Watch Groups: Citizen-led Policing, Digital Surveillance & Vulnerable Groups

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Grant details

Leverhulme Trust; £227,418

Project start and end dates

September 2023 - August 2026

Research team members

Background and aims of the project

Watch Groups (WG) are self-mobilised citizen-led groups who perform policing and surveillance functions in response to perceived security shortfalls. These groups often target irregular migrants, ‘suspect’ young people or alleged paedophiles. The growth of Watch Groups carries potentially far-reaching and harmful consequences for those falling under their surveillant gaze, including violence, vigilantism or stigmatisation. This project will use an ambitious multi-methods approach to empirically examine the activities and impacts of five Watch Groups. The study will fill an existing research gap in this area and inform regulatory responses to the myriad and growing challenges linked to Watch Groups. The study's research objectives (RO) are:

RO1: To examine how WGs understand their own motivations, roles and activities.
RO2: To understand the role of, and the affordances provided by, digital technologies in the activities of WGs.
RO3: To explore the potential and actual harms and benefits arising from the activities of WGs.
RO4: To determine where and how WGs fit within the existing policing landscape.
RO5: To inform governmental, policing and regulatory responses to WGs.
RO6: To contribute to scholarly debates in the fields of criminology, sociology and digital media studies."

Methods

  • Qualitative interviews
  • Social media analysis
  • Diary keeping