Hate Crime Theories

Violence motivated by difference and the demonization of Other, or as we now refer to it, hate crimes, are not a new phenomenon. Hate crimes are hard to define, since many hate crimes, like the Holocaust, were legal, and hard to identify since hate crimes are under reported. To be able to define hate crimes, we must understand that crime is as process (Perry, 8). It does not occur in a vacuum nor is it completely over when the perpetrator moves on. Hate crime involves historical information and the relationship between actors. Hate crime are usually directed at marginalized groups and minorities (Perry, 9) and contributed to future marginalization. In addition politics and social condition build the hierarchy which conditions hate crime (Perry,

Anomie can lead to one of five modes of adaptation. Conformist follow social and cultural norms. Innovators accept cultural norms but not social norms and turn to alternative illegal means. Ritualist accept the social norms but reject the cultural norm. Retreatist withdraw from broader society and rebel abandon social and cultural norms. Anomies which fail to identify with society can lead to commit hate crimes. Lastly, according to critical criminology theory, hate crime can be conceived by society, since social existence determines one’s consciousness (Perry, 41). Critical criminology takes into account the social phenomenon of marginalization and power as it contributes to a person’s view of social hierarchy and position. Society and the effects it has on shaping a person’s views is not include in the definition of hate crime. Ideally, we would include it in the hate crime definition but realistically it is very difficult to determine with accuracy that a person committed a hate crime because one bond got loose, because they are an anomie or because of society. It is must easier to determine whether a person committed an act, and from there determine if it was