Race, Gangs and Youth Violence: Policy, Prevention and Policing

As we bear witness to continued protest and debate over the deaths of black youth at the hands of would-be protectors, this book challenges current thinking about serious youth violence, gangs, and their racialization by the media and the police. Written by an expert with more than fourteen years of field experience in London, it brings together ethnographic research, theory, and practice to influence policy. Placing gangs and urban violence in a broader social and political economic context, Anthony Gunter argues that government policy and associated funding for anti-gang work is counterproductive, due to entrenched prejudices. The street gang label is unfairly linked by both the media and police to black urban youth and street-based lifestyles, cultures, and friendship groups, leading to the further criminalization of innocent black youth via police targeting. For anyone concerned about youth violence and social justice—from community members and social service practitioners to policy makers and scholars within the multidisciplinary field of youth studies—Race, Gangs and Youth Violence is a timely, essential read.