national crime. 54 percent perceived an increase in crime in their local areas and almost half (47%) perceived an increase in both national and local crime rates (Nicholas and Walker, 9-10).
Furthermore, it is the anti-social behavior that typically leads to crime among youth that is (rightly) perceived as the greatest threats in communities. The BCS cited 33 percent of adults as identifying teenagers ôhanging aroundö as a serious problem in their area and fully 25 percent responded that it was ôthe biggest problem.ö Significantly, people living in council estates or low-income areas were the most likely to perceive high levels of anti-social behavior (39% as compared to 22% nationally) (Nicholas and Walker, 10). In additional, there was a strong correspondence between perceptions of problems with antisocial behavior and enjoyment of living in an area. Only 12 percent of those who said they enjoyed living in their area perceived high levels of antisocial behavior compared with 60 percent of those who did not (Nicholas and Walker, 10).
According to the study by Nicholas and Walker, the Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 defined antisocial behavior (ASB) as æacting in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household (as the defendant)Æ (55). Regardless, there is no single definition of what actually constitutes antisocial behavior. This is partly because what is regarded as antisocial behavior varies between communities and individuals. Nevertheless, antisocial behavior is a high priority for central and local government, and the Anti-social Behavior Act (2003) has recently extended the powers that agencies have for dealing with it (Nicholas and Walker, 55).
For the perceptions of antisocial behavior in the local area, meaning with a 15-mile radius of their homes, respondents to the BCS were classified anti-social behavior as the following: Noisy ...