Dealing with anti-social behaviour

This content applies to England only.

There is widespread concern about the rise in anti-social behaviour and how best to tackle it.

While Shelter supports tough measures to protect communities, we are opposed to policies that are ineffective at resolving anti-social behaviour and, in the process, exacerbate homelessness.

What is anti-social behaviour?

The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act defines anti-social behaviour as ‘behaviour which causes or is likely to cause harrassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household’. This covers a wide spectrum of behaviour from vandalism, noise nuisance and littering, to racial harrassment and actual violence. More extreme cases of anti-social behaviour can have a devastating impact upon local communities.

Tackling anti-social behaviour

In response to the problem of anti-social behaviour, the Government launched its ‘Respect agenda' in 2006. The Respect Action Plan introduced measures to develop parenting schemes, youth volunteering, tackle attendance in schools, and extend community enforcement powers. The Government has also introduced sanctions for perpetrators, including Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), criminal convictions and even eviction.

Shelter’s view

While Shelter agrees that such tough measures are necessary to protect communities where behaviour is persistent and wilful, we believe these should only be used as a last resort. Eviction may be effective in dealing with the immediate problem but it can cause homelessness and deepening social exclusion, not just for the individual concerned but for the whole household, including any children. What’s more, eviction often simply displaces the problem of anti-social behaviour to a new area and a new set of neighbours rather than actually solving it.

Shelter believes a more balanced approach is required to address the complex and deep-rooted causes of anti-social behaviour. Alongside enforcement measures, this should include prevention and resettlement schemes.

An example of a successful model to tackle anti-social behaviour is the Shelter Inclusion Project in Rochdale. This service works with households who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, due to their anti-social behaviour. The households are encouraged to identify and tackle the causes of their behavioural problems. Solutions include providing parents with the skills they need to deal with their situation, and working with other services to ensure the families support needs are met. Of the households that completed their time with the service, 60% no longer exhibited any anti-social behaviour and a further 11% showed improvements in their behaviour.

Campaign successes

In 2002, Shelter successfully prevented a law passing through the House of Commons that proposed to reduce housing benefit for families found guilty of anti-social behaviour. Shelter feels that withdrawing housing benefit would be an ineffective way of tackling anti-social behaviour, simply moving the problem to another area, causing homelessness and further exacerbating poverty and social exclusion among low-income families.

Shelter’s vision is of inclusive communities that are welcoming places for people to live. We call on the Government to:

• use preventative approaches to tackling anti-social behaviour and promote more successful communities
• address anti-social behaviour as a whole community issue, rather than a problem specific to those living in social housing.