“We struggle…it comes down to so many different things”: violent crime in a deprived seaside town on England’s east coast

Purpose This paper aims to explore violent crime and the challenges of responding to it in a deprived seaside town on England’s east coast. Design/methodology/approach The research adopts an interpretative phenomenological approach, using Skegness as a case study, and draws upon 10 semi-structured interviews conducted with professionals responding to violent offending. Findings Violent crime linked to a weak local economy, multiple indicators of deprivation and large influxes of seasonal tourists, collectively pose a considerable challenge for professionals with limited resources at their disposal. Research limitations/implications The research highlights the challenges of addressing violent offending, especially deficits in local service provision and the confluence of socio-economic factors identified by participants as drivers of violence. Originality/value Criminology has tended to consider violent offending as an urban phenomenon with little attention given to rural and coastal areas. Despite increased recognition of poor public health outcomes and concentrated deprivation in English coastal areas, few studies have sought to explore related issues of violent crime in these locations. This paper addresses these gaps.