Youth, Community Safety and the Paradox of Inclusion

Abstract

This article is based upon an ethnographic study of two housing estates in two English cities. The data gathered have highlighted the gaps between policy and practice in relation to the inclusion of young people in local community safety initiatives. It argues that the discourse of community safety is underpinned by a limited notion of inclusion that is predicated upon adult ‘law‐abiding’ citizenship and a specific interpretation of the concept of community. Thus, it concludes that in order to include and de‐pathologise young people, the strategies of implementation need to match the rhetoric of inclusion.