Finding a balance for tackling anti-social behaviour

Over the past decade the Government has attached great importance to tackling anti-social behaviour (ASB) and has introduced a range of new measures to deal with it. For example, the Housing Act 1996 facilitated actions by social landlords against anti-social tenants, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 introduced the Anti-Social Behaviour Order, or ASBO, and the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 has introduced further provisions relating to, for example, parenting contracts and orders, dispersal orders, and new powers for tackling environmental problems such as noise, graffiti and waste. And in January 2004, the Home Office launched its national TOGETHER campaign, which was designed to, “ensure local agencies do more to respond to communities’ concerns [about ASB], to support the decent law-abiding majority and take action against the minority of perpetrators”.