...Hate Crime: A Rising Problem Hate Crime can be defined as a perpetrator deliberately targeting a victim because of his or her believed membership in a certain social group, usually defined by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation. In the US the Hate Crimes Statistics Act (1990) requires for the recording of an event as a ‘hate crime’ that there is ‘manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity and requires recording officers to complete a 14-point checklist involving a great deal of subjectivity and requiring tacit knowledge of the offences by the recording officer’ (Jacobs, 2003). Some groups such as blacks, Jews, and homosexuals are the most targeted for biased based violent crime but are protected by certain state and federal laws while other groups such as transgendered people are not protected by any law. In the film Soldier’s Girl we meet a young man plagued by the ignorance of a society unwilling to accept a person with non-traditional sexual orientation into the bravado of the Army Infantry. This is an instance far too familiar for many people who make the choice to have a non-traditional way of life. The story of Barry Winchell and Capernia is a direct correlation as to how homosexuals as well as transgendered individuals are treated by society today. The debate on whether being homosexual is a choice or a trait a person is born with...
Words: 1123 - Pages: 5
...looks at hate crimes as a projection of community theory regarding the media's role in shaping public thought and how society views the crimes as whites against nonwhites event. Since there is little reliable data regarding hate crimes, interracial homicides were used to generate statistics on this study. The study concludes that nonwhite on white crimes are more common than white on nonwhite, and to some extent, nonwhite on nonwhite. Homicide (is?) perpetrated by nonwhite against white. The terms "hate violence and hate crimes" first appeared in the Final Report of the Attorney General's Commission on Racial, Ethnic, Religious and Minority Violence issued in April 1986. It defined hate violence to be any act of intimidation, harassment, physical force or threat of physical force directed against any person or their property or advocate. (Run-on sentence) It is motivated either in whole or in part by hostility to their real or perceived race, ethnic background, religious belief, sex, age, disability, or sexual orientation, with the intention of causing fear or intimidation or to deter the deterrence of free exercise or enjoyment of any rights or privileges secured by the Constitution whether or not performed under color of law. (http://www.cahro.org/html/definition.html) There is much historical evidence showing such violence is perpetrated by whites against non-whites. History has played a major role in influencing our way of thinking when it comes to hate crimes. Historical...
Words: 311 - Pages: 2
...Abstract Prejudice can lead to many things. Hate crimes are something every individual has to be concerned with. Targets are not always based on race, but based on social class. Hate crimes are not always an uncontrollable or random act. Race motivated crimes occur when an ethnically or racially person starts to see a migration of people with different ethnic or racial backgrounds. Social class hate crimes occur when individuals feel they are trying to better their communities by ridding them of the undesirables. Prejudice will continue to exist because of human nature. Hate Crimes Hate crime can be defined as any crime that would violate a person’s civil right and is fueled by hostility towards a person’s race, sexual orientation gender, origin, creed, or religion. Typically when hearing of hate crimes, one thinks of crimes towards those of other races. Many places experience hate crimes against the homeless, mentally disabled or physically disabled people, (Hate Crimes, 2013). A common trait of a person who commits hate crimes is they are usually a member of a hate organization. Most people limit the groups to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or the Neo-Nazi. However, that may not always be the case. There are many hate crimes that are committed by a number of different groups, In some cases the person(s) feels they are doing a good thing for society and their community by making it a better, safer place. Other times they may be reacting on impulse since they believe in...
Words: 669 - Pages: 3
...Hate Crimes – Cause and Effects AIU Online Abstract This essay will look at motives of an individual and the people that may be targeted by their deviance. What causes an individual to deviate from the norms of society will be discussed along with the effects it has on an individual and members of the community. At last we will look at laws and education that may be useful in minimizing the occurrence of these deviances. Hate Crimes – Cause and Effects Hate crimes it seems are the newest deviances in our social justice vocabulary. Specific hate crime statutes started being passed by state legislatures in the late 80’s following research that showed an escalation of crime that was triggered by prejudice (Hate Crime). Emile Durkheim proposed the structural-functional approach to deviance saying that it is a necessary function to set and affirm our moral boundaries (Macionis, ch. 9, pp 197). But what is a hate crime; do we need a special classification for them and what type of individual would commit these acts? Crimes that are committed due to prejudices of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and other reasons are said to be hate motivated. Unfortunately, the federal government and the thirty plus states that have hate crime statutes cannot come together to agree or precisely define its meaning (Hate Crime). This confusion exists because of the first amendment rights to free speech and the difficulty in regulating individual’s beliefs. To find out who the...
