NCJ Number
186172
Journal
Environment and Planning A Volume: 31 Issue: 10 Dated: October 1999 Pages: 1713-1730
Date Published
October 1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 established procedures for local authorities to put local street curfews in place for children 10 years and under. This was viewed as a preventative and deterrent strategy to keep the young people from being drawn into crime.
Abstract
The United Kingdom had visions of a society of youth escalating to lawlessness and moral decline. Curfew orders were grounded on the exclusionary principles of control and deterrence. Arguments are that the case for curfews is much less clear than recent policy suggest. Evidence based on a large-scale study points to a more positive role of the streets in the lives of young people than was acknowledged in past discussions. Curfews reinforce a sense of powerlessness and alienation. Throughout the curfew debate there was no attempt to incorporate the views of young people. Instead of curfew, a proposal was put forth to include strategies which encourage incorporating young people into communities and empowering their voices in environmental decision making and challenging the adult perception of the environment. References.