Hate Crime Research Articles

The toll of prejudice: The longitudinal interplay between ethnic prejudice and well-being in adolescence

Ethnic prejudice has negative effects on the well-being of ethnic minorities. However, less is known about the consequences of holding negative attitudes toward diversity for ethnic majority youth in current multicultural societies. Across two studies, the current research examined the medium-term (Study I) and day-to-day (Study II) reciprocal associations between affective and cognitive prejudice and several well-being outcomes (i.e., subjective, psychological, and social well-being, physical health, and sleep) among ethnic majority adolescents. In Study I ( N = 1103; Mage = 15.66, 48.59% females), ethnic prejudice was found to be mostly linked longitudinally and concurrently to decreases in well-being indicators, although with a few exceptions, at both the within- and between-person levels. Conversely, in Study II ( N = 458; Mage = 15.59, 54.77% females), poorer subjective well-being and physical health were associated with increases in prejudice on the next day. Together, these findings suggest a spiraling effect whereby poor well-being leads to short-term increases in prejudice, which in turn contribute to medium-term decreases in well-being. Overall, this research highlights for the first time the intertwined nature of prejudice and well-being among ethnic majority youth and suggests the need to support adolescents in navigating the diversity of current societies.

Abstract 4125263: Influence of sexual orientation-related nondiscrimination laws on 30-year CVD risk among sexual minority and heterosexual adults

Introduction: Discriminatory policies are associated with worse mental health and substance use outcomes among sexual minority adults. Despite a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than heterosexual adults, there is limited evidence on structural determinants of cardiovascular health among sexual minority adults. Therefore, we examined whether changes in sexual orientation-related nondiscrimination laws were associated with 30-year CVD risk among sexual minority and heterosexual adults. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that changes in sexual orientation-related nondiscrimination laws would be more strongly associated with 30-year CVD risk among sexual minority adults relative to exclusively heterosexual adults. Methods: We used longitudinal data from Waves III (2001-2002), IV (2008-2009), and V (2016-2018) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. We assessed changes in four state-level sexual orientation-related nondiscrimination laws (i.e., employment discrimination, same-sex marriage, hate crime statutes, and same-sex adoption) between Waves III and IV. Changes in sexual orientation-related nondiscrimination laws were categorized as unchanged (reference), improved, or worsened. We assessed 30-year CVD risk using the Framingham Risk Score at Wave V. We ran sex-stratified linear regression models adjusted for demographic factors to examine whether the association between change in nondiscrimination laws with 30-year CVD risk was moderated by sexual orientation (i.e., exclusively heterosexual, mostly heterosexual, homosexual/bisexual). Results: The sample included 3,827 participants with a mean age of 28.7 (±1.75) years, of whom 83.1% identified as exclusively heterosexual, 51% as female, and 15% as Black. Compared to heterosexual participants of the same sex, an improvement in nondiscrimination laws was associated with lower 30-year CVD risk among mostly heterosexual women (B -4.57, 95% CI = -8.06, -1.08) and homosexual/bisexual men (B -10.91, 95% CI = -19.33, -2.49). In contrast, compared to exclusively heterosexual women, a worsening of nondiscrimination laws was associated with higher 30-year CVD risk among homosexual/bisexual women (B 5.26, 95% CI = 0.30, 10.21). No differences were found between mostly heterosexual and exclusively heterosexual men. Conclusions: Findings suggest that efforts to enhance policies prohibiting sexual orientation-related discrimination may significantly reduce CVD risk among sexual minority adults.

Забутий геноцид: як шведські шкільні підручники історії розповідають про Голодомор