Words: 1428 - Pages: 6
...A typical individual who commits hate crimes are white male from the age 16-25, 80 percent of the reported hate crime offenders also committed previous crimes against people, the most frequent crime is intimidation. Basically majority of hate crimes are committed by young people who contain some form of disdain or even hatred for someone of a particular group. Who commits hate crimes (2003) Hispanics, gay men, Jews and blacks were the most often targets of hate crimes in the year of 2012. In total there were 7,164 people who were victims of hate crimes which is a decreasing number compared to the results in the prior year. Based upon the report approximately half of all the reported hate crimes were racially motivated, with 22 percent anti-white and 66 percent deemed anti-black; which is also a decreased from the prior year. Nineteen percent of the reported hate crimes were motivated base upon a bias against sexual orientation, 28 percent as anti-homosexual, 12 percent as anti-female homosexual, 53 percent were anti-male homosexual. Dahl, Julia (2013) Hate crimes delivers much of a broader impact within the community because the crime is motivated by bias, the point of hate crimes is to send a message of violent intolerance towards someone of a particular group. Victims of the crime are based upon the characteristics such as their religion or race can cause those in the community who have the same characteristics to share feelings of being the victim and vulnerable. The violent...
Words: 553 - Pages: 3
...Hate Crimes Hate Crimes In today’s society crimes are being committed all around us, but hate crimes are particularly hurtful crimes and are committed against people for things that they cannot change. Martin Luther King once said that “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” So why is it that these crimes are still tolerated in 2012? Racism has been a major contributor to hate crimes but as the years have gone by it is not the only factor involved. Gender, sexual preferences, disabilities, and religious beliefs also play a role in this type of bias. Hate crimes are criminal offenses committed against a person property or society which is solely motivated by the offenders’ bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Who, Why, What, When and Where? These crimes are usually committed out of fear, ignorance, prejudice, or just a general lack of understanding with the highest percentage (62.3%) being committed by our white society. The FBI Hate Crimes Statistic lists 6,624 documented cases for 2010 alone. Racial hate crimes contributed 47.3%, followed by religious hate crimes at 20%, sexual orientation at 19.3%, ethnic crimes at 12.8%, and crimes against people with disabilities at .6%. 32% of these crimes are committed on the victims own property, 28% across various locations, 19% on public roads, highways, and alleys, and the remaining 11% at our Public Schools and Colleges. Some things that are done during...
Words: 2162 - Pages: 9
...Hate Crime As a police officer I have seen hate crimes with my own eyes and have seen how they affect not only the victim but the people around them and their communities. A growing trend not just in big cities but in small ones as well is hate crimes against homosexuals and lesbians. It is very often you read an article of racially motivated hate crimes but often crimes against some because of the sexual preference are not as public and it is mostly because of the topic itself. The article I chose to write about was related to a heinous crime against three people because of their sexual preference. The Collegiate Times wrote this article on October 13, 2010 about nine members of a notorious gang in New York who committed vicious acts against three men because of their sexual preference. The gang members belonged to the known Latin King Goonies gang primarily based out of the Bronx, New York. They had a male individual that was a possible recruit to the gang but later found out that he was homosexual. Once they found this information they lured him into an abandoned apartment and severely beat him and tortured him for hours. The same gang members then went outside and found a 30 year old man with his 17 year old boyfriend and took them back to the same apartment and brutally beat, cut, and committed severely other atrocious acts against these two innocent victims. The gang members then went to the older male’s brother’s house and robbed him and beat him as well. All these...
