Antisocial Behaviours

The perpetrators of minor anti-social behaviours are Ryan and James; they are mostly involved in minor behaviours like loud music, drinking and throwing stones at Miss Tucker’s fence. The appropriate informal resolution methods to be deployed to remedy Ryan and James situation is community resolution method and parental contract. Community resolution, as well as a parental contact method, can only be successful when both parties are ready to cooperate. Lack of cooperation is possible between the victims and the perpetrators especially when the perpetrators are not remorseful, when the victims are not ready to state the incidents and in cases where the perpetrator’s parents are reluctant to apply parental contract or are one of the intruders. When this happens, a written warning should be used as an alternative to address the incidents and caution the perpetrators against committing the crimes further.

The perpetrators of major incidents according to the scene are Alex, Danny and their associates. Appropriate legislative action to be taken against these boys is an injunction issued by the court of law. The method is effective in cases where there have been threats, violence, constant noise nuisance, and abusive behaviours. As tabled by agent Smith, Andrew boys, and their associates were involved in crimes such as intimidation, shoplifting, criminal damage, threatening and abusing the residents of the estate, meaning the court should issue injunction order to warn them against committing the crimes further. The injunction order can be granted without the knowledge of the perpetrators especially when serious crimes such as violence are the primary concerns. Miss Tucker expounded on an incident where she saw Danny, Alex, and other friends constantly beating an Asian teenager near her house, she also confessed that she wants to testify against the perpetrators but is afraid because they might intimidate her if they find out. Therefore, issuing the injunction order without Danny and the boy’s consent would be appropriate. It should as well be executed with the power of arrest in case Danny, Alex and the associates’ behaviours become extreme. The penalty for breaching the injunction order method is court supervisions, putting perpetrators under curfews and detention, punishing them and making them do a heavy workload.

In cases where the antisocial behaviours are intractable or rather when they involve places, the court of justice could issue orders to protect the victims.  The protection orders are broadly classified regarding supportive orders, antisocial behaviour injunction orders and intervention orders. Specifically, the effective tools to be administered to ensure the victims are protected are not limited to crime prevention injunction order, the community protection order and the direction power order. `Crime prevention injunction order is deployed where there isn’t any proof that a perpetrator has committed a specific offence, perhaps due to lack of evidence or fear of intimidation when the witness testifies against the accused. The injunction could include affirmative requirements to address the underlying issues and prohibitions on the perpetrator’s behaviours.

The community protection order comprises an array of tools employed to curb antisocial behaviour related to a place. For instance, in cases where there is a need to protect the environment against noise, litter, and graffiti. It can also be related to premise closure, particularly if the premises were magnets for crimes. Further, the order can be implemented in public places to tackle antisocial behaviours such as restricting alcohol consumption or individuals from accessing a particular area. The direction power order is usually a directive given to police officers to inquire and order the proprietors to surrender items such as alcohol which could be a contributing factor to abusive behaviours or vacate an area to protect the community against further antisocial behaviours, resistance to comply is charged as a criminal offence.

 The antisocial behaviour crimes and incidents associated with the perpetrators according to the scenario are outlined below; Sargent Smith highlights a large number of incidents involving Andrew boys, James, and their other ten associates. They boys were threatening and abusing the estate residents, vandalising, criminally damaging the estate, shoplifting and organising drinking parties with loud music late at night. He particularly narrates the two occasions involving Ryan and James, where he witnessed the two boys together and their counterparts carelessly drinking with no sign of an adult present in the party.

Residents reported how they had witnessed cases of furniture vandalism, some of them reported seeing Danny, Alex and their associates in the playground beating up an Asian boy. The residents couldn’t access the local shops at night due to fear of attack by a large congregation of perpetrators who frequently parade themselves around the shops. Constable police Alice Brown too witnessed an incident while patrolling at the back of the garden, she saw Danny together with some of his classmates smashing up the fence which was located between his mother’s wall and the neighbour. The boys performed the operation while Ryan and James were watching. The local newsagent, Mr.Iskander reported an incident where he caught the boys shoplifting alcohol in one of the residents’ shops when PC Brown visited him at his place.