This article explores how Swedish school history textbooks address the famine-genocide of 1932–1933 in Ukraine. By analyzing how this historical event is represented in educational materials, the article aims to determine the extent to which the Holodomor is acknowledged, contextualized, and explained within the broader narrative of Soviet interwar history presented to Swedish students. The source material consists of textbooks used in Swedish schools, ranging from lower secondary to upper secondary education. 20 textbooks were reviewed, and interviews were conducted with six teachers and one author. It underscores the practical importance of accurately representing the Holodomor within history education, particularly in terms of the consequences of insufficient education about past genocides and crimes against humanity. The article highlights challenges within the Swedish education system, including curricular limitations, limited resources, and the prioritization of events like the Holocaust and the Gulag over the Holodomor, shedding light on how these factors could influence students’ understanding of historical events and the broader context of past atrocities. The article reveals that, while the Holodomor is mentioned in some literature, it is only briefly addressed, with the Gulag instead becoming symbolic of communism’s crimes against humanity. As one teacher suggested, there may be a geographical perspective at play, prompting more focus on events closer to home. A noticeable trend over time also emerges in school literature, with more recent publications being more likely to address the Holodomor using accurate terminology, while older works tend to avoid it. Additionally, there is a tendency to explain the Holodomor, when mentioned, as a result of poor economic planning (i.e., communism) rather than as a deliberate act driven by ethnic hatred toward Ukrainians within the framework of Russian imperialism. In fact, no Swedish schoolbooks clearly present the Holodomor as a genocide. Consequently, this report identifies three possible outcomes: 1) the Holodomor is not mentioned at all, 2) mass starvation is referenced but not as the Holodomor, or 3) the Holodomor is acknowledged but explained primarily as a result of forced collectivization in Soviet agriculture rather than an outcome of Russian imperialism or ethnic hatred aimed at eliminating Ukrainians as a people. Thus, a portrayal of the Holodomor as both an event in its own right and as genocide could not be demonstrated, nor was any such literature found. Keywords: History, Holodomor, Genocide Education, History Didactics, Soviet History, Ukraine, Sweden

Culprits or Victims? Social Media Use, Mediated Ethnic Blame, and Asian American Mental Health During COVID-19

ABSTRACT The present study aims to understand whether and how social media use negatively affected Asian Americans’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We build on previous research on media framing, stigma, and stereotyping to understand whether social media messages about Asians as culprits to blame for the pandemic, direct experiences of racism, or media coverage of victims of anti-Asian hate crimes led to mental health outcomes for this racial group. We use an online survey of Asian American participants (N = 527) conducted in 2020 to test the role of (a) mediated ethnic blame (MEB), (b) direct stigma, and (c) indirect stigma in explaining the relationship between social media use and mental health among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results demonstrate that mediated ethnic blame, but not direct or indirect stigma experiences, is associated with Asian Americans’ mental health. Implications for media framing, health communication, and journalism are discussed.

Cultural Tension and Large- and Small-Scale Internal Conflicts

This study analyzes how cultural tensions (i.e., ethnic and religious) affect various internal conflicts (e.g., civil war to civil disorder) across different regions. The study also examines the role of governance in mitigating the effects of cultural tensions on the emergence and escalation of conflict. The comprehensive study has 136 countries from 1990 to 2021, and panels are separated by region and OECD status. The study uses two-way fixed effects with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors to account for heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional dependence. Although there are some regional variations and nuances, the results indicate cultural tensions are significant determinants of (1) the broad measure of internal conflict, (2) civil wars/coups d’état, and (3) political violence/terrorism. Therefore, one implication is that cultural tension continues to drive internal conflict. A second implication is that even in OECD countries, where institutions and governance structures are robust, cultural tensions can still significantly contribute to the emergence and risks of internal conflict. However, ethnic and religious tensions are less influential in smaller-scale conflicts, such as civil disorders, where government stability is a more important determinant. Furthermore, the study finds that government strength is vital in moderating all forms of internal conflict, indicating that even moderate cultural tensions can escalate into significant conflicts in the presence of weak governance. The study underscores the ongoing importance of addressing ethnic and religious tensions. Policy recommendations to reduce cultural tensions include (1) promoting cultural inclusiveness within societal/political dimensions, (2) promoting tolerance, (3) allowing some autonomy to cultural enclaves, and (4) actively monitoring cultural tensions and policy initiatives.

Public attitudes toward athlete activism in sport: utilizing a multivariate list experiment to address social desirability bias in survey responses

ABSTRACT Research Question: This study investigates the degree of hidden racial hatred towards athlete protests within the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement by correcting for the Social Desirability Bias (SDB) in survey responses. Research Methods: Employing a multivariate list experiment on a nationally representative sample (n = 1,075), it assesses the extent of SDB and explores variations in support for on-field kneeling protests based on the race of the athlete, respondent demographics, and sport fan identification. Results and Findings: Findings reveal underreported disapproval for BLM-supportive athlete activism, particularly when the protesting athlete is identified as Black. Further analyses highlight hidden biases influenced by respondents’ race, region, political affiliation, and fan identification. Implications: Our findings offer valuable insight on applying list experiments to reduce social desirability biases in surveys, ensuring more accurate reflections of public opinion on contentious topics.

