Hate Crime - 990 Words

Hate Crime The simplest definition of what a hate crime is, is a crime committed against a victim due to his or her perceived role in a social group. Social groups can be defined by many factors such as sexual orientation, race, disability, religion, age, gender and many other factors. Within this essay I aim to evaluate the causes of hate crime and also to assess the impact of crime on victims and the strategies used for responding to hate crime. The types of hate crime I am going to be focusing on are race, sexual orientation and gender. What is hate crime? Defining hate crime has proven to be a difficult task, shown by the multiple academic and professional definitions that exist. Barbara Perry (2001) suggests that â€Å"as is the case†¦show more content†¦How will we know if these actions truly constitute a hate crime? What crimes are we going to include in our definition?† Jacobs and Potter (1998: 27) suggest that â€Å"how much hate crime there is and what the appropriate response should be depends upon how hate crime is conceptualised and defined†. So far I have outlined a number of academic definitions of hate crime and also the implications of defining such a crime. I am now going to describe the three types of hate crime I am focusing on which are race, sexual orientation and gender. Macpherson (1999) suggests that a racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person†. The Crime and Disorder Act (1998) state that â€Å"a racial group refers to persons defined by reference to their race, colour, nationality, or ethnic or national origins†. The figures for race related hate crimes taking place are at the highest with a staggering 43,426 people involved in hate crime at the moment. Despite all the public awareness of hate crimes since Stephen Lawrence’s murder, racially motivated hate crime is still taking place and does not seem to be decreasing. This brings me to question why figures are still rising despite law changes and public awareness. Research shows that few criminals are being prosecuted for committing a hate crime. Ministry of Justice (2008) â€Å"in 2006 only 11,500 charges of racially aggravated offending were prosecuted in EnglandShow MoreRelatedHate Crime : Hate Crimes1454 Words    |  6 PagesHate Crimes Hate crimes, two small words with a very big meaning. Hate crimes are happening everywhere, some hit the news, some go into newspapers and others don’t even make it to the point of any social awareness at all. Hate crimes are a targeted attack, one that should not be taken lightly. While hate crime laws infringe on free speech rights, acts of hate should be criminalized because groups of hate crimes have had a huge impact on social behavior for a long period of time, hate crimes victimizeRead MoreHate Crimes Essay1417 Words   |  6 PagesCrimes I. Intro-What is a hate crime . A hate crime is when a person intentionally selects a victim because of the race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. A person who commits a hate crime can come from any background and be any race. The term hate crime is meant to differentiate criminal behavior that is caused by prejudice from behavior that is motivated by greed jealously, anger, politics and like. Hate groups differ from one another in terms of membershipRead MoreThe Issue Of Hate Crimes2025 Words   |  9 Pagesfacing in the world are hate crimes. Despite this being a major issues, there appears to be no solution in sight to put a stop to hate crimes. For this paper I chose to focus on hate crimes I can gain more knowledge about this topic and because it s something that I have personally experienced. Throughout U.S. history, a significant proportion of all murders, assaults, and acts of vandalism have been fueled by hatred. As Native Americans have been described as the f irst hate crime victims, members ofRead MoreEssay on hate crimes661 Words   |  3 Pages Defining Hate Crimes 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 â€Å"hate crimes† was first used No matterRead MoreHate Crimes Essay936 Words   |  4 Pagesare the roots of the violence/hate crimes today in our contemporary society? What can we do to reduce them? Explain. The world is full of HATE. What is this word? What makes someone HATE someone else enough to kill or harm another human being? Hate crimes are criminal actions intended to harm or intimidate people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or other minority group status. They are also referred to as bias crimes. Hate crimes have been going on in the worldRead MoreHate Crimes Laws And Hate Crime1543 Words   |  7 PagesHate Crimes What is a hate crime? Although the definition can vary based on what groups are included (Cogan, 2006, p. 174) the simplest definition would be, violence against a person or group of people based on their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, race or disability (Burgess, Regehr, Roberts, 2013). Hate Crimes do not just effect the victim but also the community. Those who become victims of hate crime are not chosen at random, it is because of the group they identify with orRead MoreEssay on Hate Crime Analysis1420 Words   |  6 PagesHate Crime Analysis Kim Hull CJA/540 Criminological Theory October 13, 2011 Facilitator David Mailloux CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I  certify that  the attached  paper is my original work. I am familiar with, and acknowledge my responsibilities which are part of, the University of Phoenix Student Code of Academic Integrity. I affirm that any section of the paper which has been submitted previously is attributed and cited as such, and that this paper has not been submitted by anyone else.  I haveRead MoreHate Crimes, By Nelson Mandela1393 Words   |  6 PagesHate crimes consist of actions done against individuals or groups of people as a result of prejudice attitudes. These prejudices are based on race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Some crimes even go so far as to display actions against gender or physical and mental abilities (McDevitt, J., Levin, J., Bennett, S, 2002). As Nelson Mandela stated, a hateful attitude against others must be learned (Brainz, n.d.). Hate crimes are a learned attitude of prejudice against others because ofRead MoreThe Crime Of Hate Crimes1607 Words   |  7 P agesHate crimes are very common in today’s society, they can range from various ethnicities and orientations as well as the severity of the crime committed. A hate crime is defined as â€Å"the violence of intolerance and bigotry, intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religious, sexual orientation, or disability. The purveyors of hate use explosives, arson, weapons, vandalism, physical violence, and verbal threats of violence to instill fear in their victimsRead MoreReligion and Hate Crimes Essay2507 Words   |  11 PagesIn 2007, according to the Federal Bureau Investigation of the Nation’s law enforcement agencies â€Å"there were 9,535 victims of hate crimes; of these victims17.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief which totaled to be 1,628 victims of an anti-religious hate crime† (1). Almost ten thousand people were victims of hate crimes alone in 2007. That is something to be alarmed about because part of living in the U.S.A as minority is to have freedom to do and be anything you