This guide provides legal practitioners, social landlords, the police, tenants and their advisors with a practical guide to the current law governing the control of anti-social behaviour in England and Wales using Injunctions made under the 2014 Act ("ASBIs").

The control of nuisance and anti-social behaviour has continued to be a focus of government interest over the last few decades. English law has taken large steps forward in ASB control compared with many other jurisdictions. With good planning and preparation, many types of behaviour can now be reduced or prevented. The most recent statutory support for victims comes from the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 ("the 2014 Act") and this book is about getting injunctions under that Act ("ASBIs"). Since the Act came into force ASBIs have continued to offer a useful tool in the management of disagreeable conduct in society. The government is about to introduce a Pre-Action Protocol which applicants must follow. It may complicate some claims, and care will be needed to comply with its provisions. This guide provides legal practitioners, social landlords, the police, tenants and their advisors with a practical guide to the current law governing the control of anti-social behaviour in England and Wales using Injunctions made under the 2014 Act. In a comprehensive, yet accessible format it aims to help the reader navigate some of the common challenges associated with the control of nuisance by the use of 'ASBIs', both in publicly and privately-owned housing and elsewhere. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Iain Wightwick is a barrister at Unity Street Chambers in Bristol. He is a specialist property lawyer, with particular interest in landlord and tenant, especially social housing with a focus on neighbour nuisance and related anti-social behaviour matters ('neighbours from hell'), housing disrepair, homelessness, and general social and private sector housing law. As part of his caseload, he is often instructed to pursue claims for ASBIs and for ASB-related possession and is occasionally briefed on behalf of defendants. Much of his work includes consideration of issues relating to disabilities and to the Equality Act. He has thirty years' experience of acting for social landlords and tenants and a reputation for creative, cost-controlling approaches to litigation and to alternative dispute resolution. CONTENTS Introduction - Why Statutory Help Is Necessary to Control Antisocial Behaviour Chapter One - 'Passing Go' - The Basics (Including Gas Injunctions) and the New Protocol Chapter Two - Satisfying the Threshold Tests Chapter Three - Is It 'Just and Convenient'? Chapter Four - Gathering Evidence Chapter Five - Applications for Injunctions Chapter Six - Prohibitions and Requirements Chapter Seven - Interim Injunctions Chapter Eight - Interim Hearings Chapter Nine - Applications Without Notice Chapter Ten - The Final Hearing Chapter Eleven - Breaches - Arrest Without Warrant and Contempt Applications Chapter Twelve - Issue of Arrest Warrants Chapter Thirteen - Preparation for Committals, First Hearings and Remands Chapter Fourteen - Committal Hearings and Sentencing Chapter Fifteen - Variation and Discharge Chapter Sixteen - Other Remedies Precedents

Disrepair (or more properly "housing conditions") claims are on the rise. This book should be helpful to those receiving and responding to them. Such claims increased by 44% between 2012 and 2017 in England and Wales and they have continued to proliferate. In those five years Southwark LBC paid out about £10,000,000 in damages and costs. Sheffield City Council has disclosed that it has spent more than £1 million fighting disrepair claims within the last 2 1/2 years. There has been a 322% increase in cases, which they blame on claims management companies using "aggressive marketing tactics" to attract tenants who are unhappy about the state of their homes during the pandemic. That has been greatly exacerbated by the inability on the part of all landlords to do repairs other than urgent works. Housing conditions claims are not just wasteful in terms of officer time and finances. They can be very stressful for those involved, particularly where landlords face large numbers of claims and their staff are already busy planning and carrying out repairs, maintenance and improvements. I anticipate that all landlords would prefer to direct their resources to repairs rather than legal fees. The book is more about the strategies needed to deal with disrepair litigation rather than the substantive law. If you are a tenant's representative, I hope that the book will help you to weed out good claims from the many which are at present gratuitously and unnecessarily issued. Fortunately, the Court of Appeal has just handed down a very helpful decision on an application for permission to appeal. In Hockett v Bristol City Council (2021) unreported, Ref: B2/2021/1025, Lord Justice Bean agreed with the approach which I conceived a number of years ago, and which has been approved of by many judges in the County Court. I hope that the application of that philosophy to disrepair claims will dramatically reduce the legal bills currently being paid by social landlords. Many of the complaints which tenants are making about housing conditions should never have involved lawyers. You'll need to buy the book to find out more about it though! The book also addresses how to respond to a disrepair claim in the event that ADR is not appropriate or fails to appease the tenant.

