English to Russian Social Sciences Government / Politics Anti-Social Behaviour

In recent years ASBO issuance has plummeted (see chart), as it has become clear that the orders are not very effective at stopping the behaviour they are meant to prevent. About half of all ASBOs are broken; among 10- to 17-year-olds almost two-thirds are breached. Councils are instead turning to “acceptable behaviour contracts”, an informal (and much cheaper) agreement between policeman and yob that seems to work better, partly because it normally lasts for six months rather than the ASBO’s minimum two years—a lifetime for teenagers. The drop also reflects a change in the political weather: Mr Blair’s successor as prime minister, Gordon Brown, is less gung-ho on crime, and his ally Ed Balls*** has absorbed some of the yob agenda*** into his new department for children. Two years ago Mr Balls declared: “I want to live in the kind of society that puts ASBOs behind us.”

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