Anti-social Behaviour In Britain

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Anti-social behaviour is a key issue in the social and political life of Britain in the twenty-first century, as were respectability and immorality in the Victorian era. Written by expert sociologists, historians, criminologists and political scientists, this interdisciplinary collection examines anti-social behaviour from a range of historical and contemporary perspectives.

The volume compares two essential themes, firstly the forms of anti-social behaviour and secondly the methods employed by governments to repress and control anti-social behaviour. Compelling parallels emerge through the interrelated chapters, which are divided into three main areas: the urban environment and public spaces, the vulnerable and the marginalised and recreation and leisure.

This comprehensive collection is the first to examine anti-social behaviour from such an inclusive and wide-ranging position. It establishes clear parallels between the two periods regarding types of ASB and how they have been dealt with by successive governments, arguing that anti-social behaviour and political responses to it are by no means new phenomena.

Review: This is a gem of a book. It is an impressive collection of essays that successfully problematizes and historicizes anti-social behaviour. Moreover, it is a truly interdisciplinary endeavour - and it is all the stronger as a result. It is theoretically-informed, packed full of fascinating case studies and has much to offer historians, criminologists, and sociologists, not to mention those working in the fields of police studies, politics and social policy.

It casts fresh light on the history of anti-social behaviour in the Victorian era as well as underlining the complex nature of the phenomenon as it manifests itself at the start of the twenty-first century. - Andy Croll, University of South Wales, UK The meanings attributed to the contested term 'anti-social behaviour', the governance and regulation of the phenomenontogether with its derivation and aetiology, are questions that invoke lively debates.

By historically situating such debates and by tracing the contextual continuities and changes that frame understandings of, and responses to,'anti-social behaviour', Pickard's edited volume makes a major scholarly contribution'. - Professor Barry Goldson, Charles Booth Chair of Social Science, University of Liverpool, UK This is a comprehensive exploration of conduct attracting censure and a variety of controls in Victorian and contemporary Britain.

The parallels and differences between the two eras are well drawn. This is the most complete survey of perceptions of anti-social behaviour and action to curb it now available, filling in detail gaps in previous overviews. In each era marginal groups are targeted and a wide range of behaviours are seen as 'anti-social'. - Elizabeth Burney, University of Cambridge, UK