Today’s post is written by Dr Robin Oakley, a Runnymede Fellow

The successful prosecution of two men for the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 may at last provide some closure for members of the Lawrence family.  However this should not be allowed to justify – as some seem to be arguing – any relaxation of efforts to eliminate racism, whether in its overt forms such as racist violence, or in the more subtle institutional forms identified by the Lawrence Inquiry. 

As regards racist violence, it is also important that continuing to focus on the task of bringing perpetrators to justice should not be allowed to divert attention from the need to address also the issue of prevention.  Nearly 20 years after Stephen’s death, the reality is that racist violence continues to take place extensively across the country, as both official statistics and several recent serious incidents demonstrate.  And the great majority of these incidents are still perpetrated by young people – and in particular by young men, as in the case of Stephen’s murder.

The main policy response to racist violence continues to be focused on identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators.  While this may achieve ‘justice’ for the victims, there is little evidence that it contributes to the prevention of acts of racist violence by young people who may be potential perpetrators.  In the light of the long history of such incidents during the decades both before and after Stephen’s murder, it seems extraordinary that so little attention has been paid to the need for prevention work that is targeted specifically at young people who may be ‘at risk’ of involvement in racist violence.  What appears to have happened is that schools and youth services have widely adopted a policy of ‘no tolerance’ towards racism, which may look worthy but in practice merely brushes the issue under the carpet without such attitudes being addressed in any effective way.

In a report recently published by Trust for London, Sarah Isal (Runnymede Deputy Director), Aine Woods and I analysed the experience of three pioneering projects aimed at prevention and funded by The Trust for London.  Our report shows that it is not only necessary but also feasible and productive to undertake targeted work with young people who may be at risk of involvement in racist violence. 

The projects used different approaches, including conventional youth work methods, peer education strategies, and explicitly anti-racist community-based work.  What all had in common was their commitment to find ways to address directly issues of racism with young people, and to help them to become aware of their attitudes and to change their behaviour.  Many kinds of activities were undertaken, including group discussions, one-to-one counselling, production of videos and other materials, and a wide range of joint sporting and cultural activities bringing together youngsters of different ethnic groups.   What was crucial in all cases was for the workers to have sufficient time to build up relationships of trust with the young people, and to have the personal skills and understanding to address the sensitive issues around racism when they arose.

The current decimation of youth work services, combined with the pressures on schools to focus narrowly on the national curriculum and its targets, makes carrying out such work extremely difficult.  It is time-consuming, requires commitment and skill, and may at times be personally stressful.  And if we really want to try to prevent the kinds of incidents that have led Stephen Lawrence and many others over the years (both black and white) to their deaths, it needs to be done ‘on the ground’ in localities not just in London but across the whole country.  To be sure, it is possible to integrate such work to some degree into other spheres of activity in schools and youth services, but this still needs to be done in a targeted and strategic way, and not just included in a vague and unstructured manner. 

There is one thing, however, of which we can be certain.  Failing to undertake preventive work effectively will undoubtedly ensure that the kinds of incidents that led to Stephen’s death will continue during the coming decades.