Rod Fish who was familiar with Andrew’s family briefed the group stating each with their behaviours. Alex had previously been convicted for hate and violent behaviour crime, Danny had been charged with criminal damage, shoplifting, and threatening behaviour crime while the authorities are currently monitoring Ryan though he has never been convicted for any crime. Further, the deputy headmaster presented the boy’s behaviours. He stated about Alex expulsion from the school when he was caught fighting in the playground at the age of fifteen; he also explained how Danny was excluded from school two weeks ago after attacking a pupil in the classroom. In the two scenarios narrated by the head teacher, Danny and Alex are associated with violent crime. The deputy headmaster expounded on James excellent performance in school and stated Ryan’s absence in school without a reasonable explanation.

The housing department also claimed to have received complaints from the residents concerning noise and disorderly parties. MS, Tucker, one of the neighbours kept a record of fifty-nine incidences committed within three months and relating to the Andrew boys and their associates. The incidences were limited to criminal damage, threatening behaviours, disruptive gatherings, and noise nuisance. She particularly stated an incident where he witnessed Danny and his friends putting a firework in her letterbox then they took off three weeks ago. She also expounded on the incident she witnessed two weeks ago, where her son was the victim, James and Ryan were throwing stones at the fence targeting her two-year-old son who was playing at the garden. A month ago, she witnessed Danny, Alex and other boys beat up a teenager at the playing ground.

A referral to a local community safety partnerships (CSP), risk victim’s panel, can be done by contacting or writing a letter to the authorities in charge of anti-social behaviours in a community. The referral letter is containing the details of the victim; the anti-social behaviour incident can be addressed to the police or any authority agency who are represented in the CSP panel for further investigations. The panel consist of local authorities, the police, housing service members, youth service members, alcohol and drug service partnership, environmental and healthcare partnership, social work partnership. The agency tackles the anti-social behaviour by implementing appropriate strategies to prevent, monitor, intervene, enforce rules and rehabilitate the perpetrators.

The agencies coordinate monthly meetings where they discuss the arising anti-social behaviour incidents and produce a monthly analytical report containing emerging trends on how to tackle crimes relating to anti-social behaviour in the community. The CSP panel also release monthly funds provided by the government to other agencies to help them combat the anti-social behaviours in the society. They organise youth and community training forums where every individual is represented to contribute to the community development.

A targeted act of anti-social behaviour is a type of crime directed to a specific person or a particular group of individuals rather than the general community with the aim of negatively impacting the individual. Non- Targeted acts are crimes deliberately performed against the general community, here, there isn’t any specific identity. According to the scenario covered, targeted anti-social behaviour enumerates under the following circumstances. When Danny, Alex and their gang were seen in the playground beating up an Asian boy, the act was a targeted anti-social behaviour crime since they aimed at specifically beating the Asian boy and not the whole community. Another type of targeted anti-social behaviour is observed when the gang issues threat to a journalist who witnessed them shoplifting alcohol in one of the resident’s shops.

The third incident of targeted anti-social behaviour occurs when Danny tries to attack a pupil in their school two weeks ago and later be excluded after intervention by the teacher. Miss Tucker experienced two occasions of targeted anti-social behaviour according to the scenario. The first instance occurred three weeks ago when Danny and the gang put the firework on her letterbox. The second instance targeted her two-year-old son. She saw Ryan and James throwing stones at her two-year-old son; the stones were thrown over the fence with the aim of hitting her son who was at the playground.

Sargent Smith first highlights the untargeted anti-social behaviours instances, he states about the criminal damage on the estate caused by the perpetrators, threatening and abusing several residents within the estate who are afraid to table evidence against the gang. Untargeted anti-social behaviour instance also depicts when James, Ryan and other teenagers organise late night parties in the estate with loud music disrupting other residents. James, Ryan together with their classmates were disrupting the community residents unintentionally; they didn’t plan to disturb just an individual. All they thought about was having fun and not causing disruptions. Another untargeted anti-social behaviour incident occurs when the gang vandalises the street and estate furniture. The estate’s residents are afraid to attend to local shops, especially late at night due to the fear of being attacked by the rowdy congregation who frequently parades themselves around that place at night – another untargeted anti-social behaviour incident. So long as you were seen around the shop, you could be attacked that’s why the residents were afraid. The gang was not targeting specific people.

