Community Mediation Works: The State of 'Anti-Social Behaviour' in Working Class Communities

23rd September 2010

This new report from Community Mediation Works reflects the experiences of people who have been the victims of anti-social behaviour and the experiences of those who have been threatened with or faced punitive action under the provisions against antisocial behaviour in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997.

Based on first-hand accounts of how antisocial behaviour is interpreted in practice on two local authority housing estates in Dún Laoghaire – Rathdown and one in Wicklow, the report considers the measures used to deal with behaviour deemed to be anti-social and the effects those measures have on personal, family and community life.

The report also looks at alternatives to evictions and exclusions. Rather than more of the same, it calls for measures that help reweave, not further unravel, the fabric of community life.

Read more:

• See the Irish Examiner's commentary on the report.
• Further afield, a recent UK report commissioned by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary explores public attitudes towards anti-social behaviour and the police response.