Roehampton is a place of multiple deprivation. We have the highest index of child deprivation in the Borough of Wandsworth. From the outside, you would have thought that we would be a prime candidate for the sort of lawlessness that we have seen on TV and read about in the papers.
There are a number of factors that have engendered this absence of lawlessness. The first is that we are so atomised as a community that we never really come together for anything. There isn't the energy, there isn't the capacity, to get together to do things. Roehampton doesn't do co-operation. Therefore we don't do looting.
Secondly, I don't think that we have critical mass of young/adolescent people to form a mob that feels safe attacking shops or police stations. A lot of the children are away - on holiday, or visiting family abroad over the summer.
Thirdly, Roehampton is big. It has large open spaces, and it is quite a walk to get from one part of the estates to another. There isn't that focus or intensity of population in one particular area.
Fourthly, I must pay credit to the youth services and police groups that have been working with young people here for a long time: Connexions, Catch 22, YIP, Junior YIP and Regenerate.
Every place is different. Local history and background make all the difference. Government and Local Government initiatives can make all the difference.
Added to that, there is nothing worth stealing in Roehampton. A couple of sausages from Greggs --- it is hardly overflowing with Plasma TVs, Ipads and Designer trainers, is it?
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