RT Article T1 An expanding culture of control?: the municipal administrative sanctions act in Belgium JF European journal on criminal policy and research VO 23 IS 1 SP 59 OP 76 A1 Devroe, Elke 1963- A2 Bruinsma, Gerben 1951-2022 A2 Vander Beken, Tom 1968- LA English YR 2017 UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1566533023 AB This article provides an in-depth study of the Act on Municipal Administrative Sanctions 1999 (MAS), which is the first major piece of legislation regulating antisocial behaviour in Belgium. MAS provides municipalities with an instrument to sanction antisocial behaviour and conduct perceived to disturb public order. The article uses Garland’s (2001) thesis on the culture of control to analyse whether MAS has led to increased government control and the exclusion of significant groups of the population. The research is based on a multiple case study in which the application of MAS was analysed over a 25-year period of security policies in Belgium (1985–2010). The Act’s implementation was studied in the two Belgian cities of Antwerp and Liège in order to consider the influence of the Flemish government and the Walloon government, respectively, in this policy area. The article uses insights from this comparison to revisit the culture of control thesis and its limitations in understanding the political competition that exists over the formulation of policies on antisocial behaviour. K1 Policing public space K1 Incivilities K1 Police K1 Administrative sanctions K1 Culture of control K1 Anti-social behaviour K1 Kriminalprävention K1 Orte K1 Antisoziales Verhalten DO 10.1007/s10610-016-9321-2