Victims as vote-winners? The antisocial behaviour/ hate crime nexus

Antisocial behaviour (ASB) and hate crime have a number of connections: both are relatively recent notions, both are underpinned by their subjective nature and both have laid the foundational concepts for reimagining the ‘victim’ in the criminal justice system. Over the past two decades, victims of crime and ASB have been promoted to the forefront of criminal justice policy developments. The status of victims has been elevated, but in a prescriptive manner that determines the most appropriate course of action. This paper explores whether continued efforts by the coalition to elevate victims’ status will actually benefit victims, or are a case of political posturing to secure the populist law and order vote, using the ASB/hate crime nexus as an example.