Study title

The first people to suspect or know about someone involved in acts of violent extremism, including planned or actual involvement in overseas conflicts, will often be those closest to them: their friends, family and community insiders. They are ideally placed to play particular roles: a) to notice any changes or early warning signs that someone is considering violent action to harm others, and b) to influence and facilitate vulnerable young people to move away from violent extremist beliefs and settings. The willingness of those close to potential or suspected violent actors to come forward and share their knowledge and concerns with authorities is thus a critical element in efforts to prevent violent extremist action. However, whilst these 'intimates' have a vital role to play against potential terrorist threats and offer a first line of defence, very little is known about what reporting means for community members, including their views, experience and concerns about coming forward to authorities when they have suspicions or knowledge to report. Without an understanding of the barriers and challenges people face in sharing information or cooperating with authorities, as well as what motivates them to surmount these challenges, Government information campaigns and positive reporting messages will fail to engage fully with members of these communities who are in the strongest position to help. The first study of this kind, conducted with both Muslim communities and government stakeholders, was recently completed at Victoria University, Australia (Grossman, 2015), through government-supported academic research partnered by the Australian Federal Police. This proposal from the University of Huddersfield in partnership with Victoria University, Australia thus seeks to build on that study to gain new knowledge about the dynamics and barriers to community reporting in the UK, in order to develop new, localised and contextually sensitive understanding of and approaches...