In terms of who commits ASB, it is often assumed that most
perpetrators are young people (see Squires and Stephen, 2005). However - as the above
exchange illustrates - the focus group participants recognised that young people do not
have the monopoly on such behaviour. As one participant observed, ‘Because we don’t
understand [the] younger generation, we assume they’re getting up to no good’ (Group
3, Woman #1). There was general agreement that everyone is capable of being antisocial,
be it bus drivers or passengers, aggressive beggars or ‘the suits’.