a youth group for wearing hooded jumpers outside the local shop - now police have power to disperse them for behaviour linked more to youth culture than criminality. Governments have a choice in how they view adolescent behaviour and ASBOs constitute how far the state control’s this behaviour; naming behaviour ‘anti-social’ represents ‘a social construction which indicates the new domain of professional power and knowledge’ (Brown 2004 in Bond-Taylor 2005:5). The Home Office has failed to issue current re-offending rates of ASBOs. This may be to do with the disregard of ASBOs as a form of discipline. Bond-Taylor explains that the persistence to engage in ‘anti-social’ behaviour is indicative of young people challenging state power and that ‘punishment and control are not always interpreted

17

22032864 Sociology and Politics

as undesirable’ (Bond-Taylor 2005: 7). Bond-Taylor invites us to understand the ‘sensual pleasures’ attached to owning an ASBO: ‘The imposition of an ASBO can be viewed as a symbol of belonging to a particular group, a mark of identity. This too reflects the cultural location of such behaviour…There is therefore a need to develop understanding of the pleasure to be gained from deviant acts and the function that they serve within the current cultural and economic location.’ (Bond-Taylor 2005: 7)

Albert Cohen’s ‘Delinquent boys, the culture of the gang’ (1955) is a key first-wave21 study, introducing the term ‘sub-culture’ as an in-depth explanation into deviant behaviour. Cohen found that those young men involved in what we now term ‘antisocial’ behaviour were disproportionately from lower classes, had lower educational attainment levels, living in deprived areas, with marginal career choices. Though a major cause, Cohen found that economic factors could not solely account for delinquent behaviour such as vandalism and intimidation, especially since not all ‘deprived’ youths are delinquent. Many of these young men were motivated by a loss of status within the dominant culture. They instead created their own values and attitudes – a sub-culture, and used delinquency as a way to gain status. Delinquent behaviours are often viewed as acts of self or group exclusion, rejecting the culture of society, but Jock Young’s work (2003) identifies that those who are involved in anti-social behaviour actually consume more culture, not less, identifying ‘a bulimic society where massive cultural inclusion is accompanied by systematic structural exclusion. It is a society that has both strong centrifugal and centripetal currents: it absorbs and it rejects’ (Young, 2003: 397 in Bond-Taylor 2005: 6). This is an important analysis, suggesting young people are engaging at the same time they are rejecting culture, whilst highlighting the performative roles within society, transforming the mainstream image that the state is the victim of ‘anti-social’ behaviour by highlighting how strands of society (located within one or more of the 21

From 1950s onwards a ‘mature’ approach to analysing sub-culture ensued, what the discipline now calls First Wave Sub-Cultural Theory. See also R Cloward & L Ohlin (1960) ‘Delinquency and Opportunity’ Glencoe: Free Press; JB Mays (1964) ‘Crime and Social Structure’; David Downes (1966) ‘The Delinquent Solution’ London: Routledge Kegan Paul. (Young 1998: 1)

18

22032864 Sociology and Politics

economic, political and cultural spheres) can also be the accomplice or instigator to ‘anti-social’ behaviour. People make decisions and behave according to ‘the comparisons they make’ and the relationship between adolescent behaviour and society becomes crucial since the individual draws comparisons from ‘structured forces’ existing within ‘a wider social order’ (Young 1998: 8).

Young argues that the social order also provides the

‘universal criteria’ from which to draw comparisons, and notes ‘a fundamental irony is that what is seen as the most basic example of anti-social behaviour is itself a product of the dominant values and economic pressures of conforming to society’ (Young 1998: 8): ‘The delinquent gang are not to be understood in terms of the values of an isolated group somewhere in the ghetto: but the gang must be understood in the ghetto and the ghetto within the culture, politics and economy of an advanced capitalist society.’ (Young 1998: 8)

Second-wave sub-cultural theorists invite us to consider behaviour being linked in complex ways to power and construct22. Mike Brake’s work (1980) explains youth culture as the ‘mini-politics of rebellion against obscure social forces. From this is created a collective symbolic identity which for a brief time during youth steps outside the stark reality of industrial society’ (p.177), arguing that: ‘…subcultures arise as attempts to resolve collectively experienced problems arising from contradictions in the social structure….This is nearly always a temporary solution, and in no sense is a real material solution, but one which is solved at the cultural level.’ (Brake 1980: vii)

