8. Victimology and hate crime

Abstract

This chapter examines how different types of criminological evidence related to victimology and hate crime can influence policy-making processes. It first considers how non-governmental organisations and pressure groups collate and analyse data on crime-related issues before discussing the changing role of the victim in criminal justice processes. It then explains why some victims of crime are regarded as being more ‘deserving’ than others and how this relates to broader issues of power; distinguishes between positivist and radical/critical approaches to victimology; and assesses the main features of hate crime, with emphasis on the need for hate crime legislation. It also describes forms of hate crime as well as the social and political issues underlying both public and policy responses to the affected groups. Finally, it analyses the broader notions of structural inequalities which are at the heart of a critical victimology in relationship to the concept of hate crime.