Antisocial or vulnerable tenants?: the experiences of alleged perpetrators of ASB in social housing

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) was introduced into policy in the 1996 Housing Act to intervene in ‘nuisance’ behaviour. Whilst ASB received academic scrutiny in the immediate years after its introduction into policy, less research has been conducted with alleged perpetrators of ASB in the context of social housing, a key arena which has faced repeated funding cuts. This research utilises qualitative, longitudinal interviews with alleged perpetrators of ASB within social housing, alongside contextual interviews with Key Informants from stakeholder organisations to explore how ASB is defined, ASB interventions perceived and experienced and the impact of ASB interventions on alleged perpetrators using the conceptual lens of vulnerability, Key findings suggest the definition of ASB is unclear (an issue well-established in previous research), leading to problems in practice. The focus on social tenants means the behaviour of residents of other tenures is not subject to the same scrutiny or intervention and it appears the most vulnerable are the most likely to receive allegations of ASB and to face barriers in disputing reports. ASB interventions are perceived and experienced as disempowering. Tenants are generally not informed about the progress of the complaint, contributing to negative impacts on mental health and ontological security. Whilst there was evidence of behaviour change within the sample, tenants reported, for the most part, negative, unintended behaviour change, a lack of change or intermittent change rather than any sustained, required behaviour change without unintended consequences. There was little evidence of support being offered to tenants, despite all tenants reporting (often multiple) vulnerabilities, alongside evidence that vulnerability can be exacerbated by interventions themselves, especially related to ontological security, mental health and domestic abuse. Overall, findings suggest vulnerability and support is side-lined in favour of disempowering, punitive interventions that have a negative impact on tenants.