‘Problemfamilier’ skal (alligevel ikke) videovervåges i deres eget hjem

Ikke i Danmark, men i Storbritannien. Men mon ikke nok det skal komme? Jeg har ikke så mange kommentarer denne gang – jeg savner ord.

Man var nok lidt på hurtig på aftrækkeren, og historien kan ikke findes andre steder end hos Daily Express, hvis journalist lader til at have været for hurtig, se Update 3 herunder. Vi beklager fejlen.

Men altså, I Daily Express kan man læse:

The Children’s Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes.

They will be monitored to ensure that children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals.

Private security guards will also be sent round to carry out home checks, while parents will be given help to combat drug and alcohol addiction.

Around 2,000 families have gone through these Family Intervention Projects so far.

But ministers want to target 20,000 more in the next two years, with each costing between £5,000 and £20,000 – a potential total bill of £400million. […]

He said: “This is pretty tough and non-negotiable support for families to get to the root of the problem. There should be Family Intervention Projects in every local authority area because every area has families that need support.”

Og oppositionen? Herfra skal man ikke vente megen hjælp eller støtte til folks borgerrettigheder eller privatliv. De konservatives talsmand på området udtaler: “This is all much too little, much too late. This Government has been in power for more than a decade during which time anti-social behaviour, family breakdown and problems like alcohol abuse and truancy have just got worse and worse.

Der er så meget galt med de “ansvarlige” problemers synspunkter, at jeg ikke orker hverken at ende og begynde – udover måske med det tåbelige i at behandle sociale problemer gennem “stramninger”, som ligesom her i landet er tidens løsen.

Og videovervågning i folks eget hjem? Vel, når først det er gjort for problemfamilier, så kan man vel også … første skridt ud på den evindelige glidebane.

Gys. Forsøget vil i første omgang omfatte 20.000 familier.

Update: Som det også fremgår af diskussionen på Slashdot, er Daily Express som andre britiske tabloider ikke verdens mest pålidelige kilde. Dette her forslag er desværre ikke spor ude af trit med, hvordan man ellers gør tingene “over there”, så indtil videre vil jeg anbefale folk at skimme diskussionen på slashdot og så vil jeg forsøge at følge op på historien, hvis der kommer nye oplysninger.

Update 2: Eric Bentzen har ret i, at historien er tvivlsom – skrev indlægget efter at have set den på Slashdot, og før jeg nåede at tænke over, hvad Daily Express er for en avis. Jeg lader historien stå, men vil følge op på den, når og hvis det skulle være muligt at få det be- eller afkræftet. Videovervågning af folk i deres eget hjem ligger nu desværre ikke ud over, hvad jeg tiltror de britiske myndigheder, der går amok i overvågning i disse år.

Update 3: En kommentator på metafilter.com har denne analyse, som jeg indtil videre gætter på er korrekt:

For those wanting a bit of context, this announcement by Ed Balls seems to be tied to the publication of a document tracking progress against the UK Government’s Youth Crime Action Plan, published just over a year ago. Here is the press release announcing its publication. From what I can understand the ‘sin bins’ appear to be ‘Family Intervention Projects’. These started to be set up in 2006 and are based on a famous project run by NCH, a children’s charity, called the Dundee Families Project and running since 1995. The project works with families with significant involvement in crime or anti-social behaviour. Here is a bit more background, from an evaluation [PDF] of projects modelled on the Dundee Project, on what they provide:

– Residential Support via a core block, where up to three families can live. These are
families who have been excluded from local authority housing because of a history of anti-social behaviour. Staff have regular contacts with families on a daily basis and practically every aspect of family life comes under scrutiny. Inappropriate behaviour is challenged and also counterbalanced with support to encourage change. Parents are assisted in establishing routines and boundaries for children and their parenting style may be challenged.

– Community Based Support via dispersed tenancies. This is normally used as a transitional measure for families moving out of the core block, but may, in the right circumstances, be offered to families living in temporary accommodation, who have poor tenancy histories. Acceptance of a programme of support is a condition of occupancy. The eventual goal is to assist the family in re-settling, with a view to the tenancy becoming permanent.

– Outreach Support to families who are Dundee City Council tenants, and who are at risk
of losing their tenancy because of concerns about their behaviour. Methods used include: one-to-one work with parents and/or children; children’s groups; family group work; anger management; developing home-skills; parenting groups using established programmes; video work; tenancy workshops, focussing on responsibilities as well as rights. Referrals will also be made, where appropriate, to specialist services, such as drug alcohol or mental health services.

– Support Plans: all families have detailed support plans which are tailored to meet the needs of family members. Other agencies’ contributions are included, and the Project takes a central role in co-ordinating the support plan. This means that all – Project, family, and other agencies, are held accountable for their contribution. Support plans are reviewed and
adjusted on a six weekly basis.

I haven’t yet figured out where the CCTV fits in, but I presume it is used as part of the intensive supervision for families living in residential support. So it seems to be one small element of a much larger of series of projects designed to try to tackle the risk factors that can lead to criminal behaviour in ‘families with high levels of anti-social behaviour, often combined with criminal activities, and who were homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, because of their behaviour’ …

Link: Sin bins for worst families (via /.).