22

Particularly in Britain from the 1970s the ideas of Cohen and his peers were developed into what is now referred to as Second Wave Sub-Cultural Theory, often a Marxist analysis into sub-cultural formations (Young 1998: 9). This includes the works of Mike Brake (1980) and Paul Willis (1977) used here. See also Stuart Hall et al (1978) ‘Policing the Crisis: mugging, the state, and law and order’ London: Macmillan; Philip Cohen & David Robins (1978) ‘Knuckle Sandwich: growing up in the working-class city’ Harmondsworth: Penguin; Paul Corrigan (1979) ‘Schooling the Smash Street Kids’ London: Macmillan; Dick Hebdidge (1979) ‘Subculture: The Theory of Style’ London: Methuen; Ken Pryce (1979) ‘Endless Pressure: a study of West Indian life-styles in Bristol’ Harmondsworth: Penguin.

19

22032864 Sociology and Politics

From this angle, ASBOs can be extremely damaging to a young person’s development, implementing a strong deterministic characterisation of that young person’s identity; a determinism in conflict with adolescent subjectivity which often is more fluid or momentary; criminalising behaviour that could instead be viewed culturally or sub-culturally, as a reactionary phase or period23. Though Brake explores how adolescent sub-cultures do not rest solely upon class, occupation, or educational attainment, these factors create environments directly linked to adolescent behaviours. Young (1998) refers to Mertonian anomic theory, analysing ‘the disjunction between culturally induced aspirations and the structurally limited opportunities of achieving them experienced by a particular subgroup’ (Young 1998: 5-6). Paul Willis’ ethnographic study ‘Learning to Labour’ (1977 (version used 1979)) works along similar lines, examining a number of factors involved in how working class kids ‘let themselves’ get working class jobs. Although Willis study makes the link between the transitions of young working class men from the schooling system into menial labour, I want to use Willis’ conclusions to explain how ASBOs assist cultural reproductive forces, but first let me explain Willis’ argument. Willis shows how male working class adolescents set themselves up for menial careers through creating a sub-culture characterised by a mixture of deviant behaviour and low educational attainment, rejecting education. Willis suggests there is ‘an objective basis for these subjective feelings and cultural processes’ (Willis 1979:3) arguing deviance as a reaction to the schooling system which does not reflect their individual, cultural or class-based interests. What makes Willis’ argument distinct, is that though state agencies create the structure that binds working class culture, it is ‘only on the basis of such a real articulation with their conditions of existence that groups of working class lads come to take a hand in their own damnation’ (Willis 1979: 3). Willis finds it is their own culture formation - based upon the rejection of middle class values and mental labour 23

The fluidity and temporality of subjectivity is not simply the perquisite of adolescence. Harriet Bradley’s work on ‘Fractured Identities’ (1996), discusses how the modern world is now a site for many ‘selves’ within the self, signifying a shift in how individuals form their identity. Today there are numerous ways to pick and mix one’s self without having to rely heavily on any classical definitions such as class, educational attainment or occupation.

20

22032864 Sociology and Politics

(Willis 1979:15), and through the acceptance of manual labour, of smoking and drinking, and of sexist and racist attitudes as working class identity (Willis 1979: 104) - that gives these young men working class jobs. Willis argues that labour power is crucial in cultural formation because it is the mode of activity that constructs, connects, and reinforces beliefs and attitudes within the world through the repetition of modes of labour. Willis observes how these young men develop ‘a counter-school culture’ – a deviant resistance to the existing capitalist structure, particularly school as an institution within the structure - leading to low educational attainment, therefore, limited job prospects.

Ironically these deviant

actions (playing up in class, skipping school, disrespecting teachers and studious/conformist pupils) go on to sustain the capitalist hierarchy through forms of cultural reproduction as Willis follows the ‘lads’ into their first six months in menial labour working ‘the shop floor’. ‘The tragedy and the contradiction is that these forms of ‘penetration’ are limited, distorted and turned back on themselves, often unintentionally, by complex processes ranging from both general ideological processes and those within the school and guidance agencies to the widespread influence of a form of patriarchal male domination and sexism within the working class culture.’ (Willis 1979:3)

Willis’ argument could be transferred into the way a young person deals with their ASBO. ASBOs become counterproductive since they permit a resistance that can be created through a counter-ASBO culture that reinforces deviant behaviour instead of rehabilitating it. The ASBO can be ‘distorted’ into representing a particular heteromasculinity (increasingly not gender-confined), giving the young person status (being seen as tough or a hero). The ‘anti-social’ behaviour that led to the ASBO now becomes a marker of their character. The young person affixes negative status to comprise their identity and in doing so - without total awareness - actively partakes in the construction of their life chances and conditions. What this means is that the space where institutional agencies coerce and the individual acts becomes extremely problematic.

