Reviving Respect

Part 2 of Death of Respect
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ls7fk

This part benefited from the narrator, John Ware, going round the country to look at ways in which communities have tried to solve their problems. This generally meant that the programme avoided the problems with part one, which seemed to flit from talking about incivility as a general problem, and the breakdown of community in the poorest neighbourhoods. The programme noted that there was a problem with troubled communities looking solely to the police to solve their problems and hinted that it may be inspirational individuals who may be the best hope for repairing social bonds. Most inspiring was the headteacher of Harrogate Primary School who threw out the national curriculum guidelines when it was clear that they were failing and turned around her school as a result. Most of these individuals were still professionals however, there wasn't any real grassroots organisation shown.

Having taken a more grounded approach for most of the programme however, there was then a twenty minute discussion of the benefits of marriage. According to Paul Omerond (an economist) the nuclear family arrangement appears to be a highly evolved means of bringing up children, one that has been replicated around the world. Historically, however, most families have been extended and a part of a wider community. It seems unlikely that the nuclear family could survive wider societal pressures, and it is problematic to privilege it for this reason. This approach tends to blame the parents and absolve society of its wider responsibilities. Harry Benson, an interviewee on the programme, also raised the possibility that the evidence that shows that married couples stay together, could be that it could be due to the level of commitment of the couple, not necessarily their married status as such. Tinkering with the tax system, or government expressing a preference for marriage, is unlikely to solve society's problems.