Research and knowledge exchange projects

Hyperlocal Working and Violence Reduction in a London Borough: A Learning & Evaluation Study

This study, of a London Borough Council’s pilot neighbourhood violence reduction project, seeks to understand the effectiveness of the Council's hyper-local approach to youth violence prevention; specifically, concerning the London Violence Reduction Unit’s (MOPAC) 2019/20 service delivery aim of, ‘putting communities and young people at the heart of tackling the issue’. A further key element of this learning and evaluation study is the engagement and partnership with Streetbase – Streetbase team members are aged 16-24 and are paid and trained to run workshops, attend community meetings, and carry out patrols in local ‘hotspots’ speaking to and engaging with young people.

Prosecuting Rap: Can we get racial discrimination out of the courtroom?

When young black men and boys are accused of crimes, rap music is often presented as evidence. This is a practice that an international network of scholars, which includes including Dr Anthony Gunter, has found to be structurally racist.

Commonwealth Youth Mainstreaming Training Programme

This youth training programme was developed by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Open University (co-led by Dr Michael Boampong and Dr Anthony Gunter) for stakeholders across 54 member countries of the Commonwealth. Designed in response to a request from the Commonwealth Heads of Government, the programme will support the mainstreaming of youth development into policies and programmes, promoting the participation of young people at all levels of decision-making. This initiative seeks to build the capacity of stakeholders involved in the implementation of youth-related policies, programmes and projects to employ the approach, effectively and ethically. The training programme was launched in September 2022 and includes five core modules, the first of which is exclusive to Commonwealth Secretariat staff and focusses on the fundamental principles and processes relevant to implementation of Secretariat programmes and projects. The remaining four modules are available on an open-access basis to all stakeholders and specifically examine; youth participation and inclusion, evidence-based youth policy and programming, and ethics and safeguarding when researching and working with young people.

HDMT Music ‘The One Spirit Project’

The One Sprit Project works with young offenders utilising the creative arts to build confidence, improve engagement with learning, and reduce reoffending. Since 2013, it has delivered in-custody projects and mentoring alongside mentoring on release to support transition into the community, to over 1000 participants in and from HMYOIs Feltham, Cookham Wood, HMPs Aylesbury, Woodhill and Highdown, and Oakhill STC.

Learning & Evaluation study:

In 2017 HMDT Music commissioned Dr Anthony Gunter to carry out an academic evaluation of the One Spirit project in its 10th year, as it engaged and worked with 48 young offenders across HMYOIs Feltham and Cookham Wood. The learning & evaluation report includes findings from a 12 month study that focuses qualitatively and quantitatively on the project’s ethos, processes, and outcomes as evidenced by the data and feedback collected from participants and staff involved.

Thug Criminology

Thug Criminology is a research network and social movement that seeks to challenge the traditional methods/methodologies and scholarship on (thugs) gangs and their behaviours. Drawing on decolonizing methodologies our work seeks to centre the voices of scholars who have lived a “street” or gang life. In this context we are able to reclaim the terms thug/gang/gang member as a way to reconstruct the narrative around “street” involved youth – seeing them not as criminals but rather survivors of historical oppression/trauma. Our ground-breaking work is rooted in a bottom-up research philosophy where former-gang members turned academics are able to provide a deeper and more accurate picture of a street-life. Beyond challenging the colonial structure of criminology, we also seek to develop new methods and scholarship in this area. Our work is informed by a trauma-informed/critical-race lens where we strive to understand the relationship between structural violence, the emergence of street organizations (gangs) and their subsequent use of lethal violence. Moreover, our work also seeks to critique and decolonize the burgeoning knowledge base that has been created with respect to gang exit and youth violence mitigation. While our work seeks to centre the stories/narratives of those with lived experience, Thug Criminology also provides a space for allies (or those with no direct lived experience but who have indirect experience with street organizations/street life) to also contribute to the conversation and knowledge base. To mobilize our knowledge we will be publishing our first edited collection ‘Thug Criminology: A Call to Action’, to be published by the University of Toronto Press in August 2023.

