9th March 2010
A Home Office report released this week has examined the nebulous concept of ‘anti-social behaviour’ in an attempt to comprehend the origins and factors affecting perceptions of this in society.
The report contends that perceptions of anti-social behaviour are a matter of interpretation, as perceptions frequently do not correlate to objective measurements of anti-social behaviour in an area.
The research reveals that many people use ‘shorthand’, such as the congregation of teenagers in an area, as an indicator of anti-social behaviour. The report also found that perceptions of such behaviour were linked to more latent anxieties about the state of society generally.
The research highlighted 'social connectedness' as a key factor in how likely someone was to report high levels of anti-social behaviour and proposed a two-strand approach involving community cohesiveness and physical improvements to the area in order to tackle the problem.
Read the report here.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.