Anti-Social Behaviour & Disorder
A Balanced Approach to Anti-Social Behaviour
This document is published for archival/historical reasons. It will not be updated.
Nacro have published a follow up report to last year's Tackling anti-social behaviour: what really works. Since then anti-social behaviour has remained at the top of the agenda, thanks largely to the work of the Home Office Anti-Social Behaviour Unit. This paper sets out to illustrate what a balanced, holistic strategy involves.
Title: A Balanced Approach to Anti-Social Behaviour
Author: Nacro
Number of pages: 4
Date published: October 2003
The report argues that focusing on one type of intervention at the expense of others will result in a short-term fix, but will be to the detriment of a long-term solution. To successfully tackle a local crime issue, you need to address the multitude of problems that cause it.
The 3 main elements to this in relation to anti-social behaviour are:
There should be a mix of interventions, including prevention, education and enforcement
Interventions should be targeted at three levels: universal, groups or localities particularly at risk and individuals particularly at risk.
Interventions should both target risk factors and seek to maximise protective factors.
Nacro's director of crime reduction, Keith Towler has accused the government's anti-social behaviour strategy of being too reliant on enforcement, neglecting preventative measures. He also said that grouping such a large and diverse of offences together could have a negative effect on the way individuals are dealt with.
The new Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, which is currently before Parliament, covers more than 60 offences which range from gun crimes through to loitering in public places. Nacro fears that in criminalising these activities we risk turning behaviour that would at worst be considered "undesirable" into a punishable offence.
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Last update: Tuesday, August 26, 2008