The Importance of Multiculturalist Social Work Practices in the Prevention of Hate

Abstract

The phenomenon of crime has become a situation that is seen in Turkey as well as in the world and that is desired to be prevented by various criminal sanctions, and at the same time, it has begun to be examined as a social problem in terms of dealing with environmental causes in committing crime. In this respect, the phenomenon of crime has also entered the field of interest of the social work discipline. When the literature is examined, it has been seen that violent incidents and crime rates have increased in Turkey in recent years, and hate speech and hate crimes targeting various groups have become increasingly widespread among these increasing phenomena. Hate crimes, which are based on prejudice and discrimination, have become an important, social and contemporary problem that needs to be tackled in terms of various disciplines and formations. Although social work practices in crime are generally included in rehabilitation services, social workers have a duty to prevent crime for social peace and trust. In this respect, in this study, first of all, definitions of hate speech and hate crime will be made, and the data on its place in the national literature and its visibility in the world and in Turkey will be mentioned, then to reveal the importance of multiculturalist social work and hate crimes, and it is aimed to develop suggestions for the prevention of hate crimes with a multiculturalist social work perspective. As a result, it is thought that multiculturalist social work, which adopts cultural sensitivity and respect for differences as a principle, and social workers trained with this perspective will contribute to the prevention of hate crimes. For this, it is recommended to add prejudice and anti-discrimination courses to all education programs, especially social work education programs, to establish multicultural awareness from the early period, and a multiculturalist perspective should be adopted by other institutions and organizations, especially the Ministry of Family and Social Services.