Anti-social behaviour enforcement action and young people

This research project commenced in 2004 and ended in 2005.

The aim of the project was to gather evidence about anti-social behaviour enforcement action and explore alternative understandings of the young, often disadvantaged, people who are the most frequent recipients of the ‘anti-social’ label.

Young people, families and professionals were interviewed and agency records accessed. The research found that social class, area disadvantage and a lack of opportunities were strongly associated with ASB complaints and the targeting of ASB/Acceptable behaviour interventions. While the families involved might be described as ‘vulnerable’ they were not ‘irresponsible’ or otherwise deficient or culpable fully; half of the young people targeted by the ASB interventions had clinical diagnoses relating to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or related syndromes.

Parents were often able to show reams of documentation recording their efforts to secure support for their children: their problems lay, primarily, in accessing appropriate services.

The research concluded that the ASB management interventions primarily addressed the symptoms of other problems and that an enforcement-led approach was largely ineffective, compounding problems rather than solving them.

This study fed into further research into the politics of antisocial behaviour. The problematisation of ASB and the criminalisation of social policy associated with enforcement-driven ASB strategies have been key concerns requiring critical analysis.