SPUR Project - School of Social Sciences funded bursary

2012 winner (12 of 14)

Dealing with repeat anti-social behaviour victimisation
Supervisors: Mr Roger Hopkins Burke (Social Sciences) and Dr Philip Hodgson (Social Sciences)

The way in which the police respond to calls for assistance from victims of anti-social behaviour became a major policing issue following the case of Fiona Pilkington and her daughter Francecca Hardwick, who were found dead in a burned out car in Leicestershire after suffering years of abuse from gangs of youths. An inquest in September 2009 found that police errors and inaction were partly responsible for driving the vulnerable single mother to kill herself and her severely disabled daughter. The research project which will involve a collaboration between NTU and Nottingham City Crime and Drugs Partnership (CDP), will investigate how repeat victims of anti-social behaviour are dealt with by the police. The research aims are to develop a typology of victims of anti-social behaviour and calls received from the general public and to design procedures and an aide-memoire which alert police to problematic issues at an early stage. Student tasks will include a literature review, design of the research instruments, data collection and assistance with the drafting and presentation of research findings.