UK DEBATE

Hug a hoodie

David Cameron’s statement of the obvious about youth crime has provoked derision from the popular press. In a speech about the causes of crime, he said “For some, the hoodie represents all that's wrong about youth culture in Britain today. For me, adult society's response to the hoodie shows how far we are from finding the long-term answers to put things right.” Already dubbed “hug-a-hoodie” by Labour spin doctors and repeated as such by everyone from the BBC to the Telegraph, the Conservative leader’s speech has been laughed at right, left and centre.

Yet it is nothing but basic common sense. Dealing with the root causes of crime is the only way to reduce crime in the long run. Lower crime levels are the ultimate goal of any civilised system of criminal justice. Stigmatising and stereotyping young people may make middle-aged voters feel that something is being done. It might sound tough to hand out more ASBOs.

It may be reassuring to crack down on knife crime. But they do nothing to end the cycle of criminality. As Cameron said, “the long-term answer to anti-social behaviour is a pro-social society where we really do get to grips with the causes of crime. Family breakdown, drugs, children in care, educational underachievement - these provide the backdrop to too many lives and can become the seed bed of crime.”

Britain locks up more of her people than any other major nation except America. And a major factor in determining whether someone is likely to commit a crime is whether they have spent time in prison. Re-offending rates are sky-high yet the media endlessly call for more and longer prison sentences. It is madness and will only lead to higher rates of crime. Prison creates career criminals. Keeping young people out of prison makes sense for all of us.

A cosy agreement has been in place under the Blair government. The Home Office has been effectively outsourced to the tabloid media. The media create a scare. Government responds to it with new legislation. The media invent another scare. The Government sends a new Bill through Parliament.

Yet over the past decade, crime levels have steadily fallen for the first time in living memory. A major reason is that the underlying causes of crime – lack of employment opportunities, child poverty, absence of childcare, failing schools – have been addressed by the very same government. From watching the news or reading a paper, you would think that lawlessness was out of control. Ministers are happy to acquiesce in the creation of a climate of fear so that they can be seen responding manfully. We have now reached the point where the Home Secretary publicly blames judges for following government sentencing guidelines.

Young people are most likely to be the victims of crime. Yet their voices are rarely heard and then only as aggressors. A society which creates an archetype of young people as criminals and outcasts is failing badly. When it comes to discussing crime, young people must get out of the pigeonhole and start using the old slogan: “nothing about us without us”.

Janet Daley in the Telegraph wrote: “Memo to Conservative leader: no substantial portion of the electorate now believes that the problem of anti-social teenagers can be cured by love and understanding.” She may be right about the views of the electorate. Very few young people vote. But it doesn’t make them – or her – right about the solutions to crime.

13 July 2006

http://www.hiddenagendas.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=73&Itemid=27

 
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