As will be evident from the previous section, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's online consultation and its series of workshops and discussion groups with people from disadvantaged groups produced a rich variety of views on the nature of contemporary ‘social evils’ and their consequences. There were inevitable conflicts in many of the views expressed. But there were a number of concrete issues in contemporary Britain that participants identified with relative frequency as well as considerable passion. These included:

• • family breakdown and poor parenting;

• • misuse of drugs and alcohol;

• • violence and crime (especially youth crime);

• • inequality and poverty;

• • social diversity, immigration and intolerance;

• • gender inequality;

• • health and social care;

• • religion;

• • the environment;

• • apathy, failed institutions and a democratic deficit.

It was also common for people to discuss these issues in terms of social values, morals and individual or collective traits whose existence (or absence) was also commonly considered ‘evil’. They included:

• • greed;

• • consumerism;

• • individualism;

• • a weakened sense of community;

• • loss of shared values, such as tolerance, compassion and respect.

These public concerns are abstract in ways that not only distinguish them from the associated, but more concrete, issues listed above, but also from the tangible social evils that Joseph Rowntree referred to a hundred years earlier when establishing his trusts. With this in mind, it was decided that one useful way to take forward the debate about contemporary social evils would be to invite a number of prominent political thinkers, practitioners and social commentators to contribute viewpoints, exploring issues raised by the consultation and suggesting solutions.

The authors, whose contributions appear as 11 separate chapters in this section, come from a range of social, cultural, philosophical and ideological backgrounds. While concentrating on particular themes, they were not under any injunction preventing them from ranging across other topics raised in the consultations. Their viewpoints are, therefore, more diverse and overlapping than the titles used to subdivide this section might imply. It should also be noted that while the chosen categories refer to abstract concepts, the author's arguments are often made in concrete terms, and with reference to practical ‘real-world’ examples.

A decline of values

Under this heading, Anthony Browne (former Director of the Policy Exchange think-tank) contends that there have been many moral improvements since the 1950s, but also distinct areas of decline.