What comes to mind when you think of hate crimes? Do you think of someone getting so mad that they could say hateful words or do something they would later regret? To Many's surprises, a "Hate" crime is not really about hate, but about bias or prejudice, although definitions differ from state to state essentially hate crimes refer to criminal conduct motivated by prejudice. This preconceived opinion is not based or reason or actual experience. many people are lead to commit hate crimes from a thrill-seeking feel of having the feeling of needing to be defensive in their view "defending their turf" they feel as though they have to fight something when there is nothing to fight Hate crimes today have evolved in every way, shape …show more content…
Hate crimes have rapidly increased, causing outbreaks across the nation, but what steps can we take to stop these? According to Dr. Jack McDevitt, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston Hate crimes are message crimes. Hate crimes are defined as crimes that are a violent act against people, property, or organizations. Because of the group to which they belong or identify with. One step that we as a whole can do to avoid hate crime is the way we respond to hate. If you were to respond to such a crime in a way of making the individual feel as though they have the full attention of citizens, they will continue to act in such a way. But if a community as a whole shows that this is not their main worry then 50/50 the individual will stop. Los Angeles, University psychologist Edward Dunbar, Ph.D., is examining from a clinical and forensic perspective what drives hate-crime …show more content…
But in doing this you must understand that hate crime offenders are not and is not a homogenous group ( of the same kind; alike) those that carry out these acts can come from any upbringing and family but by working with these offenders we can help change their perspective and the way of thinking. Understanding the impulses and motivations that lead to hate crime is essential to designing rehabilitation measures for hate crime offenders as the goal of such measures is to inhibit the factors which cause offending, and hence prevent or reduce re-offending What is known about the characteristics of offenders may offer hints at some of the impulses and motivations behind their offending. In having this acknowledgment the government and all communities can help these human beings who lost their way “ as one reporter spoke” these programs should be available to all offenders as this could also help lower the hate crime rate across the nation. These programs like the want to help, one country created the ADAPT program (Anti-Discriminatory Awareness Practice Training)The goal of ADAPT is to change explicit racist behaviours by challenging participants’ thought processes and asking them to look at and evaluate the
In October of 1998, Aaron Kreifels, a young man, resident of Laramie, Wyoming discovered Matthew Shepard's limp body bound to a fence. From a distance Kreifels mistook Shepard's slender frame for a “scarecrow”, and was horrified to find otherwise (Kaufman). Matthew Shepard, a twenty-one year old University of Wyoming student, had been beaten until he was no longer recognizable, and while still technically alive he was rushed into urgent care. He died, after slipping into a coma, six days later (Kaufman).
...o more attacks and feeling alienated, helpless, suspicious and fearful. (Ochi) This is an entry in a report regarding hate crime given by Rose Ochi from the U.S. Department of Justice. It explains all too well what people of both sides of hate crime feel. Those that commit hate crimes mentally ill; however psychologists do find that they have a, “high level of aggression and antisocial behavior.” (Dunbar) It was very interesting to find that those who commit hate crime offenses premeditate their crimes and will drive further out to commit these crimes.
After World War II, “ A wind is rising, a wind of determination by the have-nots of the world to share the benefit of the freedom and prosperity” which had been kept “exclusively from them” (Takaki, p.p. 383), and people of color in United States, especially the black people, who had been degraded and unfairly treated for centuries, had realized that they did as hard as whites did for the winning of the war, so they should receive the same treatments as whites had. Civil rights movement emerged, with thousands of activists who were willing to scarify everything for Black peoples’ civil rights, such as Rosa Parks, who refused to give her seat to a white man in a segregated bus and
Instead, this only increases criminalization, incarceration rates, policing, and only continues this cycle of hatred and bigotry fueled violence allotted by the state, because “the criminal punishment system itself is a significant source of racialized-gendered violence” (90). Criminal punishment and its legal system does not promote safety and non-violence but is rather “a site of enormous violence” and is the largest perpetrator of violence and hatred (90). This only allows more opportunities and resources for these exact system to strengthen and therefore continue to commit these hate acts of violence and disparity in increasing rates and severer forms, or as Spaid puts it, “provides even great opportunity for harmful systems to claim fairness and equality while continuing to kill us”
There are several reasons why offenders commit hate crimes, they vary from case to case, however, one key element is fear which is caused by ignorance. The offenders fear the unknown and the competition they feel that exists, them vs. the ‘others’. When fear is accompanied by other factors it could potentially lead to a violent crime. “The
Hate crimes are done too frequently in the United States. Although we have laws that supposedly regulate them, many people still feel the need to commit acts of violence on people that are different than them. Many of these crimes originate with some sort of hate speech. People get ideas from other people, passed down from previous generations.
