Investigating perceptions of antisocial behaviour and neighbourhood ethnic heterogeneity in the British Crime Survey |
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Authors: | Joanna Taylor Liz Twigg John Mohan |
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Institution: | Department of Geography, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 3HE email:; Division of Sociology and Social Policy, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BH |
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Abstract: | There is much concern in the UK about the effects on community cohesion of antisocial behaviour, but to date relatively little is known about the geography of such behaviour: for what sort of people, and in what sort of places, are high levels of antisocial behaviour a problem? What are the links, if any, between such behaviour and local socio-economic conditions, and how do such perceptions relate to local crime rates? Using data from the British Crime Survey and other secondary datasets, we develop and extend previous work that has investigated links between individual socio-economic characteristics, neighbourhood characteristics and individual perceptions of antisocial behaviour. A multilevel modelling approach is used to ensure that individual- and area-level effects are not conflated. Secondly we extend the substantive knowledge surrounding the relationship between neighbourhood ethnic heterogeneity and individual perceptions of antisocial behaviour. In so doing, we challenge recent contentions that heterogeneity is associated with declining social cohesion and trust. We conclude that at a small-area scale for England, the primary area-level determinants of high levels of antisocial behaviour lie in material circumstances, and that ethnic heterogeneity has no discernible effect on perceptions of antisocial behaviour. |
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Keywords: | England antisocial behaviour multilevel modelling British Crime Survey ethnic heterogeneity |
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