 Police-constable Alice Brown also witnesses untargeted anti-social crime when Danny and his schoolmates were smashing the fence between the neighbour and her mother’s home while James and Ryan were watching. The scenario is also referred to as untargeted because the boys were not smashing the fence to attack a specific person or to destroy an individual’s fence. Rod Fish goes further to narrate instances of untargeted anti-social behaviour involving Alex and Danny. He talked about Alex being convicted and charged with hate and violent behaviour crime, and Danny facing charges for shoplifting and criminal damage, meaning both Alex and Danny were randomly committing these crimes, they were not targeting anyone or any group. Miss Tucker too kept a record of fifty-nine untargeted incidents; she talked of disruptive movements during the night, violence, vandalism, abuses and threats. These incidents are untargeted since they did not aim at a specific individual or group.

The partnerships whose primary focus is targeted towards eradicating the anti-social behaviours within the community include local community safety partnership, the police, youth offending, and probation teams, local community groups, environmental health officers, racial equity council and women protection council. The partnerships ensure the community is protected against perpetrators at all cost. In the case of anti-social behaviour incidents such as vandalism, noise nuisance, violence, theft, and burglary the residents are expected to report to their local authorities groups, officers and house authorities. The partnership agencies record all details and reports concerning the anti-social behaviour. The records are kept to identify the repeated crimes and victims of the anti-social behaviour. They can also be used as evidence in a court of law to convict the accused perpetrators.

The partnership agencies thoroughly investigate all the reports before submitting them to the higher authorities when the cases are beyond their remit. They effectively and efficiently ensure all the complaints are captured in their reports. The lead agencies carry out investigations and gather evidence before they enforce a law. They provide the appropriate tools and engagement intervention channels required to tackle a specific anti-social behaviour. They also offer support to anti-social behaviour victims. They frequently communicate to traumatised and stressed victims to restore their confidentiality and assure them of safety. The agencies provide the emergency mobile number which victims can dial in case of emergency, they visit them and offer free advice as well as counselling to victims who got ill or became disabled in the process of attack.

 The agencies listen to the residents’ pleas and offer equal opportunities to those who are interested in sharing their views and experiences. They give feedback concerning the requests of residents directed towards the anti-social behaviour. They also update the residents on the new rules imposed and curfews. They encourage the community to report any anti-social behaviours and issue warnings to the perpetrators after thorough investigations. The police agency patrols the streets and estates at night to protect residents against anti-social behaviours. The environmental and health agencies particularly focus on the environment and residents. They regulate noise and establish appropriate measures to maintain cleanliness in a community.

 Domestic violence is a type of anti-social behaviour where one partner in a domestic setting abuses the other. The abuse does not only occur between partners but also among family members. Domestic violence constitutes of physical, emotional, verbal, social, sexual and economic abuse. Physical abuse instances can be depicted in three significant ways; the first one is where an individual’s physical needs are withheld. The second is threatening the victim of physical abuse; the third is deploying aggressive behaviours towards the victims. The fourth can be observed where the perpetrator indirectly harms the victim physically.

Withholding the victim’s physical needs are not limited to disrupting his sleep, denying the victim food, clothing, water, transport, and shelter. Refusing to attend to her healthcare needs while sick, especially if the victim is your child and denying him other necessities. The victim physical threat can be demonstrated by threatening to injure him, his friends or pets. Aggressive behaviours of physically injuring the victim are observed when the abuser hits, scratches, kicks, pinch, drown, burn, slap and chokes the victim. Indirectly harming the victim means hurting his pets, children, properties to disrupt his life.

Sexual abuse is a domestic violence crime where the victim is assaulted physically or verbally. Physical abuse constitutes of rape, making contact and penetration against the victims wish sexually, for instance kissing, touching, licking, sucking and penetrating the victims’ private parts. Verbal assault is a type of sexual abuse where you verbally insult, make fun and use offensive statements relating to the victim’s sexual behaviour or preferences. It can also be observed when the intruder falsely accuses the victim of infidelity because of jealousy to limit his sexual contact with the outside world.