A study of preventative early intervention in the London Borough of Waltham Forest for tackling serious youth violence

This study engages participative action research to develop knowledge exchange between OU researchers, the third sector and local authority officials to explore young people’s and community voice as a way of critically examining local authority action in effectively tacking serious youth violence.

Impact acceleration study:

Formal collaboration agreement between the OU and Waltham Forest council allowed Dr Ian Joseph to complete a 15-month study examining how the Council’s current strategy and related safeguarding policy and procedure addresses risk connected to gang involvement. A report on its finding describes an everyday lived experience of violence, and is used in its recommendations to the local authority for moving beyond simply responding to service demand problems and making more effective early interventions based in a preventative theory of change.

A study of the barriers to entry and career progression of non-white fundraisers

Third sector organisations Voice for Change England/Chartered Institute of Fundraising in 2021 commissioned Dr Ian Joseph to carry out a 10-month nation study, calling on an online survey and in-depth interviews in a mixed method approach to form a picture of conditions across the country.

Research findings: 

The report found a complex interplay of interpersonal and structural plus formal/ informal working practices, that acted to either both block or limit both the entry and progress of non-white fundraisers at different stages of their fundraising career. This moreover operated within wider mainstream race-based discrimination in the charity/ third sector in a period of mass immigration during the late 1940’s. This has created what is termed a ‘fourth sector’ in which a pervasive tokenism conceals the real change needed for genuine diversity.

Hackney Council for the Voluntary Sector/Black Men for Change:

A community-based approach to preventing serious youth violence from a public health perspective

This study is the result of an initiative by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime in London that would examine the nature and effectiveness of a community-based approach to tackling serious violence in five ‘hotspot’ London boroughs. In-depth interviews, participant observations and narratives from the personal diaries of young people formed a mixed method approach from which close collaboration with a network of independent community-based organisations enabled an action research approach. Special consideration was given to the service needs of black male youth

Evaluation and learning study:

The third sector organisations the Hackney Council for the Voluntary Sector and Black Men for Change, in 2020 commissioned Dr Ian Joseph to complete an academic evaluation of the unique features and impact of situational community-based interventions. The report of this highlights the importance of targeting the specific situated needs of vulnerable young people, with the most effective interventions involving timely/relevant adult support and relevant local capacity was critical to effective and sustainable community-based intervention.

Supporting rehabilitation through community-based education provision in Wandsworth Prison

The study examined a flagship Ministry of Justice prison reform pilot scheme involving a though-the-gate approach to rehabilitation that for the first time allowed direct community-based learning support to inmates. The teaching programme based on television’s “Dragons' Den” format, provided former criminals with legitimate business start-up and enterprise skills. The research gave special focus to the experiences of prisoner with a black or mixed heritage background.

Research findings:

A community-based social enterprise, Sales Pitch Sales in 2018, commissioned Dr Ian Joseph to carry out a 12-month study on the unique features and impact of a community-based approach. An action research report based on ethnographic in-depth interviews and participant observations as a classroom tutor showed it produced distinctive results. The community approach affected prisoners’ view about their criminal activity and ‘common-sense road skills’, affecting their choices while still incarcerated but also after release with ongoing support from the organisation. From this, the report identifies four principal types of learner and forms of rehabilitation.

COVID-19 and Black Youth

Intersecting crises in a ‘new normal’? The impact of COVID-19 on young Black Britons (including migrants)

Working with the WELS Childhood, Youth, and Sport group (CYSG) and external partners including UNICEF-UK, Commonwealth Secretariat and Be Heard, this pilot study investigates how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Black young migrants and those of Black British African-Caribbean backgrounds. The project has three components including:

1. online interviews with 25 children/youth (7 - 25 years) from ethnic origins including Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and India
2. Journal Paper publication
3. A one-day public workshop to disseminate research findings on 14 May 2021
4. Formulation of future research proposal with internal and external partners

This pilot project’s findings on the differences/similarities of experiences between Black children and young migrants and those of Black British African-Caribbean backgrounds will promote public understanding. Also, it will allow key stakeholders, including community-based organisations, policymakers, local authorities, and international organisations to learn about Black youth vulnerabilities and agency within broader contextual factors (e.g. race, social class, immigration status, etc.).