This volume explores an issue of growing importance to policy makers, academics, housing practitioners and students. It provides a range of theoretical perspectives, critical analysis and empirical research findings about the role of housing and urban governance in addressing anti-social behaviour.

Runner up in the British Society of Criminology Book Prize 2010 What is anti-social behaviour? Can it be dealt with effectively? Is the problem exaggerated? From the Daily Mail's claim of Britain being named ‘Yob Capital of Europe’, to the headline in The Times of ‘Tearaway given ASBO at 10’, the subject of anti-social behaviour has been given a huge amount of political, social, media, public policy and academic interest in recent years. Using lively case studies and examples, Andrew Millie introduces the concept of anti-social behaviour (ASB) and examines its implications for society in the 21st century. The chapters explore: The origins of the term Different causes and types of ASB Theoretical framewords for ASB and ASB control How the UK deals with ASB compared to other countries The rise of the ASBO Alternative enforcement options Methods of prevention The future for ASB Anti-Social Behaviour is fascinating reading for all Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy students.

This book vigorously challenges the dominant academic view of ASBOs as erroneous tools of social control, and offers an alternative perspective on anti-social behaviour management which argues that ASBOs are capable of enabling a positive process of engagement among local authorities, housing professionals and residents.

Anti-social behaviour has rapidly emerged as one of the most pressing concerns facing the UK. There are frequent media reports on the issue. Many academics and policy makers have also attempted to define the term and analyze why such disorder happens. The research has been extremely valuable, but few studies have specifically analyzed the issue of anti-social behaviour in Northern Ireland. This book seeks to fill this gap in knowledge. This study considers whether certain aspects of the Troubles in Northern Ireland could be considered as anti-social behaviour in retrospect. It also analyzes the role paramilitary groups played in dealing with incidents of disorder during this period of time. In addition, the book evaluates what impact political settlement has had on the perceptions of anti-social behaviour in the country. The study also explains some of the theoretical problems associated with the term in order to facilitate the specific evaluation of the issue in Northern Ireland. The analysis of what the term represents, the causes and the impact, offers a constructive insight into how best to respond to the problem of anti-social behaviour in the future.

The increasing trend and prevalence of incivilities-targeting punitive regulatory measures across Europe raises important issues regarding the legitimacy, effectiveness and impact of such formal social control. Regulation and Social Control of Incivilities addresses the pertinent issues of current punitive regulation and the social control of incivilities, their trends, criminological explanations, political, spatial, cultural, representational and policing dimensions as well as the underlying behaviour it targets. Part I explores issues surrounding the regulation of incivilities, drawing examples from several European countries including Spain, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, Slovenia and Hungary. It inspects the legal form and content of the prohibition of incivilities and the social factors that can help explain it, as well as the effectiveness and societal impact of various anti-nuisance measures. Part II focuses on social control and the representation of incivilities, including the construction and control of public nuisance in Belgium, the spatial and cultural aspects of incivilities and of law enforcement against them, the media representations of incivilities in the British and Flemish press, and the intersections between migration and control of incivilities when policing in the Netherlands. This book brings together international scholars to examine the ways in which understudied European countries approach the issue of anti-social behaviour. This multidisciplinary text will be of interest to students, scholars and policymakers concerned with issues of social control, incivilities and criminalisation.

"With clarity and confidence, this vibrant volume summons up 'the social' in geography in ways that will excite students and scholars alike. Here the social is populated not only by society, but by culture, nature, economy and politics." - Kay Anderson, University of Western Sydney "This is a remarkable collection, full of intellectual gems. It not only summarises the field of social geography, and restates its importance, but also produces a manifesto for how the field should look in the future." - Nigel Thrift, Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick "The book aims to be accessible to students and specialists alike. Its success lies in emphasizing the crossovers between geography and social studies. The good editorial work is evident and the participating contributors are well-established scholars in their respective fields." - Miron M. Denan, Geography Research Forum "An excellent handbook that will attract a diversity of readers. It will inspire undergraduate/postgraduate students and stimulate lecturers/researchers interested in the complexity and diversity of the social realm.... As the first of its kind in the sub-discipline, it is a book that is enjoyable to read and will definitely add value to a personal or library collection." - Michele Lobo, New Zealand Geographer The social relations of difference - from race and class to gender and inequality - are at the heart of the concept of social geography. This handbook reconsiders and redirects research in the discipline while examining the changing ideas of individuals and their relationship with structures of power. Organised into five sections, the SAGE Handbook of Social Geographies maps out the 'connections' anchored in social geography. Difference and Diversity builds on enduring ideas of the structuring of social relations and examines the ruptures and rifts, and continuities and connections around social divisions. Geographies and Social Economies rethinks the sociality, subjectivity and placement of money, markets, price and value. Geographies of Wellbeing builds from a foundation of work on the spaces of fear, anxiety and disease towards newer concerns with geographies of health, resilience and contentment. Geographies of Social Justice connects ideas through an examination of the possibilities and practicalities of normative theory and frames the central notion of Social geography, that things always could and should be different. Doing Social Geography is not exploring the 'how to' of research, but rather the entanglement of it with practicalities, moralities, and politics. This will be an essential resource for academics, researchers, practitioners and postgraduates across human geography.

Decentring Urban Governance seeks to rethink governance not as a particular state formation, but as the diverse policies emerging associated with the impact of modernist social science on policy making, considering the diverse meanings that inspire governing practices across time, space, and policy sectors in urban context. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the book goes beyond neoliberalism, and is interested in other webs of meaning through which actors encounter, interpret, and evaluate social science, which have received less analytical attention. All these different webs of meaning – elite narratives, social science, and local traditions – influence patterns of action. The book creates an analytical space by which to consider situated agency and localised resistance to the discourses and policies of political elites, including the myriad ways in which local actors have resisted practices of governance on the ground. This text will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners of urban governance, governance and more broadly to the social sciences, housing, social policy, law and welfare studies.