Dr Anthony Gunter

Professional biography

I am a Senior Lecturer in Childhood and Youth Studies. Prior to joining the Open University, I was Principal Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of East London.   Before  embarking on my  career in academia – which incidentally began at the OU  in the early 2000s when I was first employed as an Associate Lecturer in the School of Health and Social Welfare –  I  worked for over 14 years in South  and East London, firstly  as a detached community and youth worker before taking on Project and  Area Manager roles. Consequently, my professional background incorporates the development, management and delivery of programmes and provision in the areas: of early years, 5-11-year-old after school services, alternative education, adult education, detached youth work and centre-based youth projects.

Research interests

My research interests and expertise are in the areas of: Black young people; youth cultures and transitions; ethnography; serious youth violence and gangs; race/ethnicity, crime and justice; and policing multi-ethnic urban neighbourhoods. I am the  author of  ‘Growing up Bad: Black Youth, Road Culture & Badness in an East London Neighbourhood’ (Tufnell Press, 2010), and ‘Race, Gangs and Youth Violence: Policy, Prevention and Policing’ (Policy Press, 2017), and with Ellis & Marques ‘Thug Criminology: A Call to Action’ (University of Toronto Press, 2023). During the past two decades I have carried out a number of ethnographic research studies examining and exploring contemporary urban youth subculture(s) and alternative youth transitions. More recently, my work has focused on serious youth violence with regard to: (i) current policy, policing and preventative practice aimed at tackling ‘street gangs’ and; (ii) youth led and community-based/ driven solutions and interventions. I am also Director of the Contemporary Youth Cultures and Transitions (CYCaT) research group at the OU.

Teaching interests

Impact and engagement

I have disseminated my research findings to a wide and varied audience via: authored books, policy papers, evaluation reports;presented and spoke at conferences, seminars and community events; television, radio and newspaper interviews.

Knowledge Exchange & Public Engagement Projects - Examples:

Exploring youth violence: what would you do?

Step into the shoes of Tyler and Rafi and live a day of their life in this ‘What would you do’ interactive

Prosecuting Rap Network

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 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 [Dr Anthony Gunter and Dr Michael Boampong] for stakeholders across 54 member countries of the Commonwealth.

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

This study, seeks to understand the effectiveness of a London Borough 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’. 

Expert Contributor  - ‘Michael Caine on Gangs’ – Audible, Series 1_Episode 6, released July 2021

MASSOLIT, video lecture  on ‘The Stephen Lawrence Case’, released October 2021