Emotional abuse exploits the victims’ security, character, and vulnerability. It specifically affects the victims’ feelings. An individual emotionally abuses a victim when he undermines his self-confidence by insulting and criticising him. Insults and critics can be in the form of public humiliation or rejection. Threatening to harm or kill a victim or his associates and loved ones is an emotional depression. Consistently neglecting, assuming and disregarding the victim’s request is another example of emotional abuse. Using gestures, actions and statements that hurt the victim’s emotions or toiling with his feelings especially when the victim is emotionally attached to you is also an abusive emotional behaviour. Any intimidation that disempowers the victim and distracts his self- esteem is regarded as an emotional abuse of domestic violence.

Verbal abuse is using an abusive language to embarrass, denigrate or threaten the victim. It can be expressed by shouting, yelling, screaming at the victim while hurling insults and calling him names such as whore, ugly bitch and stupid. Telling the victim, she is undesirable, unattractive. Threatening to harm his loved ones or pets through word of mouth is also considered a verbal abuse of domestic violence. Economic abuse foundation constitutes monetary acts, for instance limiting the victims’ access to family financial funds, secretly spending his money for your benefits. Denying the family victim necessities and spending the money on unnecessary pleasures such as alcohol. Denying the victim his salary and allowances.

Tell-tale signs enable the victim to identify and analyse if his/her partner is a domestic violence abuser and strategise the appropriate way to remedy the situation. Tell-tale signs can also be used by an individual to determine if her loved ones are domestically being abused. The first sign can be evident in the victims’ personality, a person who was always jovial and happy can suddenly become withdrawn. Another sign is evident at constant attacks. Once an individual is attacking his partner and hurling insults in public, it is evident that the partner is a victim of domestic violence. A tell-tale sign can also be observed through injuries like bruises; the victim will vehemently rush to use excuses to brush the question aside when asked about the injuries.

The fourth tell-tale sign can be depicted by excessive jealousy. Abusers usually accuse their partners or the victims of constant cheating and flirting anytime the victims’ attention is directed to another person. Exhibited controlling behaviours in an individual is another sign of domestic violence; in most cases, the abusers have the intention of gaining power over their spouses to control them. Someone who has had a history of domestic violence can also be a tell-tale sign since he might one day lose control and embark back on his violent behaviour. Another tell-tale sign can be observed through finances, where the abuser withholds the victims’ finances until she grants his wish. When a victim is forced to cut contacts with his friends, family and loved ones, then he is being abused, this could also be a sign. Domestic violence tell-tale sign is experienced sexually when the spouse turns the victim off anytime he is aroused or refuses to offer conjugal rights. Individuals who stalks and monitor every move of their partner or limit their movements can be described as violent domestic abusers.

Partnership agencies engaged in addressing domestic violence plays the roles outlined in the following paragraphs. They ensure the children are protected against the domestic violence. The local agencies collaborate to ensure the children’s welfare is safeguarded and promoted. They particularly agree to implement the safeguarding policies and procedures created by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) and co-ordinate to contribute to the community plans. They communicate to local organisations within the community and establish training sessions to create awareness on the effective way of safeguarding children against sexual exploitation (Information for Local Areas on the change to the Definition of Domestic Violence and Abuse, 2013). The agencies regularly perform a common assessment framework to identify the needs of the children within a community and ensure they are fulfilled.

The local authorities and agencies collaborate to ensure the domestic violence victims are provided with accommodation, particularly the children and refugees. They also intervene and ensure appropriate measures are enforced against domestic violence abusers. They strive hard to eradicate harmful traditional practices like forced marriages and female genital mutilation. They provide the appropriate tools and services needed for investigation and deployed to help eliminate domestic violence within the society.

Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) is a meeting organised by agencies to discuss the appropriate strategies to implement and ensure high-risk domestic violence victims are safeguarded. In a single conference, the agencies present up to date risky information, regularly asses the victim’s needs and ensure they are met, later they deploy appropriate measures to impose on the perpetrators.

