This report brings together existing evidence from the literature and media reports, as well as evidence collected from case studies in two London boroughs. Interviews were conducted with staff in government agencies, including the police, housing departments, schools, the Youth Service, and the Probation Service; interviews were also conducted with local people, including victims and perpetrators. The study found that the perpetrators of racial harassment and violence are of all ages and of both sexes, who often act together as friends or as families. Some perpetrators may also be involved in other antisocial acts, violence toward other groups or individuals, or crime in general. The views held by all kinds of perpetrators toward ethnic minorities are shared by the wider communities to which they belong. For the communities in which the perpetrators live, racism and its expression often divert attention from underlying problems in their lives with which they feel powerless to cope. Two main sets of factors apparently contribute to racial harassment and violence: factors that stimulate stress, delinquency, or criminality; and factors that spawn racial prejudice. Policies that address these factors are likely to impact racial harassment and violence. The prevention of racial harassment over the long term should involve the identification of and effective action against perpetrators; the identification of potential perpetrators and the development of strategies to divert them from becoming perpetrators; and the development of a range of strategies for addressing the perpetrator community's general attitudes toward ethnic minorities. Appended description of fieldwork conducted in the case-study areas and 42 references