`Internet Communication and Qualitative Research is a trailblazing introduction to data sources that will come to the fore in the new millennium. Its cogent discussion of the techniques, ethics and methods of analysis of Internet data should be read by every qualitative researcher′ - David Silverman, Goldsmiths College `The internet is exploding with possibilities for conducting social research. Mann and Stewart offer the first in-depth consideration of the prospects and potentials for doing qualitative research on-line. This wide ranging, clearly-written book is essential reading for researchers working at the cutting edge of qualitative methodology′ - James A. Holstein, Marquette University `This is e-scholarship. The book is a transformative project which brings the best skills of the old print scholarship to the cyberworld. The authors are no mere theoreticians - but hands-on net-users, who have made the imaginative leap to the dot.com world, and who have mapped the way for net research and researchers. The authors are pioneers in the realm of digit-crit - opening the way with their critical evaluation of the digital media and net research. They profile the skills required by the online researcher and evaluate the context in which they are used - in relation to privacy, security, ethics and legal considerations. They also take up issues of power; they explore the social and political implications of the digital media, (with specific reference to gender) and the role of the online researcher. An absolute must for cybercitizens and an indispensable guide for students, researchers, and knowledge workers in the dot.com world′ - Dale Spender `Mann and Stewart have prized open the mysteries of on-line qualitative research. For those new to this methodology the technology review demystifies; the social science research ethics issues are re-addressed with reference to the on-line situation; methods of conducting online focus groups and interviews, in particular, are detailed. The tone is both analytical and practical with a host of techniques suggested. I recommend this accessible text for all qualitative researchers, both academic and practitioner′ - Rehan Ul-Haq, University of Birmingham Business School `Here is the clear, useful guide to the Internet research needed by all of us interested in on-line relationships and research. The authors address such issues as ethics, confidentiality, the theory and practice of on-line research, and on-line power relationships (which will be of concern in distance learning plans and programs). A very valuable book.′ - Cheris Kramarae, Center for the Study of Women in Society, University of Oregon `Wonderful - "beyond the software" and into on-line interaction to aid and abet our qualitative research. This book shines the light. Mann and Stewart are to be congratulated in offering qualitative researchers effective and authentic ways forward through electronic communication. I′ll use and recommend it!′ - Gilly Salmon, Centre for Information and Innovation, Open University Business School `Opens to view a whole new avenue for social research. Internet communication is the wave of the future. Mann and Stewart capture its potential with insight, caution, and consummate procedural skill. Pathbreaking in its area of research methodology! Students and researchers will be very pleased with its clarity and usefulness′ - Jaber F Gubrium, Department of Sociology, University of Florida `The authors have produced a timely and stimulating publication with handy explanations of Internet terms and qualitative research applications. This work should be made readily available not only for reference to academics and practitioners of marketing, but also to those with a lay interest in it′ - Professor Len Tiu Wright, De Montfort University Internet Communication and Qualitative Research is the first textbook to examine the impact of Internet technology on qualitative research methods. Drawing on many pioneering studies using computer-mediated communication (CMC), the authors show how online researchers can employ Internet-based qualitative methods to collect rich, descriptive, contextually-situated data. They discuss the methodological, practical and theoretical considerations associated with such methods as: in-depth online interviewing, virtual focus groups, participant observation in virtual communities. This is a comprehensive and practical guide that: - reviews online research practice and basic Internet technology - looks in detail at the skills required by the online researcher - examines the ethical, confidentiality, security and legal issues involved in online research - considers the theoretical challenges surrounding data collected in a ′virtual venue′ - addresses the social and cultural impact of researching online through a discussion of power, gender and identity issues in the virtual world. Internet Communication and Qualitative Research will be an indispensable guide for all students and researchers working in the digital age.

Being an ASB officer is incredibly exciting and rewarding but it's not always easy. An ASB officer's role is often underestimated and little support is currently available. There are no entry requirements for the profession. Induction and training programmes are often lacking or all too brief. Often, new officers are handed a caseload and expected to muddle their way through. Whilst officers strive to do their best, a lack of base-level knowledge can result in poor practice and untimely and indecisive action, leading to cases being open much longer than necessary and harm to victims being prolonged. Experience of working with many organisations has also shown that those who provide the best ASB service have things in common: they understand exactly what ASB is, conduct thorough investigations, manage risk effectively, truly work in partnership with other agencies and use the complete toolkit when deciding on action. The purpose of this book is to try to fill some of these gaps. It provides a comprehensive introduction to the five stages of ASB case management: report, investigation, action, monitor and close. It busts some of the common myths and misconceptions that prevent officers from progressing cases and resolving the problems. It is written in a user-friendly manner, using examples to illustrate key points. It would provide an excellent, off-the-shelf, introduction for anyone new to ASB, as well as a useful reference tool for more experienced officers. Whilst primarily tailored for officers tackling ASB in the social housing sector, much of the information contained would be equally useful for anyone managing private sector cases. It would also be useful for other partners who work with social housing providers and wish to know more about the work that they undertake.

Understanding socially disruptive behavior in dementia is never easy. Most explanations offer neither solace nor solutions for families and carers, and treatment is often characterized by policies of control and containment. The result of Graham Stokes' 15 years of clinical work with people who are challenging, this book: disputes the traditional medical model of dementia and asserts that if we reach behind the barrier of cognitive devastation and decipher the cryptic messages, it can be shown that much behavior is not meaningless but meaningful. It contrasts the medical interpretation that sees anti-social behavior as mere symptoms of disease with a person-centered interpretation that resonates change and resolution. It offers a radical and innovative interpretation of challenging behavior consistent with the new culture of dementia care, focusing on needs to be met rather than problems to be managed.