Diversion tactics

As well as the use of mechanisms to either push out or deter ‘devils’ from public space in Ravenswood, there were attempts to divert them into other activities. Diversion tactics have received a great deal of attention in government policy responses to anti-social behaviour (Millie, 2009, p163) and Ravenswood’s local police force welcomed diversion tactics. Police Constable Antony Gondoma spoke at length about groups either in Ravenswood or nearby which they, as a police force, supported. For Antony, all activities which encouraged young people ‘to keep off the streets’ and be elsewhere were in his view a benefit for the community, because when young people were ‘hanging’ around on streets and in parks, they were likely to end up in trouble or at the very least annoy local residents.

One of these groups was the youth night held every Thursday evening at the Community Room attached to Ravenswood Community Primary School. Stuart Banto, a Youth Worker from Suffolk County Council, oversaw all the different state funded youth groups in the south-east of Ipswich and was responsible for setting up the youth group in Ravenswood. When I met Stuart

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he recalled how Ravenswood’s youth night was established in direct response to anti-social behaviour complaints from the local residents. Given this, the remit of the group was to divert young people, aged between thirteen and nineteen, away from engaging in possible anti-social behaviour on the streets. Each session was free to attend and completely flexible in that young people could come and go as they pleased. During each session young people could also chose exactly what they wanted to do, whether that was browse the internet or play computer games. Since the establishment of the group, Stuart reported a decline in resident complaints. Keith Watson, a Park Ranger, also believed that levels of anti-social behaviour and vandalism in Ravenswood’s public spaces had dropped as a direct result of this weekly youth night. The improvements witnessed in Ravenswood reflect a government policy entitled Aiming High for

Young People (HM Treasury and DCSF, 2007, p17) which stated the benefits of engaging young

people in ‘positive activities’ as a means of tackling anti-social behaviour.

As well as the weekly youth night, Ipswich Borough Council ran youth activities during the holidays named Doorstep Play. The scheme was established in response to the increased levels of anti-social behaviour reported during the holiday periods. Doorstep play sessions were all free and usually based around sports and physical activities. Oliver Massey who worked for Ipswich Borough Council as a Sports Development Officer, organised and managed the scheme. He recalled how for a number of years they had been running weekly holiday sessions in Ravenswood, in response to reports of anti-social behaviour.

In addition to these state led youth activities, independent organisations also established youth activities in Ravenswood with the aim of diverting young people from anti-social behaviour, and of resolving, existing behaviour concerns. This is not unique to Ravenswood. Millie (2009, p163) acknowledges the role of such organisations in this agenda which have emerged in response to anti-social behaviour concerns seen as a result of ‘boredom’ amongst local young people. As noted in Chapter 4, on the boundary between Ravenswood and Gainsborough there is a sports complex which was built before Ravenswood (Plate 22). Contained in this complex is Pipers Vale Gymnastics Centre, which had set up a weekly youth night on a Friday evening. At the centre I spoke to Chris Hall, the Centre Manager, who explained how the weekly event began.

‘On a Friday night in particular we had big problems outside; outside our centre and outside the Gainsborough sports centre, which is what we are attached to, with young

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people about 12, 13 [years old], drinking, quite heavily and being abusive, physically and verbally abusive to members of the public - squaring up to them, damage to cars, damage to vehicles etc, etc. And on several occasions we kept calling the police, to move them on. But then all you ended up with was more next week causing the same sort of problem. It just seemed to antagonise them, rather than solve the problem. So I came up with an idea; ‘ok let’s not move them on, let’s try something constructive with them, and invite them into the centre and see what happens’. So, our youth night was born, for that particular reason, to try and curb the problems outside. [...] And the problems outside basically stopped; there was no more drinking, no more kids outside…’

Chris Hall, Pipers Vale Gymnastic Centre Manager, 10th June 2009.

Image 22: Pipers Vale Gymnastics Centre – location for weekly youth night (Source: Author, 2013)

This weekly youth night appeared to be both well-received and successful as the number of young people attending the youth night soon reached around 60. Writers in this field (e.g. Millie, 2009) believe that the success of independent groups in organising diversion activities is due to the tolerance and respect shown to young people by local community members. Nevertheless, the use of diversionary measures in Ravenswood was in every case mobilised through adult concerns over young people’s presence and behaviour in public spaces, rather than as a result of young people’s requests for more local activities. Furthermore, such youth projects are seen as a means of separating young people from the public domain. White (1996) sees this as a common material consequence of expressing difference between social groups (p38). However, it can also be argued that these spaces, despite their origins and intentions, did

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provide a place, even if temporarily, where young people – their presence and behaviour - was celebrated. That said, there is little evidence to suggest that these places were sites for social mixing within Ravenswood. For instance, the weekly youth night held at Ravenswood’s Community group was only attended by young people from Gainsborough and Priory Heath and the Gymnastics Youth Night had a very large catchment area, with young people from all over Ipswich attending.