Introduction

There is growing political anxiety that ‘respect’ among the young is a major social problem of our time (Respect Task Force, 2006a). Youthful immorality and poor behaviour have been seen as major components of the ‘youth question’ for a very long time (as evidenced by Geoffrey Pearson in Chapter Two), yet there is a perception that it has increased in recent years (France, 2007). For example, in a recent consultation by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation young people's negative behaviour was defined by many adults as a ‘social evil’ in the twenty-first century (Watts, 2008).1 Similarly, there has been growing anxiety about a ‘crisis’ in childhood. Concerns are being expressed about how young people's morality and respect for the world they live in is being undermined by the type and pace of social change (Children's Society, 2007). Such a perspective is not unique to public attitudes or politicians, with the media industry and political commentators regularly proposing that the immorality and lack of respect among the young is a worrying signifier of the decline of modern civilised society. Such concerns lead to continual calls for government to intervene and find ways to reinstate core values of the past (Critcher, 2003).

As previously explored, in 2006 the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, set about increasing and reaffirming ‘respect’, especially among the young, as a core British value (Respect Task Force, 2006a). In the discussion that follows we explore how this approach has infiltrated government thinking and shaped policy towards the young. We argue that such an approach is narrow and unproductive in helping to create a ‘culture of respect’ among young people. If respect is to be a useful way of mobilising the young, then it has to have a broader definition and give recognition to notions of ‘mutual’ respectand ‘self-respect’. These, as we shall show, have been missing from recent youth policy debates. If these are not addressed, the concept of respect as a workable solution to the ‘youth problem’ will not bring about any substantial changes and will only continue to create cynicism and a ‘lack of respect’ from the young towards those who claim to be helping them become future responsible citizens.

The politics of respect

As a way of tackling anxieties about the ‘lack of respect’, Tony Blair and New Labour launched the Respect Action Plan in January 2006.