'Moment of madness' is in danger of recurring

The Cabinet Office commissioned research among young people and, to its credit, published it as soon as possible. It’s worth reading, alongside the Ministry of Justice statistical analysis of arrests and court hearings. The interview research concluded that, for many, the crime was opportunistic and a "moment of madness". Organised gang activity was only a minor feature.

Nevertheless, young people involved in the unrest showed poor attitudes to family and community. The broadcast media played a part in seeming to show people "getting away with it", with social media enabling people to egg each other on. And both the research and the statistics reveal poverty as a strong common feature. Can we really be surprised about any of that?

In light of the evidence, what can we conclude? One surprise is that so few people were actually involved. I have recently been in Australia, and I spoke to colleagues in New York at the time, and the impression given by the media was that whole cities were ablaze.

In fact, it was all very localised. Fewer than 2,000 people have been charged with any offence and fewer than 500 young people were under the age of 18. So while the unrest was important, and tragic for many, it was on a relatively small scale.

What does this mean for policy? One consequence is that for areas of relative poverty, effective youth work is more important than ever – providing places to go and things to do. But it is much harder to build an understanding of community and develop a sense of self-worth when youth unemployment stands at 20 per cent. The financial deficit has to be reduced – but unless increased employment follows, and quickly, the August unrest could be only the start.

John Freeman CBE is a former director of children’s services and is now a freelance consultant           Read his blog at cypnow.co.uk/freemansthinking