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.
Author(s): Peter Squires
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 392
ASBO nation......Page 2
Contents......Page 4
List of figures and tables......Page 6
List of contributors......Page 7
Introduction: why ‘anti-social behaviour’? Debating ASBOs......Page 10
The fast-moving politics of law and order......Page 13
‘Anti-social’: what, how much and for whom?......Page 17
The cultural politics of anti-social behaviour......Page 20
Communities, social capital, respect and tolerance......Page 27
Full circle: ASBOs, social change and the future......Page 32
1. Why tackle anti-social behaviour?......Page 46
The quality of life rationale......Page 47
The ‘broken windows’ rationale......Page 49
The crime-fighting (zero-tolerance) rationale......Page 52
The regeneration rationale......Page 54
Conclusions: competing rationales?......Page 59
Introduction......Page 66
Welsh matters......Page 68
Resilient Fabians? Narratives from the coalface......Page 73
Conclusion......Page 78
Introduction......Page 82
Tackling ASB at a local level – the Leeds approach......Page 83
Issues for practitioners nationally......Page 87
Positive approaches and respect......Page 91
Conclusion......Page 94
Introduction......Page 96
Variations in the use and reliability of collected data......Page 98
The problems of definition and the overlapping of categories......Page 100
Different perceptions of anti-social behaviour among different agencies......Page 102
Limited use of anti-social behaviour sanctions......Page 103
Lack of community involvement......Page 106
Conclusion......Page 108
Introduction......Page 112
Multi-level governance, neighbourhood and community......Page 113
The dual processes of centralisation and localism......Page 115
Defining the responsibilities of citizenship: formal and informal social control......Page 120
Conclusions......Page 123
Introduction......Page 126
Concepts and definitions and their policy implications......Page 128
Ethnicity in law and order policies......Page 130
Minority ethnic communities, racist victimisation, ASB and social justice......Page 132
Perceptions of minority ethnic communities......Page 134
Community responses to ASB issues......Page 136
Conclusion......Page 140
7. The ASBO and the shift to punishment......Page 144
Enter the CrASBO......Page 147
Breaching ASBOs......Page 152
The experience of ASBOs......Page 154
Conclusion......Page 155
Banned from Camden......Page 158
ASBO and redemption......Page 160
Probation practice now......Page 162
Introduction......Page 170
Governmentality and political rationalities......Page 171
What type of political rationality informs the construction of FIPs?......Page 172
How are Family Intervention Projects constructed in the media?......Page 176
Practitioners’ construction of family intervention projects......Page 179
Conclusion......Page 183
10. Street life, neighbourhood policing and ‘the community’......Page 188
‘Street life’ in the UK......Page 189
The issue in Cathedral City......Page 191
The eliminative ideal......Page 193
Visibility......Page 195
Demonisation......Page 198
Pollution and contamination......Page 200
Communities, policing and ASB......Page 201
And finally, the street-life people themselves – a community?......Page 205
Conclusion......Page 207
Introduction......Page 212
Parenting Orders: policy and legislation......Page 213
Disciplinary power and governmentality......Page 215
The objectification of ‘bad parents’: the role of the psy-complex......Page 216
Appropriating psychology for policy: the case of risk factor models......Page 217
The new parenting guidance: from deviance to everyday socialisation......Page 219
Parenting Orders: an example of disciplinary power?......Page 221
Parenting Orders: regulation or resistance?......Page 222
Conclusions......Page 225
Introduction......Page 232
Hillside Estate......Page 233
Who is ‘anti-social’ in Hillside?......Page 235
What is anti-social behaviour?......Page 236
The process of intervention......Page 238
Surveillance and policing......Page 240
Use of space......Page 243
Conclusion......Page 245
Anti-social youth......Page 248
Constructing and explaining anti-social behaviour......Page 249
Local rhetoric and practice......Page 250
Northtown......Page 251
The four-strikes process: perceptions and experiences......Page 253
The ISSP......Page 260
Conclusion......Page 262
14. ‘Binge drinking’, anti-social behaviour and alcohol-related disorder: examining the 2003 Licensing Act......Page 266
Binge drinking and anti-social behaviour......Page 267
The alcohol industry strikes back......Page 269
The 2003 Licensing Act......Page 273
Conclusions......Page 277
Introduction......Page 282
The government position......Page 284
The new wave of criminalisation......Page 286
Discussion: the proactive prohibition of pharmacological pleasure......Page 292
Introduction......Page 298
Formalising partial criminalisation – the Wolfenden Report and the problem of visible prostitution......Page 300
Growing intolerance – enforcement plus support?......Page 305
Conclusion......Page 310
17. ‘ASBOmania’......Page 316
18. The responsibility of respecting justice: an open challenge to Tony Blair’s successors......Page 328
Introduction......Page 346
The problem......Page 347
Panics past and present......Page 348
The problem of the elite......Page 350
Respect what?......Page 352
Talk to the hand......Page 353
The ‘therapeutic me’......Page 354
Disconnected......Page 357
Asocial politics......Page 358
‘Self’-respect......Page 361
Encouraging impotence......Page 363
20. Conclusion: the future of anti-social behaviour?......Page 368
From the welfare state to the ASBO nation?......Page 373
Index......Page 382