21

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Though reproducing conditions that suit the middle class regime, a certain amount of autonomy complicates the notion that institutions solely re-produce working class/deviant/‘anti-social’ cultures. At some point the lads in Willis’ study accept this condition and confirm it through their own creation of a sub-culture that embraces the idea of low educational attainment, accepting manual labour and adopting degenerate values and attitudes as their ‘working class’ opinions and beliefs: ‘Class identity is not truly reproduced until it has properly passed through the individual and the group, until it has been recreated in the context of what appears to be personal and collective volition. The point at which people live, not borrow, their class destiny is when what is given is re-formed, strengthened and applied to new purposes.’ (Willis 1979:2)

If we imagine ASBOs outside of their legal framework and view them as producers of spaces of active cultural reproduction, the power ASBOs perform over the individual becomes quite clear. Like the school system, ASBOs enforce an attitude about the young person’s identity, drawn in part from the ‘anti-social’ actions of the young person within the community (just as Willis’ lads play up in the classroom), but also from how the system creates conditions for this behaviour, how the system views this sort of behaviour, and how this behaviour should be governed. Willis explains institutions provide a regulatory function that regenerates cultural forms and I want to argue that ASBOs act in a similar way: re-generating ‘anti-social’ culture through the minimum two-year period. ASBOs are an extension of governmentality that now reaches well within the realm of private, regulating behaviour that could be dealt with within the community but now becomes a state-powered issue. From the arguments outlined in Part One, the effects of this are further community fragmentation. My argument is that an ASBO can sustain these inequalities by acting as an instrument of cultural reproduction. Bourdieu describes cultural reproduction as the passing down of inequalities and disadvantages creating social hierarchy through constructing social worlds24. Bourdieu (1970) argues that our social and cultural values are subconsciously learned from childhood, and that these learning patterns shape how we socially interact, but 24

Source: (cited April 2006)

22

22032864 Sociology and Politics

that this is ‘second nature’ to us. Bourdieu argues that patterns of behaviour are a product of habitus - ‘a set of dispositions which generate practices and perceptions’ born out of the middle class need to maintain manual labour (Johnson 1993: 5). The state becomes an active site of reproducing certain inequalities, by engineering institutions to structure a dominant culture. In this context, we can explain ASBO legislation as shaping these processes of inequality instead of eliminating them. This view changes the way we understand the links between ‘anti-social’ behaviour and various actors in society. The individual, the community, local authorities, and the state, are inextricably interrelated. As a consequence, the process of cultural reproduction is responsible for the regularity and continuity of social and cultural structures (Wacquant 1987:77). For Bourdieu, even the reaction is an action of second nature, understanding society in terms of a ‘field’25 that is loaded with meanings which Bourdieu calls ‘codes’. These codes can be divided into differing forms of capital: economic capital and symbolic or cultural capital. Bourdieu explains that economic capital has preference over cultural capital, yet cultural capital has a more complex function within habitus. Bourdieu’s analysis of the education system, for example, highlights that there are certain ‘encoded’ principles that exist within the institution that only certain groups pick up on26. Bourdieu is suggesting that a middle class pupil, therefore, will do better at school because that pupil has already been equipped with cultural forms of capital that a working class pupil is excluded from. Though the education system appears neutral, it is actually loaded with encoded meanings (Anthony Giddens later coined the term ‘the hidden curriculum’). What this means is that the education system produces a certain (middle class) culture and within this comes a culture of exclusion, exclusion Willis later describes as setting up working class pupils for failure. A consequence of this loss of power is the formation of deviant or ‘laddish’ sub-cultures as a ‘self-worth protection strategy’ (Jackson 2002).

25

‘A field is, by definition, ‘a field of struggles’ in which agent’s strategies are concerned with the preservation or improvement of their positions with respect to the defining capital of the field’ (Jenkins 1992) 26 See Pierre Bourdieu (1970) ‘Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction’ in R Brown (ed) ‘’Knowledge, Education and Cultural Change’ Tavistock Publications and Pierre Boudieu and J Passeron (1998) ‘Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture’ Sage. See also C Jenks (1993) ‘Cultural Reproduction’ London: Routledge; R Sharp (1980) ‘Knowledge, Ideology and Politics’ London: Routledge; M Apple (1995) ‘Education and Power’ London: Routledge.

