The local governance of Anti-Social Behaviour

The aim of this study is to explore the ‘empirical particulars’ (Garland 2001, p. vii) of policymaking in crime and disorder control, and the ways in which sub national policy actors are able to adapt and exert influence more generally over national level policy decisions as well as resist such wider forces. This research contends that some rethinking is needed away from much existing criminological literature on shifts in crime control policy that has been dominated by the ‘grand narrative’ accounts of writers such as Garland (2001). These narratives have been concerned largely with the provision of general accounts of overall shifts in policymaking at the national and at times global levels. As a result the local dimension to this process has been with a few notable exceptions neglected or downplayed. Instead the primary focus of much existing criminological literature has been upon the role of national policy elites, presenting policymaking as a top down experience that follows a relatively smooth trajectory. In contrast this study suggests that policymaking is instead a more unpredictable and messier process that can be affected by problems of implementation and resistance. In order to examine the role of the ‘local’ within policymaking, this research employed the use of a single ‘exemplifying case study’ of one English city and in turn it examined in depth one particular area of policymaking and implementation, namely the local management of Anti Social Behaviour (henceforth ASB). This sought to bring together documentary analysis and elite interviews in an effort to provide an empirically detailed account of anti social behaviour policy development. This study focused primarily on a series of semi-structured interviews, involving a range of key local policy actors. These were conducted over an extended period of time, which coincided with the rise of the national level ASB agenda. This extended period enabled observations to also be made about the ebb and flow of policy often as it emerged and caused local practitioners to have to develop and adapt policy responses. The resulting empirical findings provide an informed example of the messiness and contingency of public policymaking, whilst also providing a site in which other academic theories can be tested and applied. The intention of this study is to not only make a significant contribution to the field in which it is nested (ASB policy and practice), but also to enhance our understanding of the effects that broader policy change and the impact that key national policy drivers can have upon the formulation of local level policy responses. In brief the thesis suggests that through the interaction of key policy actors at both the national and local levels, policy formulation and implementation is realised