Words: 590 - Pages: 3
...Hate Crimes in American Society in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries Sample Student Research Paper Project of Sociology Table of Contents I. Thesis Statement…………………………………………….………….....Page 4 II. Introduction and Summary………………………………….………….....Page 4 III. Literature Review………………………………………………………....Page 6 IV. Methods………………………………………………………….......….. Page 16 V. Socio-Historical Analysis………………………………………………. .Page 18 A. 20th Century 1. Lynching 2. Ku Klux Klan 3. Rodney King and the Los Angeles Riots 4. Matthew Shepard B. 21st Century 1. Post 9/11 2. Jena Six VI. Cause and Effect Analysis…………………………………………… ....Page 24 A. Causes 1. Prejudice a. Stereotypes b. Scapegoats c. Presence of Hate in American Culture d. Need for Status and Power 2. Reasons for Crime a. Sending a Message b. Thrill Seeking c. Defensive B. Effects 1. Psychological Trauma 2. Undo Social Progress 3. Community Unrest 4. Threat of Retaliation VII. Descriptive Analysis……………………………………………….........Page 30 A. Description of Victims 1. Bias against a Particular Race 2. Bias against a Particular Religion 3. Bias against a Particular Sexual Orientation 4. Bias against a Particular Ethnicity/National Origin 5. Bias against a Disability B. Description of Offenses and Offenders This must be your new section? VIII. Comparative Analysis…………………………………………………. Page 36 A. United States Justice Department Definition of Hate Crime B. International Justice...
Words: 11067 - Pages: 45
...A World of Hate Ever wonder what influences a hate crime? Crimes committed through acts of violence because of differences sometimes result in fatalities. It is because of one’s belief, morals, feelings and teachings that influence hate toward others. Populations such as race, sexuality and religion are targeted by hate crimes because of bias, discrimination and prejudice which encourage hate. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, hate crime is defined as any of various crimes (as assault or defacement of property) when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (as one based on color, creed, gender or sexual orientation). Diversity plays a major role when it comes to hate. Differences among each classified group (named above) are reasons why prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes take place causing ill feelings toward these groups. A person’s prejudice may lead to an act of aggression, but hate crimes are mainly caused by a feeling of being threatened by the combination of a certain group of people which the perpetrator is already prejudiced against. Bias-motivated crimes are designed to intimidate the victim and members of the victim’s community in which it leaves them feeling isolated, vulnerable, and unprotected by the law. Hate groups take advantage of economic pain and conspiracy theories. Many of those involved with these hate groups are living in neighborhoods that are decreasing economically and at the same time, demographics rapidly...
Words: 1200 - Pages: 5
...Americans, they are often misperceived as a monolithic group. Thus, even though an act of anti-Asian sentiment might be perpetrated with a particular ethnic group in mind (e.g., Indian, Filipino or Korean), a failure to make distinctions between Asian Pacific American ethnic groups causes members of all groups to become potential victims of hate crimes. Hate incidents are expressions of hostility based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability. Hate incidents are not illegal. They may take the form of name-calling or using racial slurs, hate speech, the distribution of racist leaflets or other disrespectful behavior. Hate crimes are defined by federal or state statutes. A hate crime occurs when a person commits an act such as assault, battery, criminal damage to property, criminal trespass to property or mob action because of the victim's real or perceived race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or disability. Hate crime laws vary from state to state. Hate crimes are another type of abuse, and one which can occur anywhere and anytime. In the United States today, the most commonly publicized hate crimes are those perpetrated on particular ethnic groups (such as persons of Middle Eastern descent, or...
Words: 2252 - Pages: 10
...life-threatening acts of violence. When these attacks cross the line into criminal activity, they are considered to be hate crimes. Hate crimes can take many forms; A black teenager is beaten up by white teenagers while walking through a suburb. Swastikas are painted on a synagogue. A gay man is killed and another is injured when they are attacked by a group of men outside a gay bar. A transgender male or female. A bomb threat is called in to a local Islamic center, and racial epithets are shouted at children wearing traditional Arab clothing. Not only do hate crimes affect individual victims, but can also harm every other member of the group that individual represents, creating a sense of fear, vulnerability, insecurity, distrust, and outrage. They can also launch cycles of retaliation and counter-retaliation among groups. Almost two-thirds of reported attacks are committed by individuals under the age of 24. Although people of all racial and ethnic groups commit hate crimes, young white males commit majority of them. Most victims of violent hate crimes are also young: more than half of the victims of reported hate violence are age 24 or under, and nearly a third are under 18. African Americans, Jews, Arab Americans and Muslims, new immigrants, lesbians, gay men, and women are some of the most frequently targeted groups. Four definitions of the term "hate crime" are: • Hate Crimes Statistics Act (1990): "crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation...