23

22032864 Sociology and Politics

‘What we are confronted with is a whole way of life interpenetrated by a whole symbolic system, not a series of discreet bits of behaviour alongside a series of discreet cultural artefacts. The meaning of any particular elements of behaviour, or any isolated expressive work, rests totally on its intricate relations with other parts of the whole integrated-cultural system.’ (Willis 1974: 6)

Bourdieu’s conceptions of society can inform us that there is no action that exists outside of the social world, outside of habitus. By understanding human agency as within, and not separate from societal structures, deviant behaviour becomes perceived differently: ‘anti-social’ behaviour becomes redefined as sub-social behaviour. The term ‘sub-social’, I feel, redresses the causal relationship between behaviour and society by viewing behaviour as interconnected with the cultures of society. By identifying young people’s agency as a product within society, we as society’s actors can better understand their behaviour.

Better still, authority-agencies become

accountable for behaviour; accountable in the sense of dealing with the causes (cultural conditions) of sub-social behaviours and accountable in dealing with addressing deviant sub-social behaviour in an appropriate manner. Since not every teenager engages in deviant sub-social behaviour, the moment deviant behaviour takes place - i.e. the act itself - comes from a mixture of causality and autonomy. Part three will now develop this notion of accountability by examining ways forward.

24

22032864 Sociology and Politics

‘Just as Western criminal justice is being challenged in its failure to curb crime and its increasing prison populations, traditional approaches to behaviour management need to be challenged to cope with increasing levels of family breakdown and community disconnection, the loss of automatic respect for authority, and increasing suspension and exclusion rates.’ (Thorsbourne 2006: 5)

25

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Part Three: Ways Forward: A case for Restorative Justice So what can be done about these pesky youths? Well, for £581.63 every resident could buy a ‘Mosquito Ultra Sonic Youth Deterrent’ – which emits an ultra high pitched sound that becomes so annoying to the young ear, it has been proven to disperse ‘small crowds of anti-social teenagers who have nothing better to do than loiter outside their shops and stores’ (Mosquito CCTV systems – see appendix 1)27. The ultra-sonic pitch does not affect older people, nor will it affect animals. It has no long term damage and…seriously, is this all an advanced capitalist society can offer? Although I have been working with teenagers since I was a teenager myself, before I got actively involved within the community, I would have been considered good material for an ASBO - smoking, drinking, swearing, love-bites, throwing mud, knocking on doors and running away, and hanging around the streets in large noisy gangs…the list goes on. This is why ASBOs can be seriously dangerous, because what is deemed anti-social to one person (my ex-neighbours - potential ASBO applicants) is merely seen as rites of passage to another (my ex-hippy mother). The flip side, of course, is that I may be at university but several of the people I used to hang around with from the age of ten to thirteen are now in and out of prison and cause much harm and damage within the community. Their throwing mud turned into firebombing cars after stealing them for joy rides; becoming violent and abusive; excessive drinking and drug taking… The tricky question is, would an ASBO have stopped them misbehave, or would it have stopped me achieve? ASBOs were the subject of a recent Children’s BBC newsround special (Tuesday, 11th April 2006), and two things struck me about one boy’s interview. Firstly his ASBO prevented him from hanging around with his cousin, and secondly, when questioned about the consequences of breaking his ASBO (i.e. being arrested and put in prison), 27

Mosquito Ultra Sonic Teenage Youth Deterrent

26

22032864 Sociology and Politics

the boy had said he felt scared. Scaring children and young people into behaving is counterproductive, heightening levels of fear28. Moreover, the focus rests upon the consequences and not the behaviour. ASBOs are victimcentric, offering comprehensive conditions and solutions for the protection of victims, including video links to counter witness intimidation when giving evidence (Home Office 2005:33-34). ASBO guidelines mention support should be offered to those perpetrators who have social problems yet there is no detailed issuing of any specific institutional agency’s role or responsibility. In fact, the guide outlines ‘the welfare of the child is not the principle purpose of the order hearing’ (Home Office 2005:38). I am not suggesting that the ‘perpetrator’ should not be punished, or that the ‘victim’ should not receive justice; Part Three suggests another form of punishment through another form of justice - Restorative Justice (RJ). ‘Restorative justice is a participatory and democratic justice that focuses on the community defined by the incident and not just the offender. It is an approach to harmful behaviour and community conflict that sees wrongdoing as essentially a violation of people and relationships.’ (Thorsbourne and Vinegrad 2006: 6)

