Anti-Social Behaviour Orders

This book ‘aims to provide a new contribution to the debate on anti-social behaviour in Britain’ (p. viii) and Donoghue unambiguously sets out her stall by stating that her intention is to provide a critical reading of the existing literature. She argues that ‘much of the available literature on anti-social behaviour policy and the use of ASBOs has necessarily been impaired by too much ideological partisanship’ (p. viii) and that ‘the subject of analysis has been, to a large extent, the culture of crime and disorder control and not necessarily an empirical analysis of institutions and/or practice’ (p. 145). The author's aim therefore is to provide an account of anti-social behaviour policy—particularly the use of ASBOs—which provides a contrast to the prevailing arguments about social control and the marginalization of targeted groups. The introduction sets the scene by summarizing key themes of many of the academic critiques of anti-social behaviour policy whilst also highlighting, by contrast, that ASBOs often enjoyed greater support amongst the public. Chapters 2 and 3 provide an exploration of the political context in which ASBOs came into existence. In outlining the introduction of New Labour's measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, Donoghue provides a helpful reminder of both the broadness of the definition of anti-social behaviour and the fact that the primary focus related to the effect of the behaviour complained of, rather than the intention of the defendant. The inherent subjectivity of the definition is discussed, leading to the claim that ‘local level governance/autonomy and judicial decision-making assume highly significant roles in deciding ASBO application outcomes’ (p. 23).

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