Neighbourhood society

The failure of public services to manage neighbourhood decline made matters worse for people who were already socially and economically disadvantaged. But decline was not just an individual problem. The combined effects of economic collapse, social change and the increasing concentration of the poor also impacted on social relations within neighbourhoods and on relationships between poor neighbourhoods and others.

Strong but enclosed community

One of the most striking features of our interviews with residents, who were mainly active within their neighbourhoods, was their allusion to the strength of community ties. ‘The community’ and ‘the people’ were spontaneously cited as good points about the area in the majority of the 12 areas. Similarly, respondents in the CASE families study rated the importance of community spirit more highly than is the case generally across the country. A total of 90% of them said it mattered and two thirds felt that it existed in some form (Mumford and Power, 2003).

The existence of community was evidenced by supportive informal relationships: looking out for elderly neighbours, keeping an eye on neighbours’ houses when they were away, helping with shopping or childcare, or meeting up for a coffee and a chat at a residents’ coffee morning. Informal support for some people also included being linked into networks of illegal trading. In common with other studies, we found that the illegal economy was normal, rational and well established (Parker et al, 1988; Buchanan and Young, 2000; Elam et al, 2000). Buying stolen goods was commonplace and widely accepted even among households who would not consider criminal involvement, because they were cheap and made a meagre household budget go further. It was, as Buchanan and Young described, “a major source of income and exchange of goods … the only way that many families are able to participate in the trappings of an affluent society” (2000, p 124). In Sunnybank (Newcastle), a number of respondents described door-to-door sales of stolen goods, mainly cosmetics, shampoos, household goods, and toys at Christmas. Similar markets were described in Overtown, Borough View and Kirkside East, where one local worker described the alternative economy as one of “the survival techniques of living on benefit”. In some areas, shoplifters would ‘shoplift to order’ to get items such as clothes, CDs and batteries for friends, neighbours and family.