Social Evil
What are today’s social evils?
This summary presents the findings of a public consultation exploring the social evils facing Britain today. In 1904, Joseph Rowntree identified what he believed were the worst social evils. The new list is the result of a web survey of 3,500 people and discussions with groups whose voices are not usually heard. It reveals a strong sense of unease about some of the changes shaping British society.
April 2008
Participants highlighted the following concerns about how we seem to live our lives: • decline of community: communities are weak and people are increasingly isolated from A their neighbours, at considerable cost to well-being and happiness. • Individualism: people tend to see themselves as individuals and not as part of wider society, leading to selfishness and insularity. • onsumerism and greed: an excessive desire for money and consumer goods has eclipsed C values and aspirations rooted in relationships and communities. • decline of values: there is no longer a set of shared values to guide behaviour. A Participants emphasised a lack of tolerance, compassion and respect shown to others.
Against this backdrop, people identified the following, more concrete, social evils: • he decline of the family: family breakdown and poor parenting were felt to cause many T other social problems and leave young people particularly vulnerable. • oung people as victims or perpetrators: Young people were seen as perpetrators of social Y evils like anti-social behaviour, or the victims of stereotypes and limited opportunities. • rugs and alcohol: misuse of drugs and alcohol was viewed as the consequence and D cause of many other social problems, like family breakdown and poverty. • overty and inequality: poverty was viewed as a corrosive social evil in an affluent society, P underpinning other social problems, such as homelessness and family breakdown. • Immigration and responses to immigration:
This summary presents the findings of a public consultation exploring the social evils facing Britain today. In 1904, Joseph Rowntree identified what he believed were the worst social evils. The new list is the result of a web survey of 3,500 people and discussions with groups whose voices are not usually heard. It reveals a strong sense of unease about some of the changes shaping British society.
April 2008
Participants highlighted the following concerns about how we seem to live our lives: • decline of community: communities are weak and people are increasingly isolated from A their neighbours, at considerable cost to well-being and happiness. • Individualism: people tend to see themselves as individuals and not as part of wider society, leading to selfishness and insularity. • onsumerism and greed: an excessive desire for money and consumer goods has eclipsed C values and aspirations rooted in relationships and communities. • decline of values: there is no longer a set of shared values to guide behaviour. A Participants emphasised a lack of tolerance, compassion and respect shown to others.
Against this backdrop, people identified the following, more concrete, social evils: • he decline of the family: family breakdown and poor parenting were felt to cause many T other social problems and leave young people particularly vulnerable. • oung people as victims or perpetrators: Young people were seen as perpetrators of social Y evils like anti-social behaviour, or the victims of stereotypes and limited opportunities. • rugs and alcohol: misuse of drugs and alcohol was viewed as the consequence and D cause of many other social problems, like family breakdown and poverty. • overty and inequality: poverty was viewed as a corrosive social evil in an affluent society, P underpinning other social problems, such as homelessness and family breakdown. • Immigration and responses to immigration: