Anti-social behaviour victims’ experiences of activating the ‘Community Trigger’ case review

Abstract

This article reports the first in-depth account of anti-social behaviour (ASB) victims' perspectives of using the Community Trigger case review in England. Semi-structured interviews explored whether victims perceived the Community Trigger to stop the persistent, long-term ASB they were experiencing and how they navigated the activation process. Attention was paid to whether the victims were satisfied with the response they received from the authorities and if they felt empowered by the legislation. The research provides detailed descriptions of victims' experiences of this policy and discusses the implications for policy reform. The results suggest that repeat secondary victimisation is a risk for victims of ASB that activate the Community Trigger. Resultantly, a range of empirically-driven policy recommendations are provided to improve frontline practice relating to case review procedures and communicating with victims, in order to protect victims of ASB from additional harm.