More than half of the 18,000 Asbos issued in Gloucestershire have been breached, a report has found.
The study, compiled for the county's council, found that anti-social behaviour accounted for 45% of all police call-outs.
Louise Walker, of Tewkesbury Borough Council, said: "Unless you deal with the root cause of the behaviour you aren't going to stop it."
The government is considering scrapping Asbos, which were introduced in 1999.
Ms Walker, who is a youth worker in Tewkesbury, said she found Agreed Behaviour Contracts (ABCs) - a voluntary alternative to Asbos - more useful in dealing with young people who had come to the attention of the authorities.
Boundaries set
ABCs are often used in Gloucestershire and they involve individually tailored contracts with five or six conditions including a curfew, which the offender agrees to.
"It's really effective... it's all very well giving a punishment, but unless you identify the reason behind anti-social behaviour you aren't going to halt it.
"We work with the family and it stops people going into the criminal justice system.
"It's almost as if the young person wants to have boundaries set."
The report into anti-social offending in Gloucestershire was compiled by Maiden, a multi-agency organisation that collects data about the county.
It found police had to respond to one anti-social incident every 16 minutes in the county.
- Published28 July 2010
- Published28 July 2010