Organisations can protect the domestic violence victims in various ways. One of them is through court statements. Court statements address the abusers and caution them against violating the victims. The victim’s physical, emotional and psychological condition is also examined after violence, and he is medically attended to. The children who are abused by the parents can be given custody. The victims can also be protected in a manner where they are compensated for the losses and damages. In case the victim was forcefully evacuated from her premise, the organisations accommodate and provide her with basic needs until the abuser has been convicted.

The main causes of conflicts as outlined by BTEC Conflict Resolution Module, 2018 are beliefs and values, resources, different needs and interests, structures and different types of information.

The first stage of conflict is latent stage. In this stage, people might be in conflict, but they are not aware. According to the scenario above, the community and the perpetrators were in conflict, but no one recognised it, Miss Tucker was also in conflict with Alex’s’ boys and the gang, but she never noticed. The second stage is known as perception. Here, the victims are aware of the conflict between them, and they have taken the appropriate measure of informing the authorities. This is evident in the scenario when the community decides to take a step and notify the authorities about the anti-social behaviours in the community. For instance, when some residents reported seeing Alex and his gang beating an Asian boy, another example of the second stage of conflict is depicted where the residents became afraid of attending the local shops at night because of a congregation of boys parading themselves around the shop late in the night. Miss Tucker is taking appropriate measures of recording all the 59 anti-social behaviours of Danny and his team also falls in the second stage of the conflict. She has already noticed that there is a conflict between her and Andrew boys.

The third stage of conflict is known as felt stage, where every victim feels the anxiety and stress caused by the conflict. The level three conflict in the scene is observed in the following instances; Miss Tucker feels stressed and anxious after witnessing James and Ryan throwing stones at her two-year-old son. She also feels the rage and reports to the authority about the incident where Danny and his gang put a firework through her letterbox and ran away. The conflict within the community rose to the third level when the residents started feeling the gangs’ effects of vandalism, threat, and abuse within the society.

After the third stage, the conflict will obviously manifest to the fourth stage. The fourth stage referred to as manifestation is where appropriate measures are taken, the conflict resolution agencies can be involved in this stage, and proper tools and powers can be deployed to try to solve the problem. Investigations can also be done to determine the cause of the conflict. The first scenario of level four incident is evident in the scene where local police have coordinated a meeting and invited other agencies with the agenda of discussing the Andrews’ family. Another evidence is depicted when Sargent Smith gains access of Andrews’ property in two occasions and witnesses Ryan, James and their classmate’s irresponsible drinking and disrupting the residents late at night with loud music.

The fourth stage of conflict is also evident when Sargent Smith refers to Denise as a nice lady and denies his involvement with the gang. Meaning he had severally observed Denise and can attribute that she doesn’t collaborate with the abusers. For Rod to make suggestions on appropriate measures that Danny should take such as intervention programs and acceptable behaviour agreement, the conflict had manifested to the fourth stage and Danny together with the gang was doing great harm to the community.

The fifth stage which is also the final stage of the conflict is the aftermath. The aftermath stage is the resolution stage. Here, the primary cause of the conflict has been determined, and a solution has also been obtained. The fifth stage is evident in the scenarios where Alex is expelled from school after fighting one of the students in the playground, Danny is excluded from school after attempting an attack on one of his classmates. The fifth stage instances are also observed where Alex is on a criminal behaviour order and is convicted of hate crime and violent behaviour. When Danny is charged with a criminal act of shoplifting and criminal damage, and also cautioned against threatening the neighbours, it is known that the conflict has been resolved and the aftermath stage has been reached.

Cost of conflict in a community or organisation depends on the damages attributed by it. Conflict can affect productivity in an organisation through the following ways: the first way is through wastage of time. Employees and managers can waste time resolving conflict, complaining to others about the conflict and ignoring one another even during team work hence leading to reduced productivity within an organisation. Conflict can also lower the motivation of an individual. Conflict can manifest to a stage where someone feels stressed and worried. All the individual will be focusing on is the conflict instead of putting effort to improve the situation.

