Despite the resources dedicated to new measures for tackling ASB, strategists and policy makers have tended not to spell out precisely why it is that ASB needs to be addressed.

It is taken for granted that ASB can cause enormous problems, but the nature and impact of these problems have not been examined systematically.

Similarly, while responses to ASB have been developed with great urgency, this urgency sometimes means that not much thought has been put into determining what kinds of responses are needed in different contexts. This study aims to fill some of these gaps.

In England and Wales, politicians and practitioners have since 1997 paid increasing attention to ASB. The term is usually used to cover minor crimes and near-criminal behaviour that cause public annoyance, anxiety and disruption to daily life.

The government has introduced a range of new powers for tackling those problems of ASB that cause greatest concern to the general public. At local levels, key agencies are making ever-greater use of these powers, and are placing a heavy emphasis on ASB within the wider community safety agenda.

In order to investigate views among the general public, the researchers undertook a national survey of attitudes to ASB, and carried out focus groups and interviews with residents in three neighbourhoods selected as case-study sites.

In the same neighbourhoods, the researchers conducted interviews with practitioners and local managers, and set these in context by looking at the range of ASB-related initiatives being undertaken in these areas.

The researchers conclude that both national and local ASB strategies should aim for a balance between enforcement and prevention and that more care is needed in defining ASB and in deciding the limits on the use of civil remedies.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation
publications@jrf.org.uk

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//2005

Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR) at the School of Law, King’s College London: Andrew Millie, Jessica Jacobson, Eraina McDonald and Mike Hough

research

Urban Policy > Security & crime prevention > Anti-crime policy

Anti-social behaviour & vandalism