I SYMPATHISE with your anonymous correspondent's despondency about anti-social behaviour (September 10). As someone who walked in on a burglar in my own home, I am familiar with the fear and frustration such crimes cause.

But what's marriage got to do with it?

Your correspondent talks about the erosion of marriage and family values as being a contributing factor in the deterioration of our society.

You don't have to be married to provide a good example of family values. A family's strength comes from the people within it, not from the outward form it takes.

If anti-social behaviour is increasing (and in another part of the same paper you reported that there is a drop in criminal damage), we should be standing up against a culture of commercialism, superficiality and exploitation, rather than retreating into easy platitudes about "family values".

Jane Roberts,

Irwin Avenue, Heworth, York.

Updated: 09:21 Thursday, October 02, 2003