School of Law

Dates: October 2007 - July 2009

Anti-social behaviour has become a major focus of political concern and public debate.

The last decade has seen an unprecedented period of intensive activity and regulatory reform designed to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB), which has seen the introduction of various new powers, tools and initiatives.

Yet there has been little engagement and dialogue between practitioners and researchers about the evidence base for, and effectiveness of, many of the recent reforms.

In this light, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded a series of research seminars designed to bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss and exchange views on research findings and their implications for good practice.

Two publications have arisen directly out of the seminar series. The publications include papers presented at various seminars throughout the series and hopefully will be of interest.

• A special Issue of Criminology and Criminal Justice 9(4) was published in November 2009 on 'Urban Safety, Anti-social Behaviour and the Night-time Economy'. Guest editors: Adam Crawford and John Flint.
• A Special edition of Social Policy and Society 9(1) is due to be published in January 2010 on 'Disciplining Difference'. Guest editors: Judy Nixon and David Prior.