Preventing Racist Violence
Gap in knowledge on Prevention of Racist Violence
Between 2002 and 2005, Runnymede focused its attention on the prevention of racist violence, an area that we identified to be both under-researched and under-practiced. Whilst the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry had led to significant progress in the reporting of racist incidents and in bringing perpetrators to justice, there was, back in 2002 when we started this strand of work, virtually no research (and hence very weak evidence and knowledge) on appropriate effective interventions to prevent perpetrators, and those at risk of becoming perpetrators, from actually committing racist violence - secondary and tertiary prevention strategies, in other words. In addition to this, challenging racist attitudes - primary prevention strategies -- was also an area that remained under-researched and poorly understood in relation to racist violence and harassment.
Perpetrators of Racist Violence
To remedy this and make a contribution to the much needed evidence base, we took a threefold approach over a number of years. First, we researched and published a significant report reviewing theories on prejudice, criminology and delinquency and youth culture and masculinities, melding these with the specific topic of working with perpetrators of racist violence and harassment. Our findings were published in a report written by Omar Khan in 2002.
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Preventing Racist Violence Final Research
Second, based on the findings of the first report, we sought out specific examples of practice across a range of sectors (education, crime reduction, race equality, etc.) and assessed these models against the general objective of preventing racist violence. This enabled us to develop typologies of perpetrators as well as of intervention practices, leading us to the third element of our programme where we worked with academics and practitioners to develop policy recommendations that aim to challenge and improve practice and extend policymakers' thinking on the prevention of racist violence. The final report, written by Sarah Isal, gives 11 case studies and makes 28 recommendations.
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