Immediately changing the culture and environment of punishment is key to successful behaviour management. Restorative Justice has an acute awareness of the language, behaviour, and structure involved in disciplining young people: ‘Anti-social’ becomes ‘wrongdoing’; ‘punitive’ becomes ‘restorative’; ‘victim’ justice becomes ‘community’ justice; and ‘them against us’ becomes inclusive support for all actors as one community. The solutions that are offered here are the result of current practices by schools, youth centres, community and religious groups, local authorities and youth offending teams in parts of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and Britain, engaging members of the community to collectively resolve situations in a restorative approach, through the ‘Community Conference’. 28

The politics of fear is an increasingly important strand in political thought. See Bernard Davies (2005:8-10) ‘threatening youths revisited: youth policies under new labour’

27

22032864 Sociology and Politics

The format of Restorative Justice is the same across the board. The idea is to be fair and consistent in disciplining behaviour. To explain the process I would like to use Ben’s story, taken from a Channel 4 learning documentary on ASBOs as a case study where RJ could have prevented ASBOs. ‘Ben is a 15-year-old student who has been in trouble with the police once but feels he has learned his lesson. He spends most of his time with friends who have received Anti Social Behaviour Orders or ASBOs and he fears that he will be next. In fact in July 2004 his village, Yarnfield in Staffordshire, received the biggest number of ASBOs ever given. Ben seeks excitement in a 'boring' village where there's nothing to do: no decent shops and no skate park. Ben's friend, Reece, received an ASBO for spitting, swearing and riding his bike dangerously. Ben doesn't think this is antisocial behaviour and thinks they are being punished for doing everyday things. Ben's father is supportive and feels that the youngsters' behaviour has been exaggerated. Reece's father doesn't think that anything has changed in the village since he was young except that there are more children than ever. Some residents, though, have been filming young people after dark. One of the residents says she has seen some youngsters causing serious damage to her property and so the council gave her the video camera. She didn't feel comfortable filming them but she felt she was left with no option. Another neighbour calls the man from the council because she has been receiving hoax calls that she finds very upsetting. She was not a witness in court and yet has been harassed for six years. Ben claims this was a one-off occurrence and that two hours of video footage was made for a few minutes of youngsters doing something wrong. He says the cost of the video surveillance and investigations could have been better spent on creating something for the young villagers. The village has been divided and there's no communication. The parents say this should have been sorted out years ago when it all started, then no ASBOs would have been issued at all.’ 29

Firstly a facilitator who has experience in RJ is called in to neutrally assess the situation. This could be a local authority officer, priest or youth worker.

The

facilitator will assess who has been affected by the wrongdoing. In this case, those affected will be Ben, Reece, their fathers, the resident who filmed the young people, and the lady who is distressed from harassment, and a member each to support them. Also present would be the local council officer who has been investigating the harassment, and a member of the school or youth club the young people respect, as 29

‘Ben’- part of Channel 4 series ‘Rude Britannia’

28

22032864 Sociology and Politics

well as a neighbour or two whom both parties respect who can see both sides of the dispute. Everything in an RJ Community Conference is prepared, planned, and structured. The generic format includes a circle-shaped seating arrangement and script that allows all parties to be equally heard and understood (see appendix 2). Members of the ‘victim’s’ party sit on the left of the circle and the ‘wrongdoer’s’ party sit on the right of the circle (Thorsbourne and Vinegrad 2006: 17).

The

objective others sit opposite the facilitator. The facilitator sits on the centre edge, completely neutral. The facilitator does not nod, change tones to sympathise or judge, but retains a low and consistent calm investigative style. Before the Conference takes place, the ‘wrongdoer’ has to have admitted to the facilitator the incidents that have harmed the other members.

Each individual

involved has previously spoken to the facilitator, entering the Conference informed about what they will be asked; it is vital there are ‘no surprises’ (Thorsbourne and Vinegrad 2006: 14). The use of time is key.