"Where are you really from?": a qualitative study of Asian American medical provider experiences.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how racially minoritized patients and clinicians have suffered racial discrimination. It also made visible the ways in which Asians across the globe experience racial hate and illuminated that the experiences of Asians in medicine are not often spotlighted. In the United States specifically, Asian Americans are not viewed as minoritized in medicine, yet their professional experiences are rarely highlighted. Informed by the discourses of the model minority, the forever foreigner, and ethnic lumping, we used Asian critical theory to explore how Asian American medical providers in Utah understand racial and ethnic identity and how these identities and experiences of racialization inform their professional identities. Using a case study approach, we identified and interviewed 23 physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners (during spring 2022) who live in and practice medicine in Utah. Transcribed interviews were coded using reflective thematic analysis. Findings were organized into three themes: (1) feeling different, (2) experiences with discrimination, and (3) wrestling with the model minority myth. While Asian American medical providers experience not belonging, they also have the agency to disrupt discrimination and stereotypes. Asian American medical providers' racial and ethnic identities influence their professional interactions. Understanding the intersections of their social and professional identities are important to providing support for Asian medical providers, within the United States and beyond.

State-Level Anti-Asian Hate Crimes and Mental Health among Asian and Other Racial Groups in the US

State-Level Anti-Asian Hate Crimes and Mental Health among Asian and Other Racial Groups in the US

Addressing racial and ethnic tensions in the USA through ADR strategies

Addressing racial and ethnic tensions in the USA through ADR strategies

Bias-Motivated Physical or Verbal Violence Among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Findings from the Lisbon Cohort of MSM

Abstract Introduction Victimization based on sexual orientation or gender identity is a cause for concern. Bias-motivated violence affect not only the individuals targeted but also their communities and societies as a whole. Objective To estimate the proportion of bias-motivated victimization among cisgender men who have sex with men (MSM) and to compare sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics and HIV and syphilis test results between victims and non-victims. Methods We used data from the baseline visit of 2811 adult cisgender MSM from July 2017 to December 2020 in the Lisbon Cohort of MSM. Victimization was defined as self-reported lifetime or recent (in the previous 12 months) experience of physical or verbal violence motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity. Rapid HIV and syphilis tests determined serostatus. We conducted descriptive statistics to summarize the sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics and the prevalence of victimization and compared groups using the Student t-test or Mann–Whitney U test and chi-square test, as appropriate. Results Overall, 40.3% of participants reported lifetime bias-motivated physical or verbal violence, and 11.7% reported recent victimization. Recent victimization contexts more frequently reported were street/neighborhood (67.9%) and workplace/school (35.5%). Victimization was associated with younger age (mean age: 26.5 vs 30.2, p-value < 0.001), being born in Brazil or other American countries, or being 14 or younger at their anal intercourse with a man debut (19.5% vs. 11.0%, p-value < 0.001). Lifetime victimization was not significantly associated with reactive results for HIV (p-value = 0.135) or syphilis (p-value = 0.760). Conclusion The violence motivated by sexual orientation or gender identity was quite frequent in this community. The occurrence of violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity in the Lisbon Cohort of MSM was associated with adverse social conditions and health risk behaviors. Policy Implications Raising awareness about bias-motivated violence as a hate crime may deter potential aggressions. Primary violence prevention should tackle specificities of sexual and gender minorities.

