Most of us have been on the receiving end of anti-social behaviour at some point in our lives, be it just seeing graffiti in our streets or witnessing abusive behaviour in public.
Others, thankfully a minority, experience what amounts to persistent mental torture the authorities seem powerless to prevent.
To address what is clearly a very complex problem in which no two experiences are the same, the Scottish Government set up a working group to come up with recommendations and their report was published this week. The group’s case studies, including the heartless persecution of a dying man, make truly harrowing reading.
The highlighted stories may be extreme and although it seems obvious the perpetrators are suffering from a mental illness themselves, it is equally clear that official attitudes push the victims to limits they should never have to endure.
At risk of generalisation, it seems to me that one of the core problems, which exists right from the earliest years, is the starting point is the modern desire not to stigmatise and wherever possible to keep people in situations for which they are grossly unsuited, far beyond the point when individuals’ appalling behaviour is having a drastic impact on those around them.
It is an attitude which seeks to find excuses and to make allowances, and to put the onus on law-abiding people to adjust their lives to accommodate the chaotic approach of people whose entire focus is on their own instant gratification and immediate reaction to anything which incurs their displeasure, however irrational.
Predictably, the report falls into the customary trap of avoiding any mention of personal responsibility, and although mental health resources are mentioned it focuses blame on factors like poverty, housing instability and inadequate youth work.
Sadly the main tangible recommendation is to set up an “oversight board” to commission other work and drive “strategic resource deployment,” which sounds very like more bureaucracy.
At least it cites lack of accountability for achieving goals as a hindrance, and requiring councils to produce an Antisocial Behaviour Strategy is a good idea if there are targets, such as the end of “moving on” those with known behavioural issues, even if it means eviction to a hostel.
Of course, it must all “align with Scotland’s human rights approach” whatever that means. Challenging stereotypes and seeking “cultural context and intersectionality” and other such recommendations are, I’m afraid, guff. What’s needed is action.
But for a paper with much to say about young people, it’s remarkable how little attention is paid to education and that falling out the school system is both a symptom and cause of other problems.
The same day as the report appeared, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay floated the idea of allowing young people to leave school before 16, perhaps two years early, to pursue an apprenticeship or a college course in a new, practical environment in which those at risk of dropping out can find a new direction better suited to their abilities. That’s the kind of action which could make a difference, an alternative to relentless focus on academic achievement.
The ASB report talks about lack of opportunities, but we live in a country with no shortage of openings. The problem may be lack of imagination, and that applies more to policy makers than to those who think they have been abandoned.
