In historical (and philosophical) terms, as noted in the Introduction, the search for ‘respect’ is nothing new. So why in the first decade of the twenty-first century is ‘respect’ seen to be such an important issue in the UK? As Geoffrey Pearson notes in Chapter Two, there is an assumed decline in standards of behaviour – that ‘young people no longer respect the law, no longer respect their parents and neighbours, they no longer show any obedience to authority’. But Pearson's evidence makes a nonsense of such claims and, in fact, people have been behaving in what would be regarded as an anti-social or disrespectful manner for a very long time. There have been broader changes in how we view each other in the contemporary UK, including a decline in deference that occurred during the second half of the twentieth century (although, as noted, this certainly is not all bad). The individualism that has accompanied late modernity also contributed, with behaviour (or even presence) that interferes with neoliberal consumption being seen as anti-social or disrespectful (see Chapter Eight). Late modernity has also brought with it greater expectations and demands of our children and young people, and correspondingly lower tolerances of difference (see France and Meredith's Chapter Three, and Helen Woolley's Chapter Four). Children and young people may not be any more disrespectful than a century ago, but perhaps we have higher expectations of them.

All these factors will have had an effect; however, the main reason why ‘respect’ has become such a talking point and a focus for policy is political. It's hard to imagine now, but before New Labour's victory in 1997 very few people were talking about anti-social behaviour, and ASBOs did not exist until the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act. The media was quick to pick up on this agenda and, in the 10 years that followed the introduction of ASBOs, it has been hard to miss TV and other media reports of anti-social youth. On TV there is a proliferation of cheap-to-make reality cop shows which regularly bring the misbehaviour of the few into our living rooms. And when the behaviour of our youth is questioned in news bulletins, editors have tended to go for the easy option and have reused the same images time and again of children jumping on car roofs, or pushing a brick through a car window.