The Politics Of Antisocial Behaviour

This book explains why anti-social behaviour, as a focus of political rhetoric, legislative activity and social action, has gained such a high profile in Britain. It also provides a critical examination of current policies of enforcement and exclusion.

Antisocial behaviour is becoming a universally accepted problem and one that dominates the political and popular imagination. By providing a new criminological framework for understanding the fear of crime, this book reposes the increasingly important debate around antisocial behaviour and the internationally understood idea of moral panics. Through a critical engagement with theories of risk, the book develops Furedi’s understanding of a Culture of Fear to illustrate how firstly, society today is best understood to be in a permanent state of anxiety, and secondly, how this state of affairs has arisen due to the collapse of traditional politics and morality, and equally, of radical alternatives to it. Central to Waiton's thesis is an explanation of the changing therapeutic relationship between the individual and society based on an understanding of diminished subjectivity and the newly emerged vulnerable public.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) has been a major preoccupation of New Labour's project of social and political renewal, with ASBOs a controversial addition to crime and disorder management powers. Thought by some to be a dangerous extension of the power to criminalise, by others as a vital dimension of local governance, there remains a concerning lack of evidence as to whether or not they compound social exclusion. This collection, from an impressive panel of contributors, brings together opinion, commentary, research evidence, professional guidance, debate and critique in order to understand the phenomenon of anti-social behaviour. It considers the earliest available evidence in order to evaluate the Government's ASB strategy, debates contrasting definitions of anti-social behaviour and examines policy and practice issues affected by it. Contributors ask what the recent history of ASB governance tells us about how the issue will develop to shape public and social policies in the years to come. Reflecting the perspectives of practitioners, victims and perpetrators, the book should become the standard text in the field.

This book seeks to explain why anti-social behavior, as a focus of political rhetoric, legislative activity and social action, has gained a high profile in Britain in recent years, and it provides a critical examination of current policies of enforcement and exclusion. It also analyzes the thematic elements in the drive against anti-social behavior, within the wider law and order agenda. Public concern about anti-social behavior is real enough, and it remains high on the political agenda. This book will describe the wide range of offensiveness and incivility involved, showing different intensity and causation. It will examine the methods adopted to deal with anti-social behavior and particularly the increasingly managed response orchestrated by the government, and evident in new and recent legislation. These concerns are not confined to Britain, and this book also seeks to situate the growing concern with anti-social behavior with developments in both North America and Europe.

Recent legislative and policy developments in contemporary Britain have ushered in a new approach to criminal justice. The focus on criminal dispositions and welfarism has given way to a strategy which now involves the management of social exclusion, dysfunctional and anti-social families and situational crime prevention, leading to what has been widely characterized as the 'criminalisation of social policy' - and evidenced most recently by the anti-social behaviour and respect agendas. This book is concerned to explore, analyse and explain these developments. It seeks at the same time to situate the study of anti-social behaviour and response to it in the wider context of changes in the industrial and social structure, social polarization and inequality and the changing role of the welfare state in present-day society. This book will be essential reading for students taking courses in criminology, sociology, criminal justice, social policy and related subjects.

This book presents a comprehensive summary of how well adult crime, antisocial behaviour and antisocial personality disorder can be prevented by interventions applied early in life. It reviews important childhood risk and protective factors for these adult outcomes and the alternative strategies of primary prevention (targeting the whole community) and secondary prevention (targeting persons identified as high risk) are discussed. The book also contains extensive information about prevention programmes in pregnancy and infancy, pre-school programmes, parent education and training programmes, and school programmes (including the prevention of bullying). There is special emphasis on preventing the intergenerational transmission of antisocial behaviour by focusing on family violence, and a special review of whether risk factors and prevention programmes have different effects for females compared to males. Cost-benefit analyses of early prevention programmes are also reviewed, leading to the conclusion that adult antisocial behaviour can be prevented both effectively and cost-efficiently.

Anti-social behaviour has become a major political preoccupation of government and combating it is now a major plank of criminal justice policy. Yet anti-social behaviour as a concept has been little studied, and the notion has often been accepted uncritically. This book aims to meet this need, providing a critique of the government's use of the concept of anti-social behaviour and of youth justice strategy more generally. Rougher Justice foregrounds the perspectives and experiences of young people themselves. It draws upon recent developments within the field of cultural criminology to provide an alternative interpretation of the construction of 'youthful criminal careers'. It is underpinned by research in three separate areas which focus on the new youth justice, youthful criminal careers, and anti-social behaviour and acceptable behaviour enforcement. Central to the book is an ambition to understand youthful delinquency from the inside and to recover what is lost in much of New Labour's youth justice strategy --and the methods adopted by the Youth Justice Board to evaluate this strategy, that is to say a situated and interpretive understanding of youthful delinquency drawn from the perspective of and in the voices of young people themselves.

Runner up in the British Society of Criminology Book Prize 2010 What is anti-social behaviour? Can it be dealt with effectively? Is the problem exaggerated? From the Daily Mail's claim of Britain being named ‘Yob Capital of Europe’, to the headline in The Times of ‘Tearaway given ASBO at 10’, the subject of anti-social behaviour has been given a huge amount of political, social, media, public policy and academic interest in recent years. Using lively case studies and examples, Andrew Millie introduces the concept of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and examines its implications for society in the 21st century. The chapters explore: The origins of the term Different causes and types of ASB Theoretical framewords for ASB and ASB control How the UK deals with ASB compared to other countries The rise of the ASBO Alternative enforcement options Methods of prevention The future for ASB Anti-Social Behaviour is fascinating reading for all Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy students.