The Strange Death of Welfarism: Youth Justice and the Anti-Social in Scotland

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The Strange Death of Welfarism Youth Justice and
the Anti-Social in Scotland

• Lesley McAra
• University of Edinburgh

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Key lessons from the Scottish case

• Political questions
• - Highlights the political risks of governing
  through crime
• Methodological questions
• - Highlights the need for scholars to look
  beyond policy documents to practice a critical
  pluralist approach
• Normative questions
• - Highlights the moral vacuum at the heart of
  punitive and exclusionary approaches

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Political lessons
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Scotland England/ Wales
1970s Full flowering welfarism Retreat from welfarism
1980s Punishment and systems management
Early-mid 1990s The darkness
Late 1990s- 000s Increased managerialism Public protection, risk management, effective practice Social inclusion, crime prevention, communities as stakeholders Individual rights and responsibilisation Restorative justice, victims as stakeholders. Increased managerialism Public protection, risk management, effective practice Social inclusion, crime prevention, communities as stakeholders Individual rights and responsibilisation Restorative justice, victims as stakeholders. Increased managerialism Public protection, risk management, effective practice Social inclusion, crime prevention, communities as stakeholders Individual rights and responsibilisation Restorative justice, victims as stakeholders.
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Anti-social behaviour legislation a potted
history

• 1998 Crime and Disorder Act
• - ASBOs introduced for 16 (applied for by LAs
  to Sheriff court, police to be consulted)
• 2003 The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act
• - Interim ASBOs introduced
• - RSL enabled to apply for ASBOs
• 2004 Anti-Social Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act
• - Extends use of ASBOs to 12 15 year olds
• - Police powers to disperse groups
• - Community reparation orders (via courts for
  those aged 12)
• - Extension of remote electronic monitoring
  (tagging) to under 16s
• - Parenting orders

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Differences from England/Wales(12-15 year olds)

• Reporter to childrens hearings system to be
  consulted before an ASBO may be applied for
• Sheriff to take account of what is happening to
  the child in the hearings system and the best
  interests of the child
• The making of an ASBO or interim ASBO should be a
  trigger for a childrens hearing and court can
  require Reporter to arrange a hearing
• Breach is criminal offence but will not lead to
  imprisonment where no other offences are
  involved

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Community
Family
Child
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Parent(s) of Offender
Offender
Community
Victim
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A moral panic?

• Statements by Ministers
• - Youth crime and anti-social behaviour is a
  complex and serious problem across Scotland.
  However, one thing is clear our communities
  have had enough of it. (Scottish Executive 2002)
• - Serious crime is down but as todays
  statistics show, communities are clearly still
  plagued by vandalism and other persistent forms
  of antisocial behaviour.
• (Scottish Executive 2004)
• Media headlines (focus on ned culture)
• - Extra police target ned culture (BBC News,
  February 2004)
• - Crackdown on 'neds' will require extra 12m
  (Scotland on Sunday, June 2004)
• - Nike the Ned downed 60 bacardis and went on
  wrecking spree (Daily Record, May 2004)
• - Friday night out with the superneds (Sunday
  Herald, June 2003)

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Police recorded crime/offences in Scotland
(1988-2007)Source Scottish Government
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Scottish crime survey very or fairly worried
that they will be victim Source Brown and
Bolling 2007
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Offence referrals to childrens hearing system
Source SCRA 2008
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Scottish Household Survey Neighbourhood
Incivilities (very or fairly common
problem)(Source Scottish Government 2008)
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Scottish Social Attitudes Survey youth
incivilities very or fairly common and how much
affected by (Source Anderson et al. 2005)
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Public attitudes towards youth crime(Source
Scottish Social Attitudes Survey Anderson et
al. 2005)
Is level youth crime same/ higher/lower as 10 years ago?
Higher 69
Lower 2
Same 25
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Methodological lessons
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A failure of implementation?

• By March 2008
• 0 parenting orders
• 14 ASBOs for under 16s (500,000 each!)
• 18 dispersal orders
• 93 electronic taggings of under 16s (0.2 of
  children referred on offence grounds)

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Normative lessons
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Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime
Anti-social vs. non-offenders(hang out most
days, noisy and cheeky in public, involved in
vandalism and graffiti)(www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esyt
c)
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Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions and Crime
Anti-social vs. non-offenders(cont.)
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Housing policies
Job security legislation
Neighbourhood
Family policies
Hours of work
School
Father
Dwelling
Child
Parents work situation
Labour market policies
Child care policies
Child health centre - medical care
Mother
Friends
Siblings
Social security
TV/mass media
Leisure time
Cultural policies
Communal support of voluntary agencies and
leisure activities
Bronfenbrenner/Martens (1993)