UK: Perceptions of Anti-Social Behaviour

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.