581-585. Hamm, Mark S. Hate Crime: International Perspectives on Causes and Control (Anderson: Cincinnati, 1994). Jacobs, James B. and Jessica S. Henry, "The Social Construction of a Hate Crime Epidemic," The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (Winter 1996); 366-391.
When the topic of hate and bias crime legislation is brought up two justifications commonly come to mind. In her article entitled “Why Liberals Should Hate ‘Hate Crime Legislation” author Heidi M. Hurd discusses the courts and states views that those who commit hate and bias crimes ought to be more severely punished. She takes into consideration both sides of the argument to determine the validity of each but ultimately ends the article in hopes to have persuaded the reader into understanding and agreeing with her view that laws concerning the punishment of hate and bias laws should not be codified. Hate crime is described as a violent, prejudice crime that occurs when a victim is targeted because of their membership in a specific group. The types of crime can vary from physical assault, vandalism, harassment or hate speech. Throughout the article Hurd tried to defend her view and explain why there should be no difference of punishment for similar crimes no matter the reason behind it. Her reason behind her article came from the law that President Obama signed in 2009 declaring that crimes committed with hatred or prejudice should have more sever punishments. While the court has their own views to justify their reasoning behind such decisions, in the article Hurd brings up points and facts to prove the wrongfulness of creating such a law. However, though Hurd has made her views clear in the following essay I will discuss reasons why the penalties are justifiable, why they should receive the same degree of punishment, less punishment and my personal view on the topic.
The punishment of a crime should not be determined by the motivation for the crime, yet that is exactly what hate crime legislation does. It places emphasis on a crime for the wrong reasons. Hate crimes victimize more than just the victims, and this is why the punishments are more severe, but Sullivan argues that any crime victimizes more than the victims. He suggests that random crimes with no prejudice in place can be perceived as something even more frightening, as the entire community feels threatened instead of just a group. Proven in Sullivan’s article is the worthlessness of the “hate” label. I would agree that it only serves to further discriminate, instead of achieving the peace and equality that it pretends to stand
The fact that hate crimes still occur in America is another signpost that tolerance is still an unheard of notion to a lot of people. In 2007 the Federal Bureau of Investigation released statistics showing that 2,105 law enforcement agencies reported 9,080 offences of hate crime. This includes vandalism, intimidation, simple and aggravated assault, and murder. This also includes not only race statistics, but religious, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability motivated crimes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released statistics of discrimination charges for the same year with all ...
Any crime motivated by a bias against a person or group based on their ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, religion or another characteristic is a hate crime. These crimes can either be committed against the people themselves or their property. When someone commits a hate crime they are targeting a group of people not just one individual. That’s why hate crimes have extra punishment. The punishment for hate crimes are very insignificant considering the deviant who committed a hate crime targeted an entire group of people. Hate crimes are very serious offensive but determining where to draw the line can be difficult. Hate crimes are very serious and can have lasting effects on victims.
Again, the actual crime should be punished not the reasoning behind it. Murder is murder, robbery is robbery, rape is rape, regardless of motive. For example, Person A and Person B both assault innocent people. But while beating the life out of his victim, Person B calls him a "Nigger." His crime is considered a hate crime. Consequently, his crime will receive harsher punishment. Despite why the crime took place, the point is that a crime took place. No matter why the victim is chosen, he or she was still harmed, the family is still going to grieve, and someone must be punished. Whether a person is killed for money or drugs or out of hate or prejudice, the fact still remains that he or she has been killed. With hate crime laws, the hate is being looked at, more so than the crime itself. Even though hate is a terrible thing to have in your heart, all Americans have the right to hate whatever or who ever they want. Besides, if officials start punishing hate or unholy thoughts, they might as well make a new category of crime— thought crime. If this line of thinking were acted upon, then half of America would be behind bars.
A hate crime is a crime, usually involving violence or intimidation committed against others based partially or entirely on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or membership in another social group.
Today we have looked at the problem known as hate crimes and the varied causes which keep it in existence. We have also discussed some solutions to this act of hate.
There are many who believe hate crime should be punished more severely since it ‘’has the potential to cause greater harm.’’ (Hate Crime Laws, 2014) Hate crimes, like racial discrimination, have unfortunately been a part of this country for centuries, racial discrimination was rampant in the 19th and 20th century, but mostly in the south; many segregation laws were created at the time ‘’that banned African Americans from voting, attending certain schools, and using public accommodations. ’’ (Hate Crime Laws, 2014)