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Three Labelling: constructing definitions of anti-social behaviour?

  • Helen Carr and Dave Cowan
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Abstract

This chapter talks about the epistemic support of ASB. It attempts to define ASB, while stating that obscurity is an important tool of governance. The main theme of this chapter is the role of vernacular and technical language in building and legitimising intervention. The discussion extends the governing coalition of ASB to incorporate housing professionals and different housing management mechanisms, which are increasingly arranged beyond the social housing tenure and the judiciary. The chapter shows that these two are able to provide an ‘interpretative ventriloquism’, which reinforces the predominant political and social ‘common-sense’ discourse around ASB.

Abstract

This chapter talks about the epistemic support of ASB. It attempts to define ASB, while stating that obscurity is an important tool of governance. The main theme of this chapter is the role of vernacular and technical language in building and legitimising intervention. The discussion extends the governing coalition of ASB to incorporate housing professionals and different housing management mechanisms, which are increasingly arranged beyond the social housing tenure and the judiciary. The chapter shows that these two are able to provide an ‘interpretative ventriloquism’, which reinforces the predominant political and social ‘common-sense’ discourse around ASB.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents iii
  3. List of tables, figures and photographs v
  4. Acknowledgements vi
  5. Notes on contributors vii
  6. Introduction 1
  7. The definition and construction of anti-social behaviour in the UK
  8. Housing and the new governance of conduct 19
  9. Governing tenants: from dreadful enclosures to dangerous places 37
  10. Labelling: constructing definitions of anti-social behaviour? 57
  11. Anti-social behaviour: voices from the front line 79
  12. Spaces of discipline and control: the compounded citizenship of social renting 99
  13. Legal techniques and measures utilised by social landlords to address anti-social behaviour
  14. Tenancy agreements: a mechanism for governing anti-social behaviour? 119
  15. The changing legal framework: from landlords to agents of social control 137
  16. Social landlords, anti-social behaviour and countermeasures 155
  17. The emerging mechanisms of addressing anti-social behaviour in housing governance
  18. Evaluating the Shelter Inclusion Project: a floating support service for households accused of anti-social behaviour 179
  19. Tackling anti-social behaviour: an evaluation of the Dundee Families Project 199
  20. Policing and community safety in residential areas: the mixed economy of visible patrols 219
  21. Gated communities: a response to, or remedy for, anti-social behaviour? 239
  22. Studies of housing and anti-social behaviour from an international perspective
  23. Housing and anti-social behaviour in Australia 259
  24. Testing urban forms: city, control and ‘urban violence’ in France 281
  25. Residential stability among adolescents in public housing: a risk factor for delinquent and violent behaviour? 301
  26. Conclusion 325
  27. Index 335
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