Hate crime

Hate Crimes: Understanding the Impact and Legislation

Imagine a world where individuals are targeted not just for what they do, but who they are—where their physical appearance or perceived social group becomes the reason for violence. This is the reality of hate crimes. A hate crime is a crime where a perpetrator targets a victim because of their physical appearance or perceived membership in a certain social group. Examples range from physical assault to damage to property, bullying, harassment, and more.

The Evolution of Hate Crime Laws

When did the term ‘hate crime’ first come into use? The term was first used in the United States during the 1980s. However, crimes with similar motivations have been committed throughout history. These laws are intended to deter bias-motivated violence and enhance penalties for conduct motivated by bias against one or more social groups.

The Psychological Impact

Hate crimes can have significant psychological effects on victims. Increased vulnerability to future victimization, symptoms of depression and anxiety—these are just a few of the ways hate crimes impact individuals. The effect extends beyond the targeted group; it creates a generalized terror, feelings of vulnerability, division, and factionalism within communities.

Motivations Behind Hate Crimes

Understanding the motivations behind hate crimes is crucial for effective prevention and response. According to Mark Austin Walters, there are four main types of motivation:

• Thrill-seeking: 66% of all hate crimes involve perpetrators engaging in violence for excitement and drama.
• Defensive: 17% of hate crimes occur when perpetrators believe they are protecting their communities.
• Retaliatory: 10% of hate crimes happen as a response to perceived personal slights or other hate crimes.
• Mission offenders: The rarest and deadliest form, where perpetrators engage out of ideological reasons. After September 11, 2001, hate crimes in the US shifted from thrill offenses by young groups to defensive-oriented crimes perpetrated by older individuals responding to events.

Theoretical Explanations for Hate Crimes

Psychological perspectives within behaviorism have contributed significantly to theoretical explanations. For instance, studies by John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner illustrated that hate is a conditioned emotional response, while Arthur Staats and Carolyn Staats found that hate and fear are learned behavioral responses.

The Media’s Role

The media plays a crucial role in perpetuating prejudice through semantic generalization. Hate-crime offenders often learn their prejudices through social interaction, biased news media, political hate speech, and internal misrepresentations of cultures other than their own.

Risk Management for Hate-Crime Offenders

While risk management for hate-crime offenders is a relatively under-researched area, forensic risk assessments can be used to evaluate the likelihood of re-offending. These tools help in developing effective risk management strategies. However, existing tools may not fully capture bias-oriented factors, highlighting the need for more comprehensive approaches.

Hate Crime Laws Around the World

Hate crime laws generally fall into several categories: defining specific bias-motivated acts as distinct crimes; criminal penalty-enhancement laws; creating a distinct civil cause of action for hate crimes; and requiring administrative agencies to collect hate crime statistics. In Europe and Asia, countries have implemented various laws and provisions related to hate crimes.

• Council of Europe: Most signatories committed to punish racist and xenophobic hate speech through the internet since 2006.
• Andorra: Discriminatory acts on the basis of origin, citizenship, race, religion, or gender are punishable under Penal Code Article 313.
• Austria: Penalty-enhancement statutes exist for racist and xenophobic motivations under Penal Code section 33(5).
• Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Criminal Code prohibits discrimination by public officials on various grounds, including race and religion.
• Belgium: A penalty-enhancement statute exists for crimes involving discrimination on certain grounds under Act of 25 February 2003.
• Spain: Italian criminal law contains a penalty-enhancement provision for crimes motivated by racial bias at Section 3 of Law No. 205/1993.

The United States and Hate Crimes

In the United States, hate crime laws have evolved since after the American Civil War to combat racially motivated crimes. The modern era began in 1968 with a federal statute that made it illegal to injure or intimidate people based on their race, color, religion, or national origin.

Statistics and Trends

The Crime Survey for England and Wales reported an average of 278,000 hate crimes a year in 2013. Greater Manchester Police began recording attacks on goths, punks, and other alternative culture groups as hate crimes in 2013. Essex Police launched the ‘Stop the Hate’ initiative in 2013 to tackle hate crime.

Challenges and Criticisms

Hate crime laws have faced challenges and criticisms. Some argue that they punish thoughts or motives, while others claim that hate-crime legislation effectively makes certain ideas or beliefs illegal. Critics such as David Brax and Andrew Seidel argue that hate crime laws criminalize certain dispositions yet do not show why hate is a morally worse disposition for a crime than one motivated by jealousy, greed, sadism, or vengeance.

Conclusion

Hate crimes are complex issues with far-reaching consequences. Understanding the motivations behind them and the effectiveness of legislation to combat them is crucial. While laws can help deter bias-motivated violence, they must be balanced against free speech concerns and the potential for inciting backlash.