It's Very Hard to Feel Accepted When a Whole Country Screams That They Don't Want You Here’

Minorities' Experiences of the UK 2024 Summer Riots

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12397284
AutoresKiara A Van der Geest (School of Psychology University of Nottingham Nottingham UK), Aneeza Pervez (0000-0003-0715-6641, School of Psychology University of Nottingham Nottingham UK), Cecilie Lolansen (0009-0007-6904-983X, School of Psychology University of Nottingham Nottingham UK, autor correspondente)
Ano2026
Volume36
Fascículo2
Data de publicação2026-02-23
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Community & Applied Social Psychology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1052-9284 • E-ISSN: 1099-1298
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/casp.70244
OpenAlexW7134074119
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas46

Research on civil unrest often centres on general populations, obscuring minority experiences. Understanding the experiences of marginalised groups becomes imperative when these periods are centred around marginalised identities, as with rising anti‐immigration‐based unrest. This qualitative study examines how ethnically and religiously minoritised adults in the United Kingdom experienced the Summer 2024 riots, a period marked by widespread anti‐immigration sentiments, riots, and intergroup tensions. Twenty‐one semi‐structured interviews were transcribed and analysed using inductive, reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes captured participants' accounts. First, governing meaning and order: platforms, news, and local networks circulated warnings, rumours, and corrections that shaped expectations and behaviour. Second, living on alert: perceived threat prompted safety planning, curtailed mobility, and other micro‐adaptations in daily routines. Third, legible bodies: visibility via phenotype, dress, and religious symbols patterned uneven exposure, while limited ‘passing’ afforded conditional protection. Fourth, conditional belonging: participants narrated ambivalence toward national symbols and calibrated when and how to express Britishness. Across interviews, respondents reported sustained emotional strain, cautious behavioural change, and identity work structured by recognition and visibility. Findings highlight how online and offline environments intertwine to organise everyday life during unrest and suggest implications for platform governance, community safety planning, and culturally responsive mental‐health support

Ambivalence · Everyday life · Identity (music · Meaning (existential · Qualitative research · Reflexivity · Thematic analysis · Unrest · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Populism, Right-Wing Movements