Pace must be slow and steadily

controlled. Wrongdoers must explain fully the reasons why they committed the harm, and listen to how their actions affected each individual on the ‘victim’s’ party. They must also hear how their parents and other community members feel about how their actions affected them and their neighbours, be accountable to it, and respond to it. Likewise the wrongdoer gets to share their feelings and attitudes to the harmful acts, and the victim’s will respond to show an equal understanding of the wrongdoer’s perspective. The use of silence is an important tool to draw out each member’s feelings and because the facilitator knows everybody’s stories, if a member omits information, the facilitator can continue to ask the same question in a different ways until an answer has been reached. The conference continues until everyone has said their piece and responded to everyone else’s views (Thorsbourne and Vinegrad 2006: 35). So Ben and Reece get to share how they feel and also hear how their actions make others feel. Once this stage has been met, an agreement is written up which includes outcomes each individual wishes to experience. Once each member is happy resolution has taken place, they will each sign and receive the agreement. There must be enough time set aside for reconciliation, with refreshments set up to one side of the room. This gives members time to de-brief and ‘heal’ (Thorsbourne and Vinegrad 2006: 16). 29

22032864 Sociology and Politics

The conference ‘is not a soft option’; Thorsbourne’s research has found that young people find the experience of facing the people affected by their actions incredibly difficult (Thorsbourne and Vinegrad 2006:11). As Braithwaite explains ‘the nub of deterrence is not the severity of the sanction but its social embeddedness’ (Braithwaite 1989: 55). There is a distinct difference between how a young person would feel in the Conference to the difference they would feel seeing an impersonal video link from a court room or prison cell. ‘The impact of the behaviour on local people and the local community is brought home directly and personally to those doing it, in such a way that they are able to understand the harm done, feel remorse for its effects and undertake to stop it forthwith. Those who have suffered from it lose their fear of being targeted again, and feel more constructive and less vengeful about supporting—and holding to account—the youngsters in the future. Community representatives feel involved and are better able to help the community to take more responsibility for its own problems in future.’ (parliament.uk)

Thorsborne and Vinegrad (2006) argues that traditional responses to ‘misbehaviour’ dominantly relate to identifying which rule has been broken, who is to blame and what punishment they deserve. But when strong punitive punishment is quickly administered, young people become filled with anger instead of contemplating their actions: ‘When we become outcasts, we can reject our rejectors and the shame no longer matters to us’ (Braithwaite 1989: 68). Restorative Justice sees crime and misconduct as ‘a fundamental violation of people and interpersonal relationships’ (Thorsbourne and Vinegrad 2006: 6).

Thorsbourne and Vinegrad explains that

‘violations create obligations and liabilities’ that are to be healed. ASBOs cannot provide this service.

30

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Conclusion An average ASBO can cost around ten thousand pounds, not to mention the costs of each arrest and stint in prison. For the same amount of money, each young person could have several Restorative Justice sessions, as well as one-to-one youth worker support encouraging them to think about developing their positive skills instead of stamping their identity with their negative actions and reaffirming them through the experiences of being issued an ASBO and being arrested. The cost to community is worse. ASBOs are exclusive, impersonal and punitive; to use Braithwaite, ASBOs allow the individual to reject their rejectors, and do we want a society that feels justice when a ten to 17 year-old is incarcerated for harassment or intimidation? Is this even a solution? I am currently exploring ways of improving behaviour and attainment levels of 12-16 year-olds. Twice a week, since September 2003, I have been tutoring young people with a range of abilities attending our project for a range of reasons. Each group completes a twelve-week course, building an individual portfolio based predominantly on developing five main Key Skills (Improving Own Learning; Working with Others; Communication, Application of Number and Information Technology). This aims to give young people the opportunity to gain awards and qualifications in skills gained outside the (often restrictive) national curriculum. This is a constructive inclusive programme based on positive aspects to youth culture, building socially responsible young beings. On an average Wednesday after clearing the skills-centre, I un-crumpled what I assumed to be another set of tagging (graffiti names) to discover the words ‘Wake me up Inside’ written in a blue ball point pen. For me, these words broadly represent the longing some adolescents feel underneath the many layers of construct within urban London (and possibly elsewhere) that exist inside a complex space of self-loving and self-loathing pitted against increasingly fragmenting communities characterised by the complexities of consumerism, commoditisation, reduced space and time, postFordist work regimes and new class divisions… inside a vacuum of loss, confusion, 31

22032864 Sociology and Politics

and inadequate levels of communication, culminating in the simple desire and need to be guided and taught life’s lessons. Ultimately young people should be considered the blueprint of tomorrow’s society. Parents, youth workers, teachers, politicians, police and others community agencies should work together to view each other as the architects and builders of that society and when one agency cannot, another is there to amend. This dissertation has not been an advertisement for Restorative Justice; it has been my war-cry that behaviour management begins within the community, at a cultural level, and starts with communication. This is a complex argument for a complex society. Adolescents are not hooded monsters that naturally seek to intimidate and harass. They are young people with energy and time, but little experience. Adults are people with lots of experience but little energy and time. Somewhere a swap needs to take place.

