A Perspective on Anti-Social Behaviour

Pat Cogan

Issue 377, vol.95, Spring 2006

When this measure was mooted for Ireland, the Irish Penal Reform Trust and the Irish Youth Alliance raised numerous objections – based mainly on how ASBOs have turned out in practice in Britain. Attempting to take these objections into account, our Justice Minister proposed amendments to the bill: the imposition of an ASBO is to be reserved to a Garda Superintendent; the targeted behaviour is not to be trivial; the duration of an order is to be much shorter than in Britain; a series of warnings are first to be issued (especially to a child of under 14 years of age).

It does seem that there will always be the exceptional situation where this measure is called for. But the crucial principle is that it should be a measure of last resort rather than of first resort.

After all, the type of misbehaviour targeted is largely confined to low-income, single-class, segregated, usually public housing estates located in inner cities or towns – with a high proportion of single-parent families. (And even here, the perpetrators come mainly from a minority of families rife with personality dysfunction, transgenerational neglect, abuse, drug or alcohol dependence). 

It is imperative to first revitalize planning goals such as: adequate social amenities for large housing-estates; better balancing in estates of maturer/younger, well/poor performing parental units; better mixing of various compositions-of-family (these aims to be to be more easily achieved by giving real voice in selection of tenants to existing residents).

Also included in area-regeneration should be resources such as: after-school homework facilities; job-training schemes; recreational outlets; use of the Garda diversion-from-crime youth programme.

New legislation already envisages “joint policing committees” in local-authority area. And the police could also call local adjudicators into consultation when making a determination regarding an ASBO in an individual case.

Pat Cogan Pat Cogan, ofm, is a Franciscan priest who has been working in adult education, community development and social housing provision for more than a generation. A longer version of this article may be obtained from him at pat.cogan@respond.ie