Operationalizing Macro-Level Structural Sexual Minority Stigma: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Abstract Background Structural stigma, including discriminatory laws, inequitable policies, and negative attitudes, has been conceptualized as the general societal climate and institutional conditions that shape sexual minorities’ lives, mental, and physical health. While multidimensional indices have been used globally, U.S.-based studies have largely relied on single indicators (e.g., a law or policy; presence of resources). This scoping review aimed to identify structural sexual minority stigma indicators relevant to the U.S. context, to inform comprehensive, multidimensional future operationalizations. Methods Systematic database searches in PubMed, PsycINFO, and JSTOR, and snowball techniques resulted in 70 articles. After duplicate deletion and abstract review, 25 unique indices were long-listed relevant to structural sexual minority stigma at country or state level (i.e., macro level). School (district) and county (i.e., exo level) indicators were excluded. Results From the long-listed indices, a total of 112 legal and policy indicators were narrowed down to relevant 33 macro-level indicators and grouped across seven domains: criminal justice, hate crime protections, non-discrimination, religious refusal, relationship recognition, parenting, and youth laws and policies. Two different quantifications of population attitudes were identified that aggregated social and policy opinions across states regarding sexual minority adoption, hate crimes, health benefits, labor and housing, public speaking or teaching, marriage, sodomy, and civil unions. Discussion While a large variety of legal and attitudinal indicators was identified, few U.S.-based studies used multidimensional operationalizations (e.g., law, policy, opinion) needed to reduce risk of confounding bias through population-attitudes-to-law/policy backdoor pathways. To further advance the science on structural sexual minority stigma and health globally, future studies may benefit from multidimensional approaches. Key messages • With many legal and attitudinal indicators identified, few studies used multidimensional operationalizations (e.g., law, policy, opinion) needed to reduce risk of confounding bias. • To further advance the science on structural sexual minority stigma and health globally, future studies may benefit from multidimensional approaches.

I Kings 12:1-24 and The Challenge of Religion and Ethnicity in Nigeria

This paper examines the account of segregation in 1 Kings 12:1-24, where the Kingdom of Israel divides into two distinct entities due to political, religious, and ethnic tensions. By analysing this biblical narrative, the study highlights the destructive consequences of division based on cultural and religious differences. The paper draws parallels to the contemporary context of Nigeria, a nation marked by diverse ethnic and religious identities. It argues that the story serves as a cautionary tale for Nigeria, emphasizing the dangers of allowing cultural and religious differences to foster division and conflict. This is a qualitative study using the narrative method. Data was obtained from secondary sources and analysed using the content analysis method of analyzing qualitative secondary data. The impacts of the culture of religion and ethnicity reveal that it affects electoral politics, governance and representation, conflict and instability, social cohesion, education and socialisation, and economic inequality. Emerged themes include a) leadership and consultation, b) economic disparities and grievances, c) responses to grievances, d) secessionist movements, and e) the role of mediation and reconciliation. Nigerian leaders might draw a cue from Rehoboam's failures by encouraging communication, attending to the economic requirements of all areas, and using mediators to help settle disputes amicably.

“What Flipping Right Does a Teacher Have to Say Being [LGBTQ+] is Okay?”: Understanding Twitter Discourse Around U.S. Anti-LGBTQIA+ Legislation

Amidst an explosion in anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation and hate crimes in the United States, this study examines public discourses around legislation that suppress LGBTQIA+ rights. We conducted a computer-assisted content analysis of 25,711 posts on Twitter (now called X) collected during the time when bans on youths’ access to gender-affirming care were beginning to proliferate across the country. We identified five topics: education, legislation, medical, Disney dispute, anti-LGBTQIA+ attacks, and assessed the sentiments and toxicity levels of each topic. Findings reveal a fractured virtual public sphere in which discussions about LGBTQIA+ rights are contentious and toxic. We found that education was the most salient topic—whether children should be taught about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools—and tweets on this topic were also the most toxic. Overwhelmingly, the tone of the tweets was negative, although this varied by the topic of the tweets. We discuss the implications of our findings for a healthy online public sphere.

Angry and Afraid: Exploring the Impact of Mixed Emotional Reactions to Hate Crimes With LGBT+ and Muslim Communities.

Hate crimes send messages of intolerance that can cause significant emotional and behavioral harm to entire identity groups. Previous research, based on intergroup emotions theory, has helped explain the psychological mechanisms that underpin the indirect effects of anti-LGBT+ hate crime, showing that incidents give rise to perceptions of threat among community members, which in turn elicit certain emotional reactions that trigger specific behavioral outcomes. This article provides two significant contributions to this developing knowledgebase. First, it provides an important replication of the theoretical model with another frequently targeted community: Muslim people. In addition, it offers the first quantitative analysis of how combinations of different emotions trigger discrete behavioral responses in the aftermath of hate crime, thereby providing much-needed nuance to the intergroup emotions theory model. Across two studies (Study 1: N = 589 LGBT+ participants; Study 2: N = 347 Muslim participants), we show that, for both LGBT+ and Muslim participants, indirect experiences of hate crimes are associated with greater perceptions of threat, which are then positively associated with anger, anxiety, and shame, that link to behavioral intentions: avoidance, pro-action, security behaviors, and retaliation. Latent class analyses further revealed that participants' emotional reactions tend to cluster into four distinct profiles in both communities: people scored mid-range on all emotions, or high anger with low shame, or high anger with high anxiety, or low shame. These combinations had direct implications for intended behaviors across both groups: experiencing high anger with high anxiety was a cogent motivator of action. Most significantly, we provide new insights into how and why different emotions interact to predict both similar and divergent behaviors in the aftermath of hate crime incidents. Our findings yield important new knowledge that holds the potential of shaping both public policies and practices aimed at addressing the impacts of hate crimes.