Further Research 32

22032864 Sociology and Politics

This dissertation can act as preliminary reading to compliment a range of further research to strengthen the weaknesses in my argument. ASBOs throw up all kinds of issues relating to living identity and practice. With adequate time and funding, an empirical examination into the influence ASBOs have on adolescent subjectivity would be interesting to pursue. A qualitative study could initially look at ASBO holders within London, using an in-depth interview technique that could be repeated with each young person over a period of time to allow the young person to feel comfortable discussing their thoughts and feelings about if, and how, the ASBO has affected their sense of self. This procedure could be repeated with ASBO holders in rural villages and with ASBO holders living by the sea and findings could be cross examined within a number of theoretical contexts, including Spatial theory, post-structuralism, Marxism, and Urbanisation. The dissertation could also act as a basis for a rich ethnography to find out if secondwave sub-cultural theory adequately relates to sub-cultures found within current youth gangs, testing whether ASBOs affect the life chances of a sample of ASBO holders comparing them to a sample of non-ASBO holders, over a period of time. Other work could include a critique of ASBOs and their relationship to social inclusion and equal opportunities policies. Here data collection would include class, educational attainment, family situation or home life, race, gender, age, and ability. If ASBOs are evidenced to hold strong or disproportionate alignments with certain stratifications this could highlight that contemporary Britain has not yet emerged from a structure of inequality, perhaps arguing the Government’s lack of documenting these stratifications hide existing and continued institutional discriminatory practices amongst certain young people, therefore strengthening Bourdieu’s notion of cultural reproduction.

Bibliography

33

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Michael W. Apple (1995) Education and Power London: Routledge Anti-Social Behaviour Reform Act (2003) England: The Stationery Office Limited [cited 15/12/2005] BBC News (February 2006) Fears as ASBO Leaflets are Issued [cited 3/03/06] Hazel Blears in ASBO measures tightened to tackle yob 'menace' Direct.gov News, 29 June 2005 [cited 14/3/2006] Sue Bond-Taylor (2005) Political Constructions of the Anti-Social Community Developing a Cultural Criminology, HSA Autumn Conference 8-9 September 2005 <www.york.ac.uk/inst/chp/ hsa/autumn05/papers/bond-taylor.doc> [cited 04/01/2006] Pierre Boudieu and Jean-Claude Passeron (1998) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, London: Sage Pierre Bourdieu (1996) edited by Randal Johnson; The Field of Cultural Production, Cambridge: Polity Press Pierre Bourdieu (1984) translated by Richard Nice; Distinction : a social critique of the judgement of taste, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Pierre Bourdieu (1970) ‘Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction’ in R Brown (ed) Knowledge, Education and Cultural Change, Tavistock Publications Harriet Bradley (1996) Fractured Identities: changing patterns of inequality, Cambridge: Polity Press John Braithwaite (1989) Crime, shame, and reintegration, New York: Cambridge University Press Mike Brake (1980) The Sociology of Youth Culture and Youth Subcultures: sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll?, London : Routledge and Kegan Paul Philip Cohen and David Robins (1978 ) Knuckle Sandwich: growing up in the working-class city, Harmondsworth: Penguin Stanley Cohen (1972) Folk Devils and Moral Panics: The creation of Mods and Rockers Oxford: Martin Robertson Paul Corrigan (1979) Schooling the Smash Street Kids, London: Macmillan J Ferrell (2005) ‘Crime and Culture’ in C. Hale, K. Hayward, A. Wahidin and E. Wincup (eds) Criminology, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

34

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Frank Field (2003) Neighbours from Hell: The Politics of Behaviour, Politico’s Publishing Harry Fletcher (2005) Anti-Social Behaviour Orders: Analysis of the first six years, London: Napo [cited 2/01/2006] Stuart Hall et al (1978) Policing the Crisis: mugging, the state, and law and order, London: Macmillan David Hargreaves (1967) Social Relations in a Secondary School, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Dick Hebdidge (1979) Subculture: The Theory of Style, London: Methuen Home Office (4 April 2006) Resident Recognised for standing up for Respect [cited 16/04/2006] Home Office (March 2003) A Guide to Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, London: Home Office Communication Directorate Caroline Jackson (2002) ‘Laddishness’ as a Self-Worth Protection Strategy’, in Gender and Education, volume 14, No.1: Carfax Publishing Richard Jenkins (1992) Pierre Bourdieu, London: Routledge Chris Jenks (1993) Cultural Reproduction, London: Routledge Sean Nixon (2003) ‘Exhibiting Masculinity’ in Stuart Hall (ed) (2003) Representation Cultural Representations and Signifying Practice, London: Sage Bill Osgerby(1998) Youth in Britain since 1945 Oxford: Blackwell Richard Osley (2005) ASBO FILES REOPENED, [cited 01/02/2006] Darren Kemp (Producer) Panorama, BBC (20 November 2005) Asbos on trial [cited 02/01/2006] Police Reform Act (2002) England: The Stationery Office Limited [cited 15/12/2005] Ken Pryce (1979) Endless Pressure: a study of West Indian life-styles in Bristol, Harmondsworth: Penguin Derek Robbins (2000) Bourdieu and Culture, London: Sage R Sharp (1980) Knowledge, Ideology and Politics, London: Routledge

