Analysis: the sense of togetherness that comes with supporting the national side can teach us a thing or two about community and crime prevention
Why would Ireland need another international football tournament? Apart from the excitement it brings to most Irish people at home and abroad, from qualification to the finals, qualifying for an international tournament also brings a sense of national unity.
For those old enough to remember Ray Houghton against the English at Euro '88, the penalties against Romania at Italia '90, and Houghton again against the Italians in ’94, the moments these tournaments can bring are forever etched in our memory. In addition, the sense of togetherness, and perhaps even community, that comes with supporting the national side shouldn’t be overlooked.
But how does a soccer tournament connect to crime prevention? Let’s start with an example of the Irish football fans in Paris at the UEFA European Championships 2016. During the tournament, the Irish fans were documented cleaning up after themselves on the streets, leading chants of praise to the French police, and even singing a lullaby to a baby on a tram. These antics earned them the 'Medal of the City of Paris' in recognition of their model behaviour and attitude while in France.
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From RTÉ Archives, a nation holds its breath during the penalties against Romania at Italia '90
There were also anecdotal accounts of the collective fan base disapproving of individuals that would go too far, with some reprimanding fellow supporters that displayed socially unacceptable, aggressive, or even criminal behaviour. While some of the antics may have been questionable, most were law abiding, and it seemed that inappropriate behaviour was met with collective disapproval from the vast majority of travelling Irish. There was a feeling of 'don't let the side down’, all of which earned the Irish fans the award from the French capital’s mayor
Looking more deeply at this behaviour, it loosely exemplifies how a community, of fans in this case can collectively intervene to influence the negative behaviour of others. In criminological terms, this concept can be really important.
In the case of the Irish fans, they in part characterised a form of informal social control, which at its simplest refers to the ability of some members of society to influence the behaviour of others to ensure certain rules are followed. More specifically, in terms of crime control, the related concept of ‘collective efficacy’ can be defined as the building of informal social control, social cohesion and trust within a community that in turn can lead to resilience, responsibility, and positive responses to crime from its residents.
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From RTÉ News, a look at Ireland's Euro 2016 journey on and off the pitch
This sense of togetherness, responsibility and even guardianship of others displayed by the Irish fans in France is arguably something that can be fostered at local level, for example, in communities where a minority are responsible for anti-social behaviour or more serious crime. While there are lots of examples of resilient Irish communities, there is also evidence in others that community togetherness, responsibility, and guardianship are purposely discouraged by gangs and criminal networks.
It simply doesn't suits criminal networks for communities to be organised and active in pursuing positive outcomes for its residents. To continue with the football analogies, motivated and mobilised communities put criminal networks 'under pressure'. It suits criminal networks to keep communities down, often using fear and intimidation to do so.
What can be done about this? The Greentown project and its subsequent programme response aims to address the issue of young people’s coercion into criminal networks in Ireland. This programme response, among other things, recognises the importance of community.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland in 2017, Sean Redmond from UL discusses the Greentown study and how children become engaged in crime networks
One of four pillars of the Greentown programme actively promotes ‘community efficacy’, developed from the concepts of collective efficacy and community guardianship. If properly supported, this suggests communities can offer long terms solutions to localised crime gangs and help protect young people from being recruited into criminal networks. If these communities can be protected and feel safe to do so that is. However, supporting residents to feel safer is far from easy. It requires a concerted muti-agency response and appropriate investment.
If considering community efficacy operationally, or how you might actually do this, the science speaks to community building and community mobilisation, or ‘getting the community going’ in a planned and organised way. This can involve restoring pride and supporting local leadership along with pulling the right ‘levers’ to minimise criminal network activity. Community efficacy in the Greentown programme, therefore, aims to create a situation where residents of criminal network affected communities are supported to re-build local guardianship, restore a positive place-based identity, and protect children from local gangs. At its core this involves services thinking differently about how to engage ‘with’ and not ‘for’ communities.
So, to come back to the initial question, why does Ireland need another international soccer tournament? Apart from the excitement this can bring to the nation, it also brings people together. In doing so, it can teach us a thing or two about community and crime prevention.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