Urban Challenges Faced by the Hijra Community

This research focuses on the challenges faced by the hijra community in urban India, touching upon issues such as economic marginalization, discrimination, and the point of intersection between religion and caste, all within the LGBTQ+ context. Hijras are individuals who are born biologically male, and identify as trans women, and live in small, secretive communities across South Asia, forming a very distinctive cultural group. This study draws on in-depth interviews with two members of the hijra community in Mumbai, India, offering a first-hand account of their struggles. The findings of this research revealed that many members of the hijra community confine themselves to low-income hustles such as begging, or sex work, due to rampant discrimination that exists in the heteronormative post-colonial South-Asian societies. This also contributes to their lack of access to healthcare, safe housing, protection from hate crimes, and a declining mental health on a community-wide level. Despite legal progress, many challenges related to identity recognition and humanizing the community persist. This introductory article thus advocates for various empowerment initiatives to facilitate a more inclusive and equitable environment for hijra individuals in urban India.

Impact of prosperity gospel on the political aspect in selected neo-pentecostal movements in Karingani ward, Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya

This study sought to investigates how prosperity gospel influences the political aspect of followers. The prosperity gospel is a teaching that is highly taught in neo-Pentecostal movements, finding acceptability and adaptability in the world, attracting many in neo-Pentecostal movements, hence, how does the gospel influence adherents' political aspect? Neo-Pentecostal movements have increased in numbers over the past decade in Karingani Ward Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya. The Functionalism Theory guided the study to analyse the influence of prosperity gospel on the political aspect of its followers. The study applied the descriptive survey design. Yamane’s formula was applied to obtain a sample size of 281 respondents. In addition, six pastors were selected from the churches, and the total sample was 294 respondents. The research instruments utilised were questionnaires and interviews. The study's findings revealed that prosperity teachings in Neo-Pentecostal movements had positive and negative impacts on the political aspect of followers, which is, voting and supporting specific political leaders and a given political party. On the other hand, the teaching of prosperity in these movements resulted in disunity in the church, ethnic tension, members leaving the church, and fights extending to communal daily living. The study concludes that the involvement of prosperity gospel preachers in political discussion in church significantly influences the political conviction, choices, voter turnout, and social interaction of members of these movements. Therefore, a policy formulation should be recommended that controls direct clergy influence on politics.

From online hate speech to offline hate crime: the role of inflammatory language in forecasting violence against migrant and LGBT communities

Social media messages often provide insights into offline behaviors. Although hate speech proliferates rapidly across social media platforms, it is rarely recognized as a cybercrime, even when it may be linked to offline hate crimes that typically involve physical violence. This paper aims to anticipate violent acts by analyzing online hate speech (hatred, toxicity, and sentiment) and comparing it to offline hate crime. The dataset for this preregistered study included social media posts from X (previously called Twitter) and Facebook and internal police records of hate crimes reported in Spain between 2016 and 2018. After conducting preliminary data analysis to check the moderate temporal correlation, we used time series analysis to develop computational models (VAR, GLMNet, and XGBTree) to predict four time periods of these rare events on a daily and weekly basis. Forty-eight models were run to forecast two types of offline hate crimes, those against migrants and those against the LGBT community. The best model for migrant crime achieved an R2 of 64%, while that for LGBT crime reached 53%. According to the best ML models, the weekly aggregations outperformed the daily aggregations, the national models outperformed those geolocated in Madrid, and those about migration were more effective than those about LGBT people. Moreover, toxic language outperformed hatred and sentiment analysis, Facebook posts were better predictors than tweets, and in most cases, speech temporally preceded crime. Although we do not make any claims about causation, we conclude that online inflammatory language could be a leading indicator for detecting potential hate crimes acts and that these models can have practical applications for preventing these crimes.

