Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour: review report

Footnotes

1 Scottish Government (2004). Guide to the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004.

2 Scottish Government and COSLA (2009). Promoting Positive Outcomes: Working Together to Prevent Antisocial Behaviour in Scotland.

3 Christie et al (2011) Christie Commission on the future delivery of public services, Scottish Government.

4 Developing a Community Safety Narrative Scottish Community Safety Network, COSLA, Scottish Government.

5 Audit Scotland. (2024). Local government in Scotland: Financial bulletin 2022/23.

6 Heath, D (2020) Upstream: The quest to solve problems before they happen.

7 The latest Scottish Crime and Justice Survey results show that just under half of respondents (46%) reported that they were very or fairly confident in the ability of the police in their local area to prevent crime (data going back to 2008 suggests that this is a fairly stable trend); with around three-fifths (59%) reporting that they were very or fairly confident in the ability of the police in their local area to respond quickly to incidents. The Survey highlights the under-reporting of all SCJS crime (property and violence) - with the most recent data showing a drop from 40% to 29% since 2019/20. In terms of specific incidences of victimisation, of those reporting being a victim of vandalism, only 32% of respondents said that they had reported the incident to the police. The main reasons for not reporting were given as too trivial, not worth reporting (39%), the police could have done nothing (32%), and the police would not have bothered/been interested (22%) (note that multiple responses were allowed). Only 2% said that they had not reported the matter for fear of reprisals/make matters worse, and only 1% because they feared or disliked the police.

8 Note that police recorded crime statistics show that trends in the crimes of supply and possession drugs are relatively stable over time, with slight falls in the most recently published data: Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2022-23.

9 Police recorded crime statistics have measured antisocial behaviour in this way since 2021/22, with trend data going back to 2012/13 see: Recorded Crime in Scotland, 2021-2022.

10 McAra, L. and McVie, S. (2024), Briefing on Antisocial Behaviour in the Edinburgh Study Cohort. Available on request from edinstudy.law@ed.ac.uk.

11 McAra, L. and McVie, S. (2025 in press), A quiet revolution: What worked to create a ‘Whole System Approach’ to juvenile justice in Scotland - University of Edinburgh Research Explorer, in C. M. Langton & J. R. Worling (Eds.), What Works with Adolescents Who Have Offended: Theory, Research, and Practice by Calvin M. Langton (9781119591047) | BooksDirect. Wiley Blackwell.

12 Source of data: Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 – Updated.

13 Source of data: Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 – Updated.

14 Source of data: Criminal Proceedings in Scotland, 2021-22 – Updated.

15 Burman, M., McAra, L., McVie. S. and Piacentini, L. (2024), Criminal Justice in Crisis: What must be done now? What should be done in the medium term? What could be done over the long term?

16 For example, the 2022 Scottish Household Survey shows that reports of neighbourhood incivilities (including littering, loutish behaviours, and drug misuse) are almost twice as high in the top 20% most deprived neighbourhoods as compared with the least deprived. Source: Scottish Household Survey.

17 Burney, E. (2000), Ruling out trouble: Anti-social behaviour and housing management, The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, 11 (2) pp 268-73.

18 Ireland, O., Thornberry, T. and Loeber, R. (2006) Residential stability among adolescents in public housing: A risk factor for delinquent and violent behaviour? Sampson, R. and Raudenbush, S. (1999), Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban Neighbourhoods, American Journal of Sociology, 105(3) pp 603-51.

19 Stewart, T.M., Fry, D, McAra, L., Hamilton, S., King, A., Laurie, M & McCluskey, G. (2022) Rates, perceptions and predictors of depression, anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms about Covid-19 in adolescents, PLOS ONE 17(4).

20 McAra, L. (2021), Justice for Children and Young Adults in a time of Pandemic: What might be learnt from the Scottish case. Conference Proceedings Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development.

21 See McGuire, J., (2013), 'What works' to reduce re-offending: 18 years on, in Craig, L,, Dixon, L. and Gannon, T. (eds) What Works in Offender Rehabilitation | Wiley Online Books: Wiley; Walsh, C. (2019) Understanding and addressing antisocial behaviour: a rapid evidence review, Queen’s University Belfast; McAra, L. and McVie, S. (2025 in press), A quiet revolution: What worked to create a ‘Whole System Approach’ to juvenile justice in Scotland, in C. M. Langton & J. R. Worling (Eds.), What Works with Adolescents Who Have offended: Theory, Research, and Practice. Wiley Blackwell.

22 Audit Scotland. (2007). Dealing with offending by young people: performance update.

23 McAra, L. and McVie, S. (2023) Raising the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility: Lessons from the Scottish Experience. Current Issues in Criminal Justice.

24 McAra, L. and McVie, S. (2023) Raising the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility: Lessons from the Scottish Experience. Current Issues in Criminal Justice.

25 See for example, Arthurson, K. and Jacobs, K. Housing and antisocial behaviour in Australia,(2006) in Flint, J. (Ed.), Housing, Urban Governance and Anti-Social Behaviour: Perspectives, policy and practice, Cambridge University Press.

26 See Hollis, M., Felson, M. and Welsh, B. (2013), The capable guardian in routine activities theory: A theoretical and conceptual reappraisal | Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 15: 65-79.

27 Sampson, R. and Raudenbush, S. (1999), Systematic Social Observation of Public Spaces: A New Look at Disorder in Urban Neighbourhoods, American Journal of Sociology, 105(3) pp 603-51.

28 Fagan, A., J Hawkins, J., Farrington, D., and Catalano, R. (2018) Communities that care: building community engagement and capacity to prevent youth behavior problems, Oxford University Press. For further research see: Fransham, M., Herbertson, M., Pop, M., Bandeira Morais, M., & Lee, N. (2023). Level best? The levelling up agenda and UK regional inequality, Regional Studies, 57(11), 2339-235 Brown, M, and Baker, S. (2006), The Punitive Turn in Public Services: Coercing Responsibility (Chapter Seven) - Responsible Citizens, in Arthurson, K. and Jacobs, K. Housing and antisocial behaviour in Australia,(2006) in Flint, J. (Ed.), Housing, Urban Governance and Anti-Social Behaviour, Cambridge University Press.

29 Scottish Government (2019 updated 2024). Restorative Justice: Action Plan.

30 Vaswani, N. & Brown, A. (2022). The Views of School Pupils on the use of Restorative Justice in Scotland, Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice.