Back Seat

Good thing I left posting until later today, because I’ve just caught the end of this really interesting Radio 4 programme about anti-social behaviour and crime on London’s buses. You can check the link - it does give a bit of blurb about the programme, but for some reason the programme won’t be available after this broadcast. But anyway, that doesn’t matter. The brief chunk I heard contained some very interesting descriptions of the sorts of behaviour which -predominantly young - people engage in on the bus. My first thought was - what excellent material - followed by the feeling that it would all make for a fascinating sociological study in the style of those great American 60s interactionist studies.

Of course, public disorder and crime are nothing new - but the middle classes and those of us fortunate enough not to live in certain parts of London, tend to forget how fragile social order is. The young people interviewed explained in detail the forms of social control and indeed, bullying, characterised by highly sexist views, rule the roost on the buses. If this matches your own experience, or you know about it, trying thinking about this in terms of positive and negative sanctions, as well as subcultural norms and values, and peer group pressure. You might also bring in bystander effect from social psychology - several of the interviewees explained how it is rare for anyone to step in and complain about behaviour which most of us - in any other context - would see as completely unacceptable.