Organisations with employees who constantly fight and are in conflict cannot yield better results due to distractions. Managers are sometimes forced to reshuffle employees who have unresolved conflict to prevent disturbances. Conflict cost can also be financially felt when organisations assets are damaged, and resources are embezzled. The management will be forced to spend money to replace the damaged organisational equipment’s. An individual’s health may deteriorate due to conflict. Stress and psychological torture can affect an individual’s health and even cause death. Another significant cost of conflict is lost opportunities. Due to conflict, an individual might lose his position or job in an organisation. Conflict cost can also be attributed to poor decision making; someone might decide on the conflict basis instead of focusing on organisational productivity.

            Conflict can lead to divorce, separation and relationship break-up. The children might, in turn, suffer and feel neglected, rejected and not cared for. In a community, conflict can interfere with the residents’ emotion. Some may never forgive their neighbours and decide to seek revenge. Conflict is assumed to cause direct cost when the victims choose to go to the court of law and use resources to solve their disputes instead of facing one another, rehearsing their past and forging ahead. Hate and increased crimes can be another cost of violence in a community. The victims who are insulted on most occasions expresses hostility and attacks one another in the community.

             Conflict theories can be understood from different perspectives depending on the victims affected and the extent to which the perpetrators can go to continue hurting the victims. A competitive response theoretical strategy can be administered in cases where people have got a firm stand; they no longer want to exploit the situation by protecting the perpetrators. According to the scenario, the appropriate response to be deployed to Alex, Danny and the gang should be a competitive response, their behaviours were frustrating the community, and an emergency response was to be taken. Moreover, they were not remorseful and even tried to threaten those who were planning to report them to the authorities. Miss Tucker recorded fifty-nine incidents of anti-social behaviour committed by the gang within three months, she even offered to testify but was scared. Meaning only competitive theory response could be applied in this case to solve the conflict between the lady and Andrew boys.

            Avoidance response could also be used to solve the conflict in certain instances within the scene. Avoidance is where the victims pretend as if there is no conflict between them. The community had to use avoidance response of not reporting the anti-social behaviours to the authorities because of fear of intimidation. The journalist was specifically threatened after he caught the gang shoplifting alcohol in one of the resident’s shops and had to use avoidance conflict resolution method to avoid being attacked by the boys. The residents avoided attending shops late at night because of the perpetrators to flee from intimidation and harassment.

            The collaborative response of conflict theory can be established by the residents to solve the community conflict. It is evident that the residents are frustrated by the vandalism, threats, abuse and criminal damage acts committed by Alex and the gang. They, therefore, collaborated to report the incidents to the authority. Sargent Smith opens the meeting, highlights the crime the gang have committed and talks about the residents reporting the group to the alleged authorities even though no actions were taken. The newsagent also cooperates with the police constable and report the incident where he saw the boys shoplifting. Miss Tucker too highlights all the fifty-nine occurrences and vividly narrates the two occasions which did affect him to the housekeeper. Meaning the community residents can use collaboration conflict resolution method to solve the conflict between them and the perpetrators.

Risk Assessment in Relation to visiting Andrews Household

How often does anti-social behaviour incidents occur in the society

Frequent

what is the likelihood of the incidents to occur further

More incidents are expected to happen in the near future

Who are the victims of anti-social behaviours committed by Andrews household and the gang

The community in general, Miss Tucker, the Asian boy, Mrs Andrew Denise and Iskander, the newsagent.

Who are the known perpetrators of anti-social behaviour in the community

Alex, Danny, James, Ryan, and the other ten boys

Name the incidents that the perpetrators of Andrews household are associated with

Vandalism, issuing threats, abusive behaviours towards the community residents, criminal damage, noise disruptions.

What are the strategies that should be deployed to remedy the situation

Issuing warnings, forcing the perpetrators to sign the Acceptable Behavior Contract, issuing injunctions from the court of law. Implementing the Community Protection Order to protect the whole community.

Appendix

Vulnerability Risk Assessment Matrix According to Miss Tuckers’ Incidents

Name:

Incident Number:

Address: