Anti-Social Behaviour III

The curfews don't work - like most of New Labour's initiatives.

Neither, apparently, do custodial sentences. I'm not sure, however, if that takes into account the incapacitance effect. When the BBC say "the reconviction rate for those given custodial sentences also increased, to almost 70%", does that mean 70% offend within a year of release, or of conviction ? After all, if they're banged up for a year, there should be 0% reoffending. Unless of course 'custody' isn't very custodial.

Meanwhile, in the Land Of My Absent Fathers, the Children's Commissar is deeply concerned about plans to publicly identify young people who breach ASBOs.

"If someone does breach an order, the behaviour may not be illegal but, by breaching an Asbo, this will lead to a criminal offence.

"And now they will be named. A child who is accused of murder won't be named until they're convicted.

"So in some ways this is putting a disproportionate degree of notoriety on the child because of what may be a very small bit of anti-social behaviour."

Like the small bits of behaviour on the Broomhouse estate.

On the Today programme (RealAudio), this 70s Sussex politics grad and former social worker (he looks an old hippie to me - but what else did you expect ?) talked of how badly we treat our children, what few rights they had, and how even these have been eroded, how the UN Convention should prevent such abuse of rights. (Of course, in more civilised places like the Congo, UN staff treat children properly.)

Apparently, when drawing up the Convention On The Rights of The Child, UN officials thought fit to insert a right to terrorise your neighbours without being publicly identified. I couldn't find this myself, but I'm sure the Commissar knows best.