Victims and Perpetrators, Racism and Young People in Northern Ireland

Abstract

This paper looks at the relationship between racist harassment and children and young people in Northern Ireland. It reviews the evidence from police records of cases where children and young people have been subjected to and victimised by such harassment, abuse and violence, and uses the same data to reveal the role of young people as perpetrators of racist harassment--both to young people and also towards adults from the minority ethnic communities. The material is drawn from a larger study on racist, homophobic and sectarian harassment, funded by the Office of Minister and Deputy First Minister, but this paper focuses on 152 of the 881 cases reported to the police between 1996 and 2001 in which children and young people were the victims of some form of violence or abuse. Worryingly, the research reveals that young people report a higher proportion of cases involving physical abuse than adults. The paper also looks at the prominent role that young people play in the racist harassment of members of minority ethnic communities. The police data suggest that young people are involved in more than 50% of cases reported to them. Having provided a basic analysis of the issues, the paper also reviews the main policy responses in relation to racism and children and young people, primarily through the education system, and concludes by offering some suggestions as to what is needed to develop an effective strategy to respond to this emergent problem for the immediate future.