Research projects

Racism and 'Unfairness' discourses in South London Researching a youth work intervention (1999-2000)

Research Director
Dr Roger Hewitt

The research examined the efficacy of a specially made youth work video, designed for use with white adolescents who were at risk from involvement in racism and racist activism. It was also concerned to explore how young people used the talk and ideas concerning 'unfairness to whites' within the wider ambit of their talk concerning issues of racism, to see the range of explanatory tasks it performed.

The research was conducted with young people in three London youth clubs. Each site involved two groups of six young people. Following a programme of work with the video, a further series of interviews was conducted. These sought to explore the ways in which the video youth work intervention impacted on the young people involved.

The data was analysed with three main objectives: 1 to examine the potential for the intervention to impact positively on the behaviour of young people at risk from involvement in racist activism; 2 to identify the nature of the prevailing 'unfairness to whites' theme and theories its wider significance; and 3, to contribute usefully to policies and practices concerned with anti-racist youth work amongst disaffected white young people.