Criminal Justice
Runnymede have a long interest in criminal justice, and are currently expanding our research into a full-fledged programme. Many black and minority ethnic groups are over-represented in the criminal justice system, under-represented in the legal profession (particularly among judges), and too often criminalised by sections of the press.
Criminal justice in fact covers a range of research areas. In the recent past, we have produced widely-cited research on:
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Anti-Social Behaviour: Anti-social behaviour is a key plank of the government's criminal justice policy agenda and one that gets a great deal of attention in the media. Our report in this area found poor evidence on whether or not anti-social behaviour orders are (a) being used disproporionately on BME groups, or (b) whether or not they are being used to prevent racist violence. Related research on Respect built on these important findings by considering what a fairer and more effective respect-based policy might look like, including for criminal justice.
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Preventing Racist Violence: Black and minority ethnic groups are at greater risk of being victims of crime. Racist violence is the most egregious form of this violence, but preventing it is no easy task. Beginning with a literature review, we developed action-based research for ensuring that potential perpetrators of racist violence do not go on to commit hate acts.
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‘Race’ and Violent Crime in the Press: Racial bias in the media is the subject of intense debate. Is the press institutionally racist? Does the pattern of reporting of certain events fuel racism? How does the media influence public policy? These are amongst the questions we seek to answer in our extensive discourse analysis of all the national, and a selecion of regional, papers.
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The Runnymede Trust 7 Plough Yard, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3LP