Sign In
Create Account
0
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOS) [UK]
Summary: Should Anti-Social Behaviour Orders be scrapped?
Introduction
This debate was originally written by:Alex Deane ( United Kingdom ) and is used in full to sperr further conversation on the given topic. All rights to the original document are given to the author- all opinions expressed hold no barring on the original author but the users/persons who typed them.
Context
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) were introduced in the UK by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and have been available in England and Wales since April 1999. They were ‘reinforced’ by the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003. The 1998 Act defines anti-social behaviour as behaviour that "caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household." They stop people from doing stated things or going to stated places. They last for a minimum of two years, but can last longer. Those given ASBOs can be ‘named and shamed’ in local media, and sometimes are. Orders have been granted for abusive behaviour, vandalism, flyposting, and harassment as well as more the more celebrated exotic problems such as elderly people incessantly playing gramophones. Whilst ASBOs are civil orders, criminal penalties can result from breaching them.
Arguments
Pros
~ASBOs address the symptom, not the condition. Their powers are wide and undefined – too wide, meaning that Judges and magistrates can do pretty much whatever they like. Certainly there are problems in the way people conduct themselves – but if such behaviour isn’t criminal, then it’s up to families and communities to fix it. The ASBO is the latest example of excessive state interference in the lives of citizens. Either conduct is criminal, or it is not. The law of nuisance exists. Restraining orders exist. ASBOs aren’t intended to deal with that kind of problem: they’re the tool of the state controlling behaviour. Just because a problem exists, doesn’t mean it’s the job of the state to try and fix it. The powers granted to the state in its efforts are disproportionate to the problems concerned.
~ASBOs are explicitly intended to deal with bad juvenile behaviour. But they encourage rather than deal with such problems. They are viewed as badges of honour amongst young gangs – the ‘naming and shaming’ just increases this. They push people that could be helped by social work or proper attention into an unenviable category of ‘offender’ – they criminalise people for behaviour that isn’t criminal.
~Over 40% of ASBOs are breached, with little resulting punishment. In the first three years of use, only 30 juveniles were imprisoned for breach of ASBO alone (omitting those occasions when people were sentenced for breach along with another offence). This brings the justice system into disrepute. It doesn’t seem to matter if they’re breached – so people don’t care about getting them. Furthermore, they’re not granted in anything like the proportions needed to have an effect: 5,000 were supposed to be imposed every year, but instead only 3,800 were used in the first five years
Cons
~Something meaningful has to exist to punish actions that don’t merit criminal punishment, but damage the quality of life of others, especially through constant repetition. The ASBO is such a tool. It is intended to be the primary weapon in a ‘zero tolerance’ environment. ASBOs allow communities to take back their streets and estates from intimidating and out of control youths, and to establish proper norms of behaviour. In this way a slide into more serious lawlessness and criminality can be prevented, and the rights of the law-abiding majority to walk the streets and live peacefully with their neighbours can be secured.
~ASBOs offer a wide flexibility to the sentencing authority as they are not only a punishment for past actions but also a form of restraint to prevent future misbehaviour. They permit the judge or magistrate to forbid the offender to go to a certain place, avoid a certain person, and ban them from participating in a particular activity. Without such powers, our courts will never be able to deal with the rising tide of yobbish behaviour that is, whilst not criminal, hugely damaging our communities.
~The prison population is soaring and we have to find ways to keep it down, or at least slow the speed of its rise. Talking about crushing sentences for all may arouse the passions of a certain type of voter but we have to have a pragmatic look at the pressures on the system. ASBOs are one way to punish offenders while still ensuring they have continuing access to education, family support, job opportunities, etc., and they are much cheaper than the alternative of prison.
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
I honestly don't have an opinion on this issue as it does not directly influence my way of life and i don't really have to live with the consequences of this type of debate or action taken thereof. In this I also don't really know most of the act and that doesn't help matters. I figured for those of you members out there in ecchi-land who DO live in the UK and ARE effected by this debate, that this would be a good place to state your opinions.
Enjoy.
Back to top