The Revolution That Did Not Happen. Labor Insurgency in Late Russian Poland

Abstract Russian Poland was among the most militant tsarist borderlands during the 1905–1907 Revolution in the Russian Empire. However, only a decade later, when revolutionary movements again loomed large and shook the whole region after 1917, Poland remained relatively calm. Forging a new statehood after 1918 rivaled the earlier popular drive toward social revolution. Revolution was aborted in Poland; in other rim regions of the Russian Empire, however, the situation evolved differently, and this scenario should not be taken as self-explanatory. The dynamic of political contention on the ground in the inter-revolutionary decade is the key to understand the pathways of the new state and its society. But the existing accounts deliver only a fragmentary picture, concentrating on the teleology of nation, nation state and its elites or party politics. Meanwhile, the dynamics of labor contention can be hardly squared with unanimous class or national mobilizations. This article addresses this gap drawing from an extensive collection of courses on social unrest and conflict in the Kingdom of Poland based on administrative sources from local Polish and central Russian archives (more than 3300 entries on contentious events). Covering broad available sources, it offers a picture of labor unrest spanning from tinier township workshops, insular, dispersed industrialization of smaller cities harboring quite large mills, to fully-fledged industrial power hubs. The findings show the large heterogeneity of conflict among urban workers. The initial enthusiasm of the 1905 upheaval did not hold sway for long. Workers were tired with the revolutionary mobilization, derailed by the state repression and reluctant to embark on political action again. The lore of 1905 was not an important point of reference for the forthcoming mobilizations. Instead, protests had their own rhythms and spatial patterns, resembling the pre-industrial calendar of festivities turning into insurgencies but also followed pan-imperial causes. Inter-ethnic tensions kicked in: within crews (mostly Polish-Jewish) but above all between rank-and-file workers and foremen, often of German origin. This plurality resulted in various possibilities to build a working class imagined community ranging from a single factory, through branch-wide solidarities, national filiation up to pan-imperial class alliance. Also the tsarist administration, interested in maintaining the basic stability of supply and keep the state going was an important factor. These heterogenous field of tensions did not form any cleavage conductive to singular mobilization. However, it was susceptible to broader political projects binding various claims. Such a project was a new Poland, supported by major parties and perceived by many as nothing less as a revolutionary state for a while promising anti-imperial self-assertion, national rights, political freedom, and social emancipation.

Does Use of Generic Depictions or Scenarios Matter in Perceptions of Crime Seriousness? An Empirical Test

This study examined the influence of crime type and crime representation in survey design on perceptions of crime severity using one-line crime descriptions and crime vignettes. A unique feature of the study was the use of hate crime as an offence category. A sample of 917 university students completed an online questionnaire measuring perceptions of crime severity for one-line crime descriptions as well as crime scenarios based on actual court cases. Consistent with past research, the results showed that both perceptions of wrongfulness and harmfulness are strong predictors of perceived crime seriousness. Violent crimes ranked highest on measures of wrongfulness, harmfulness, and seriousness, while property crimes like break and enter tended to be ranked lowest in perceived severity. Hate crime was viewed as quite serious by respondents and was rated equivalent to high-scale fraud embezzlement in terms of severity. Comparisons between responses to one-line crime descriptions and crime scenarios revealed that scenarios elicited significantly stronger severity ratings, although hierarchical rankings for crime type remained similar. The representation of crime in academic research may affect participant responses. It is recommended that researchers consider the impact the choice of crime representation in survey tools has on measures of perceived crime severity.

When Reparation Goes Beyond Punishment: Victims of LGBTQphobic Violence and Retributive and Restorative Justice in Spain

ABSTRACT Most Western countries address violence against LGBTQ individuals through a hate crime paradigm rooted in retributive justice, which emphasizes punishing the offender. In contrast, restorative justice offers an alternative approach focused on repairing the harm caused. This article analyses the experiences and perspectives of individuals who have suffered LGBTQphobic violence in Spain, particularly in relation to the hate crime paradigm and restorative justice. First, it examines their views on the institutional framework addressing hate crimes and the effectiveness of punitive measures in restoring the harm done to victims. Next, it assesses the awareness among LGBTQ individuals regarding restorative justice, as well as their opinions on the potential benefits and limitations of this judicial alternative. The analysis reveals that, while many respondents believe restorative justice can contribute to fully redressing the harm caused, others fear revictimization by having to confront the offender and relive the traumatic events.