What are today’s social evils? » Social evils: your responses

What are today’s social evils? » Social evils: your responses: "What are today’s social evils?"

Against this backdrop, people identified the following, more concrete, social evils:
• The decline of the family: family breakdown and poor parenting were felt to cause many
other social problems and leave young people particularly vulnerable.
• Young people as victims or perpetrators: Young people were seen as perpetrators of social
evils like anti-social behaviour, or the victims of stereotypes and limited opportunities.
• Drugs and alcohol: misuse of drugs and alcohol was viewed as the consequence and
cause of many other social problems, like family breakdown and poverty.
• Poverty and inequality: poverty was viewed as a corrosive social evil in an affluent society,
underpinning other social problems, such as homelessness and family breakdown.
• Immigration and responses to immigration: participants felt that local residents lose out to
immigrants in competition for scarce resources. Others criticised negative attitudes to and
lack of support for immigrants and thought society should be more tolerant and inclusive.
• Crime and violence: people felt that Britain is more dangerous and violent than in the past.
Child abuse and exploitation were highlighted as particularly damaging evils.

Government, media, big business and religion were believed to be responsible for these social
evils. People also emphasised personal responsibility for social evils, but thought bad choices and
damaging behaviour could be symptoms of underlying social problems, such as poverty. They
also thought some social evils are embedded in current ways of living and thinking.

News

News: "Latest news on the Community Learning and Development Standards Council
March 2008
The future of Standards Council for Community Learning and Development in Scotland
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning and the Minister for Schools and Skills, has confirmed and agreed that the new Council can continue with its plans to establish a new body in Scotland that has as its key concerns the aspirations and ambitions of current and future practitioners across the ever widening field of practice that is Community Learning and Development.
This is a key time for our field of practice and all of those who are part of it regardless of role and function.
The next stages are to discuss with Scottish Government how we take this initiative forward.
This will include a number of ways where we can update everyone who has an interest in this progress.
Thank you to everyone who attended our information and discussion sessions around Scotland and helped us get to this stage.
The next stages will be exciting, challenging and progressive. I hope we can all play a role in this one way or another."

Scottish Government proposing to close the door on right-to-buy policy

In an article in the Sunday Herald 22 October 2007 and in an item broadcast on Newsnight Scotland 23 October 2007 it was suggested that the Scottish National Party (SNP) minority led Government intend to curb the tenant's right-to-buy (RTB). As currentlly proposed, this would only apply in relation to new build affordable homes to rent built/let by social rented landlords in Scotland. This would include housing associations and cooperatives as well as local authorities. If implemented, this would mark a significant partial reversal of the Thatcherite RTB introduced in the Tenants' Rights, Etc. (Scotland) Act 1980. This was one of the coded SNP manifesto commitments responding to rising public concerns about the lack of affordable homes in Scotland.