An article from the Observer about ‘ASBO families’ http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2059265,00.html . This article reminded me of the families I used to visit as a social worker. The stories had a familiar and candid feel to them. I’m sure living next door is eventful, if not stressful. However, I also recall that the ‘failing’ families I would visit, both the adults and children, were often more rounded and warm-hearted human beings than many of my local authority work colleagues. In truth, I often found their chaotic lives and run–ins with the authorities as amusing as they did. That was twenty years ago, the mood seems very different now.
I was thinking about them when reading/listening to David Cameron’s latest speech http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=136423&speeches=1. I think this is an important speech and well worth reading, but I was left puzzled as to what it means in practice. For example, when he speaks of pain: for whom and how. How would his policy alter the families in the Observer article? I don’t see how reducing state involvement will change these families; surely they will just carry on.
Or, is he saying abstrusely, what Melanie Phillips is saying openly in the Daily Mail? For this iron lady, these people are the enemy within, and need a few smacks. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=450789&in_page_id=1772&in_author_id=256&expand=true#StartComments Withdraw benefits and tighten the leash? I really don’t see this as the road to more pleasant society.
