Who experiences or witnesses ASB and in what context?

In a climate of diminishing budgets, falling police officer numbers and a growing number of calls related to "public safety and welfare" (College of Policing, 2015) senior police officers have highlighted the need to manage crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) differently (Thornton, 2015; Habgood, 2015). Research conducted by HouseMark suggests that the cost of tackling ASB to UK social landlords alone was approximately £295 million in 2012/13 (Wickenden, 2014). With this in mind, the primary research focus is to establish:

Who experiences or witnesses ASB and in what context?

A number of police forces have received criticism for their lack of understanding in relation to the intensity of harm to communities and vulnerable individuals caused by ASB (HMIC, 2010). The proposed study will address this gap in knowledge by providing a more comprehensive understanding of ASB victims, harm and vulnerability. It will draw on data from four sources: Understanding Society (2009/10-2014/15), the Crime Survey for England and Wales (2009/10-2014/15), the 2011 UK Census and the English Indices of Deprivation. Collectively, this will build a comprehensive picture of the individuals, households and areas most likely to experience: high prevalence of ASB; a strong link between ASB and crime victimisation; severe impact of ASB victimisation on quality of life and daily routine; and high levels of dissatisfaction with police response to ASB. The proposed research will constitute the most comprehensive study of the relationship between victim and neighbourhood characteristics to date, including deprivation, community cohesion and trust. The research has real potential to inform policy and practice, including resource allocation (e.g. patrolling strategies), planning policy, victim assistance, the design of the built environment and wider interventions to address ASB.

The research will involve working collaboratively with a stakeholders including: the Office for National Statistics, Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership and two major regional partnerships: the East Midlands Policing Academic Collaboration and East Midlands Collaborative HR Services. The five East Midlands police forces employ over 14,000 police officers and staff, covering a population of over 4.5 million. These relationships will ensure the findings are directly implemented into regional learning and practice. Findings will be publicised via: four peer-reviewed journal articles; a policy paper co-authored with a practitioner; online content (blog, Twitter); press releases; three Advisory Committee meetings; a policy roundtable; an end of project conference; and three conference presentations. Collectively, this activity will ensure the research is accessible and disseminated widely.

Criminology is currently undersupplied with trained secondary data analysts despite the availability of a wealth of existing large and complex datasets which, if examined, would offer invaluable theoretical insights and assist policymakers. An important outcome from the research will be to increase that capacity within criminology via training the Research Staff to undertake advanced secondary data analyses as well as enhancing the experience of the Early Career Researcher (PI) in managing large research projects.

The ability to provide a more effective response to ASB is particularly important at a time when budgets are being drastically reduced. The research team comprising of senior, middle and early career researchers, are collectively experts in data linking, have published extensively using secondary data and have a track record of delivering impactful research. The proposed research will enable the team to conduct internationally-leading research, develop the capacity of an early career researcher (PI), work collaboratively with non-academic stakeholders to extract maximum value from existing data resources and produce research with high societal and economic impact.

Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) can have wide ranging socio-economic costs for individuals, local communities and society. This research has the potential to directly inform policy in terms of defining ASB and its effective management. It has been designed to inform future policy that could lead to considerable financial savings and directly benefit the following groups:

- Victims of ASB and their communities: first and foremost by informing them of how best to reduce future risks of ASB and related crime victimisation as well as improving post-victimisation services;
- All adults, by informing them of effective community mobilisation and informal social control measures for avoiding and/or tackling ASB;
- The police by improving their evidence base, specifically, by informing patrolling strategies, risk identification and management, victim assistance and interventions to address ASB, all of which should lead to a reduction in the number of incidents, demand and associated costs;
- Nottingham Crime and Drugs Partnership (NCDP) in particular and Crime Reduction Partnerships in general, working more effectively and efficiently to discharge their responsibilities;
- Private landlords, social housing providers (including local authorities) and town planners by informing them how to ASB-proof housing location, design and management decisions;
- Third sector organisations such as Neighbourhood and Home Watch Network (NHWN) and Crimestoppers and those dealing with communities' wellbeing and/or mental health;
- Businesses affected by ASB, by informing them how best to reduce ASB risks and thus improve perceived staff/customer safety resulting in increased business and revenue; and
- The insurance industry, by enabling them to offer incentives for individuals and their households to reduce their risk of ASB and the associated costs.

More broadly, the research will also benefit:
- Society at large by reducing ASB and its impact, such as fear of crime, improve community relations and cohesion, neighbourhood satisfaction levels, quality of life and the nation's health more broadly;
- The NHS and wider economy by increasing service effectiveness, reducing the costs associated with responding to ASB-related health problems, and reducing the number of GP visits and days off work occurring as a result of ASB victimisation;
- Public information by suggesting improvements to the social capital/community cohesion questions of Understanding Society and the ASB questions of the Crime Survey for England and Wales, as well as by introducing innovative area-level linking between surveys for subsequent impactful research; and
- Public policy in relation to ASB classification and the link to crime.

To maximise impact, findings will be disseminated using a variety of methods (see Pathways to Impact). Specifically, four peer-reviewed publications, Twitter, online videos, press releases, posters, conference presentations, a policy roundtable, three Advisory Committee meetings, a policy paper and an end of project conference.

The research team enjoys close relationships with bodies responsible for crime prevention (see CVs). They are thus accustomed to communicating findings to non-specialists in ways that draw out their policy and practical significance (see Final Reports). Tseloni, Tilley and Thompson's previous ESRC-funded work on burglary and security (reference ES/K003771/1 & ES/K003771/2) informs burglary target hardening interventions in Nottingham and national NHWN guidance. Hunter and Tseloni's Knowledge Transfer Partnership on shop-theft (reference KTP009423) involves co-production of knowledge with the NCDP. Finally, Thompson plays a key role in the East Midlands Policing Academic Collaboration which provides an additional platform for the co-production of research and influencing of policy.