ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Soc. Psychol.
Sec. Intergroup Relations and Group Processes
Volume 3 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsps.2025.1577335
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Data Collection and Integration to Reduce Health Harms and Inequalities Linked to ViolenceView all articles
Public Perceptions of Violent Knife Crime: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
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Violent knife crime in the UK is a complex issue, littered with ambiguities between understanding the problem and actioning impactful strategies to address it. Understanding of knife crime is complicated by inconsistent practices regarding official statistics and a lack of definition, however social psychology may offer a means of understanding VKC that is independent from official statistics. The current study aimed to research violent knife crime from a social identity approach (SIA) to understand the psychological structures and group processes that contribute to its continuation. Fifteen interviews were conducted with participants recruited via social media and interview transcripts were analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA). Four themes were identified: (1) Views of VKC Connected to Stereotypes; (2) Media Influence on Beliefs, Perceptions, and Attitudes Related to VKC; (3) Categorization of Offenders as Members of the Out-group and Victims as part of the In-group; and (4) The Importance of Multi-agency Action. The themes were framed within a social identity approach, with reference to the Social Identity Model of Collective Action. Discussions around the need for collective action towards social change are explored and a SIA informed public health approach is considered.
Keywords: Knife Crime1, Knife-enabled Violence2, Reflexive Thematic Analysis3, Social Change4, Social Identity Model of Collective Action5
Received: 15 Feb 2025; Accepted: 09 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Partington, Walsh and Labhardt. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zoe Partington, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom
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