35

22032864 Sociology and Politics

John Springhall (1986) Coming of Age: Adolescence in Britain 1860-1960, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan Matthew Tempest (2005) Parents targeted in antisocial behaviour plan, and agencies The Guardian 14/02/2005, Thollebeek and Baert (2006) Anti-Social Behaviour Orders ASBOs, Voice UK January 2006 newsletter < http://www.voiceuk.org.uk/docs/January06.pdf > [cited 25/03/2006] Margaret Thorsborne and David Vinegrad (2006) Restorative Practices in Schools, Milton Keynes: Incentive Plus Margaret Thorsborne (2006) Restorative Justice, Milton Keynes: Incentive Plus L D Wacquant (1989) Towards a reflexive Sociology: A Workshop with Pierre Bourdieu, Sociological Theory Volume 7 Stuart Waiton (2006) Antisocial behaviour: the construction of a crime, [cited 7/02/2006] Stuart Waiton (2006) Antisocial behaviour: the construction of a crime < http://www.spiked-online.co.uk/Articles/0000000CAF28.htm> [cited 13/04/2006] Matt Weaver (2005) Government ‘too tough’ of anti social behaviour, The Guardian, 14 February 2005 [cited 7/02/2006] Wikipedia.org: Cultural Capital, [cited 4/03/2006]

Paul Willis, Simon Jones, Joyce Canaan and Geoff Hurd (1996) Common Culture Milton Keynes: Open University Press Paul Willis (1979) Learning to Labour, Hampshire: Gower Publishing Paul Willis (1974) Symbolism and Practice, Birmingham: Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies Peter Willmott (1966) Adolescent Boys of East London, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul J.Q. Wilson and G Kelling (1982) ‘Broken Windows: The Police and Neighbourhood Safety’, Atlantic Monthly, March: 29-38 Author Unknown Pierre Bourdieu, [cited 5/2/2006]

36

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Jock Young (2003) ‘Merton With Energy, Katz With Structure: The sociology of vindictiveness and the criminology of transgression’ Theoretical Criminology, vol 7(3): 389-414 Jock Young (2001) ‘Identity, Community and Social Exclusion’ in R. Matthews and J. Pitts (eds) (2001) Crime, Disorder and Community Safety, London: Routledge Jock Young (1998) Sub-Cultural Theory: Virtues and Vices, [unpublished] [cited 5/1/2006] Websites Asboconcern.org bbc.co.uk bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews British Youth Council.org Channel4.com/learning Crimereduction.gov DfEE.gov Direct.gov.uk Gov.uk Guardian.co.uk Home Office.gov nacvs.org.uk [National Association of Local Councils] Panorama.BBC.co.uk Parliament.uk Pictures Page 1: 200 young people protest against ASBO legislation in Leeds 21 January 2006: (cited 19/04/2006) Page 2: ASBO picture from CBBC web news: Pages 15, 17, 25, and 26: Pictures of people wearing hooded jumpers from: (cited 01/05/2006) Page 17: ‘Ban Hoodies’ Jumper cited from < http://www.sumosam.co.uk/ > (cited 19/4/2006) Page 31: John Allison picture http://www.adam.tinworth.name/archives/2005/06/ (cited 17/04/2006)

37

22032864 Sociology and Politics

Television Programmes CBBC Newsround Special ASBOs, Ed Kellie, (producer and director) ‘Ben’- part of Channel 4 series Rude Britannia ITV (broadcasted 03/06/2005) ASBO Madness: Tonight with Trevor McDonald Other Research: Training Facilitator Training (15-16 March 2006) Restorative Practices in Schools, Sundridge Park Conference Centre, Kent.

38