Words: 493 - Pages: 2
...Hate crimes Lionell Goodman American Intercontinental University The people that commit hate crimes are usually not mentally ill or schizophrenic. They tend to have a high level of aggression and antisocial behavior. Childhood histories of these offenders show high levels of parental or caretaker abuse and use of violence to solve family problems, he adds. People who commit bias crimes are also more likely to deliberate on and plan their attacks than those who commit more spontaneous crimes. Gay-bashers, for instance, commutes long distances to pursue their victims in spot they’re likely to find them, suggesting a strong premeditative component to these crimes. In addition, those who commit hate crimes show a history of such actions, beginning with smaller incidents and moving up to more serious ones. Unfortunately, the current social climate may give such individuals a chance to act out their feelings in ways that are more socially acceptable than usual. "A crisis such as this may give them permission to have and express these feelings," he says. "People who have had painful experiences and no opportunities to heal tend to be more hostile in general, and they more easily channel their hostility toward groups the society is also against (Deangelis, 2001). Blacks were the group most likely to be the targets of race-based hate crimes, according to a new federal report. The report, compiled by the FBI's civil rights division, found that the large majority of racial...
Words: 540 - Pages: 3
...Hate Speech Tricia Bilbrey Grand Canyon University PHI 305 September 18, 2011 Hate Speech The studied article reviews several cases where hate speech or “fighting words” were used against minorities. The views of 1st Amendment supporters and those opposed to hate speech were compared. The question still remains: Should hate speech be protected by the US Constitution? The number of hate groups in America today has reached over the thousand marks. That is an increase of 7.5% since 2010. ("CNN U.S.," 2011) This statistic was mind-blowing for me. Maybe it’s because I didn’t want to believe it was true. In the article it is mentioned that protecting this form of free speech would limit government control. Supporters of the 1st Amendment feel that we should combat this issue with groups that oppose hate speech. They fear that if the government is allowed to limit our speech, then we are allowing the government to limit our opinions. There are many valid claims stated in this article supporting the ban of hate speech in the US. Some say that hate speech promotes fear, threats and violence in the lives of minorities. Others agree that protecting this form of free speech encourages inequality and segregation. Does the use of speaking with hatred persuade Americans to get their point across using vulgar and degrading, sometimes even forceful words? I feel that it does all of these things and more. Emotions are at high peaks during a demonstration that comes to...
Words: 438 - Pages: 2
...Hate Crimes Kelly Brynn American Intercontinental University Abstract There are several things in this world that prejudice can lead to. One of these things and something that every person should concern themselves with, are hate crimes. Though one would think that race would be the biggest if not only target, social classes are a target as well. Hate crimes are not always necessarily random or even uncontrollable acts. Crimes that are motivated by race typically happen when a racially or ethnically person begins to notice a migration of individuals without the same racial or ethnic roots. Hate crimes with social classes happen when people feel as if they are need to improve their communities by ways of getting rid of what they would call the “trash”. Prejudice continues to exist and will always exist simply because of our own human nature. Hate Crimes Hate crimes can be described as crimes that violate the civil rights of an individual or group and feed off of aggression towards the individual’s religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, creed, origin, and/or religion. Usually when one thinks about a hate crime it is assumed that it involves only those of different races. However, many places experience...
Words: 792 - Pages: 4
...A hate crime is the victimization of an individual based on that individual's race, religion, national origin, ethnic identification, gender, or sexual orientation. Hate crime is committed daily here in the United States. When I think about hate crimes it’s in two different words both different meanings. Hate is a strong feeling of dislike, are too strongly dislike. Crime is an act or behavior that breaks a law. A crime is usually punished by a fine or prison time. Lately it has been a lot of hate Crime mostly gays has been a victim of the terrible crime. I hope to learn more about the crime itself and the history it has; I also will do more research on why it took so long to become a law. I will be looking more into the horrible murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming teenager who died after being kidnapped and severely beaten in October 1998, and James Byrd Jr., an African-American man dragged to death in Texas the same year. It was more than 77,000 hate-crime incidents were reported by the FBI between 1998 and 2007, or nearly one hate crime for every hour of every day over the span of a decade ; part of my research will be why it took so long almost ten years before hate crime can become an law, who is to say if it would of came an law in 2000, would it of been so many hate crimes, are not because a lot of people can do the crime but afraid of the law. So it could have been hate regardless but crime maybe not. While writing this essay I plan to have a thesis and outline,...
Words: 306 - Pages: 2
