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profile of hate crime offenders
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The word victim can be used to refer to a number of people who are affected by negative actions of others which are not related to any personal responsibility of their own. “An examination of U.S. history will reveal that a significant proportion of murders, assaults, and acts of vandalism and desecration were fueled by bigotry” (Karmen, 2013, p. 350). Hate crime victimization is a very prevalent and serious issue that exists amongst our society today that is often used to demonstrate a form of hate towards a particular group of people; primarily minority groups. “Although each state employs a different definition of hate crime, most statutes include groups singled out on the basis of race (such as African Americans or Asian Americans), ethnicity (for example, Latina/Latino), sexual orientation, or disability” (McDevitt & Sgarzi, 2003, p.189). Most hate crimes are demonstrated through acts such as vandalism, assault, or some other form of intimidation by the bias person(s).
Hate crimes have the tendency to pose a more harmful threat to the social aspect of society than non-bias crimes in terms that it aims to generate a form of separation between the various groups and members of society. Mass disturbances such as riots, can be generated throughout communities as a result of these bias acts. As a result, many others are victimized when a hate or bias crime is committed: not just the victim(s) themselves. According to Levin & McDevitt, 2003; “these diverse crimes could polarize communities along racial and ethnic lines and thereby undermine the ongoing American experiment of fostering multicultural tolerance and the celebration of diversity” (Karmen, 2013, p. 40). According to several authors, these impacts can be increas...
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...le because of their membership of certain groups could be paving the way for greater intolerance and more aggressive forms of hate crime” (Ardley, 2005, p. 62). Therefore; it is highly important that reports of hate crimes are being adequately reported by the victims and are not being overlooked by law enforcement or the government itself.
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Works Cited
Ardley, Jenny. "Hate crimes: A brief review." International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 25.12 (2005): 54-66.
Dunbar, Edward. "Race, gender, and sexual orientation in hate crime victimization: identity politics or identity risk?." Violence and victims 21.3 (2006): 323-337
Karmen, Andrew. Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2010. Print.
McDevitt, Jack, and Judith M. Sgarzi. Victimology: A Study of Crime Victims and Their Roles. Upper Saddle: Prentice Hall, 2003. Print.
However, hate crimes can be deemed as a form of prejudice. It is a form of prejudice that is fixed upon a group of people built on their culture, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious preference, or any other essential characteristic. We must keep in mind, that anytime when there is diversity amongst groups of individuals who come into the presence of one another, there is a greater risk or the opportunity for tension or a conflict to emerge. Without a doubt, this primes violence. No matter if the alleged misconduct in question is assault, theft, verbal abuse or even murder, the enthusiasm that stems from such, is grounded on the concept of hate for a set of individuals that is declared or considered as appearing different in some sort of way ("History of Hate Crime - Crime Museum", 2017).
When people bully or target a specific person for their race or different, that is a hate crime. Hate crimes occurs around the world. Hate crimes nowadays aren’t recognized as a real threat as murder, but leaders and the peoples voices are reaching out to the world. Although these hate crimes and groups could get out of hands, we need to alleviate these problem.
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
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 ...
Levin, b (2002). From slavery to hate crime: the emergence of race and status based
The reason why hate crimes and types of bias motivated violence continued to go unnoticed is because, the crime needed to be reported. If it is not reported, then no action will be taken. The Justice Department study finds that 2 of 3
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.
What is meant by the term “hate crime”? Discuss with reference to at least one type of hate crime, paying particular attention to the social and cultural context in which some identities become targets.
There are both state and federal laws that prohibit hate crimes, but proving an assailant committed a crime in prejudice is very difficult. Any type of crime can call for some form of punishment, from fines and short prison stays for misdemeanors to long term imprisonment for felonies. Once it has been reviled that an accused willfully committed an offense, proof must be given that indicates the crime was influenced by prejudice against a specific characteristic in order to show that it was also a hate crime. When this can be proven, the harshness of the crime automatically increases. People often wonder why hate crime punishment is harsher than for crimes that are not motivated by any type of bias. The basic reason for this is that most crimes are directed at an individual, but hate crimes are against an entire community. A burglar who breaks into a random home does so for personal gain, and usually doesn’t even know who lives in the home they are invading. Conversely, a person who chooses a victim based on a particular bias is singling out a ch...
... laws to address the serious threat of hate crime. For educators, it means developing ways to open channels of cultural understanding among children. For neighborhoods, it means strengthening the bonds of community to embrace diversity and reject acts of racism (Levin viii). Society as a whole must accept the fact that we are all a part of the problem, if we are not a part of the solution.
Hate crimes has become an increasing problem here in the united states ranging from racial hatred to gender discrimination but what are hate crimes? 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 violent act against people, property, or organizations because of the group to which they belong or identify with. The coined term “hate crimes” was first used No matter how many different definitions there are for hate crimes but we all can agree that hate crimes are wrong and immoral. But within hate crimes they are many different types of hate crimes. One of the main reasons that people commit hate crimes would have to be because of racial hatred. Racial Hatred is a major factor in hate crimes with African Americans being the main target. According to the FBI database in 1996, 4,831 out of the 7,947 such crimes reported to the FBI, or 60%, were promulgated because of race, with close to two-thirds (62%) targeting African Americans.
McVeigh, Rory., Michael R. Welch, Thoroddur Bjarnason. 2003. “Hate Crime Reporting as a Successful Social Movement Outcome.” American Sociological Association. 68: 843-867.
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
...ith these differencesAs Barbara McQuade said, “A hate crime is different than a simple assault because it is an attack on not just one individual victim, but an attack on everyone who shares a particular characteristic.”As presented in this paper, hate crime isn’t new but isn’t talked about too much either. These crimes are not taken as serious as they should be. Attention was brought to what hate crime is, who commits them, at what ages they are being committed, how often they occur, which states have the most and which people are targeted the most. Hate crimes are done every day and it isn’t taken seriously. It can happen to anyone in this country at any time. After reading this paper there should be enough information gathered to try and avoid these crimes. It is also shown that participating to try and put an end to these crimes would be very helpful to society.
Someone commits a hate crime every hour. In the most recent data collection, 2014, a reported 17, 876 hate crimes were committed. This is a national crisis that we cannot allow to continue.