Youth Violence
Since the beginning of 2007, there has been intense media coverage of violent teen-on-teen crime. From south London to north Liverpool, teen-on-teen murders have been highlighted and scrutinised by journalists and editors both nationally and locally, spurring a debate in which even prime ministers feel they need to partake.
This is in itself a good thing - the violence carried out between teenagers on the streets of Britain should be highlighted and solutions debated. However, in the midst of such a media frenzy - especially on a topic which has a long and well established history of fostering racialised stereo-types - there is good reason to pause and look at how Britain understands and makes sense of such events.
To this end, Runnymede has published two Perspectives papers. A Tale of Two Englands - 'Race' and Violent Crime in the Press analyses newspaper articles over a two month period, and identifies clear differential patterns in the way in which the press reports on violent crime. (Re)thinking 'Gangs' takes a critical look at the concept of the ‘gang' and its meaning in political and public discourses, and warns that an understanding of ‘the gang', based on a construct of the media, politicians and policy makers rather than empirical evidence, is actually getting in the way of thinking about effective responses to youth violence
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