Hate Crime Victimization Research Articles

„Akademicki kaprys” czy „budowanie zrozumienia”? Refleksje z badań antropologicznych o sprawiedliwości naprawczej

“Academic Whim” or “Building Understanding”? Reflections from Anthropological Research on Restorative Justice The article focuses on restorative justice as a form of contestation against the retributive Western justice system. The emergence of the concept of restorative justice is strongly linked to the development of victimology and the movement fighting for a greater involvement of victims in the criminal proceedings. Embedded in the pattern of oppositions associated with retributive and restorative justice – conflict versus dialogue, power versus community, punishment versus responsibility – are motifs that point to the complexity of the matter of dispute resolution. The article is based on the results of research carried out in the frame of the project „Protecting and Defending the Rights of Victims of Anti-LGBT Hate Crimes: Innovative Paths through Restorative Justice (LetsGoByTalking)”.

Hate crime and bias victimization of Latinx adults: Rates from a multisite community sample.

Hate crime and bias victimization of Latinx adults: Rates from a multisite community sample.

Generalized Hate: Bias Victimization against Non-Asian Racial/Ethnic Minorities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT While much attention has been focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hate crime victimization among the Asian population, there is reason to expect that other racial/ethnic minorities may also be at risk of bias-motivated victimization. The current research examines the prevalence of discrimination, hate crime victimization, and fear of victimization among Black and Hispanic individuals during the pandemic. The results, obtained from a survey administered in May 2020 to roughly 1,400 non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic respondents, indicate substantial bias victimization among both groups during the pandemic. Additionally, results reveal important associations between victimization and pandemic-related circumstances.

Are Asian Victims Less Likely to Report Hate Crime Victimization to the Police? Implications for Research and Policy in the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Anti-Asian hate crimes have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, no research has considered whether crime reporting patterns are different among Asian hate crime victims, relative to other victims. Following this, this research presents an examination of differences in reporting victimization to the police between Asian and non-Asian victims using information from 997 respondents who experienced a hate crime in the first 1 to 2 months of the pandemic. Results indicate that Asian victims are significantly and substantially less likely to report victimization to the police than other victims. Taken together, these results suggest that current estimates of increases in anti-Asian hate crime based on official crime statistics—although high—may actually be an under-estimation of the true extent of the problem.

The vicarious effects of hate: inter-ethnic hate crime in the neighborhood and its consequences for exclusion and anticipated rejection

ABSTRACT Hate crime victimization is harmful for victims and those who share the victim’s identity. It may also be harmful for the broader community. Yet, few studies focus on the ripple effects of hate. This paper examines how secondary exposure to hate crime in the neighborhood, through witnessing or hearing about hate crime, influences individual perceptions of ethnic minorities, which in turn can harm social relations. Findings reveal that those who witness hate crime express greater anger towards ethnic minorities. Those who rely on second-hand information about hate crime in the community are more likely to anticipate rejection on the basis of their ethnicity, hold negative attitudes towards ethnic migrants and intend to take actions to exclude new migrants from their communities when compared to those who do not have such information. These findings have implications for community cohesion in multi-ethnic neighborhoods.

‘Antisemitism is just part of my day-to-day life’: Coping mechanisms adopted by Orthodox Jews in North London

This paper analyses the coping mechanisms which Orthodox Jews in North London have adopted in managing antisemitism. The study, which was informed by a sociological framework, employed a qualitative approach using 28 semi-structured interviews and five focus groups. The findings reveal that despite the high frequency of the victimisation, and despite the awareness among respondents that antisemitism has seen a resurgence in recent years, Orthodox Jews have managed to accept the victimisation. The way the Orthodox Jewish community has managed their victimisation of antisemitism is argued to be profoundly different from the dominant narratives of hate crime victims, in that by and large the majority of respondents accepted their victimisation. It proposes that respondents were able to show agency and to normalise the victimisation because of their strong religious identity and close community ties.

Acting “Straight”: Socio-Behavioral Consequences of Anti-Queer Hate Crime Victimization

Research on the consequences of hate crime victimization primarily focuses on adverse health and economic effects with limited attention devoted to the socio-behavioral impact of crime. Informed by Intersectionality Theory (Crenshaw, 1989) and relying on 400 in-person structured interviews with LGBTQ Latine immigrant victims of crime in Miami, this research finds that 23% of victims had to change housing, 13% began avoiding queer venues/friends, and 35% started acting stereotypically “straight” because of the crime. New immigrant victims were more likely to experience forced relocation due to crime. Victims were more likely to adopt heteronormative behavior/appearance as a result of victimization if they were non-Cuban-American, had higher income, and were more closeted. Findings suggest that coming out can be an important crime control strategy. The paper concludes with a discussion about the benefits and limitations of adopting the intersectionality perspective in quantitative research, and three-stage venue-based sampling used to recruit participants.

Blood, Threats and Fears: The Hidden Worlds of Hate Crime Victims. By Stevie Jade-Hardy and Neil Chakraborti (Palgrave, 2020, 177pp. £44.99 hb)

Blood, Threats and Fears: The Hidden Worlds of Hate Crime Victims. By Stevie Jade-Hardy and Neil Chakraborti (Palgrave, 2020, 177pp. £44.99 hb)

An Analysis of Hate Crime Victimization Amongst Immigrants

The primary purpose of the current study was to understand immigrant hate crime victimization in the U.S. Specifically, the authors analyzed the most recent data from the National Crime Victimization Survey to explore the factors that influence hate crime experiences and reporting by immigrant victims. Results from the binary logistic regression analyses revealed significant relationships between immigration status, citizenship status, number of prior incidents experienced as well as certain demographic characteristics and being the victim of a hate crime. Overall, being an immigrant or non-citizen, was associated with an increase in odds of being the victim of a hate crime. In terms of victims’ reporting of hate crime, immigration status had no impact, but the number of incidents experienced, being married and being less educated significantly increased reporting among victims. Numerous recommendations are provided, however, the most important step forward is the creation of a legal status category within the UCR’s Hate Crime data collection coupled with several legal protections for victims.

Gender and Political Conservatism as Predictors of Blaming Asian Victims of Hate Crimes in the U.S. during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential impact of U.S. government official’s comments regarding the source of COVID-19 on individuals’ perceptions and tendencies to blame Asian victims of hate crimes in the U.S. Moreover, we examined how political conservatism and beliefs about the origin and spreading of COVID-19 impact participants’ victim blaming toward Asian victims of hate crimes. Participants (N = 100; 46 women, 54 men) were recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Participants were randomly assigned to read one of the two scenarios that either discussed COVID-19 with no direct inferences of blame toward the origin of COVID-19 or with directly placed blame on the origin of COVID-19. There were no significant main effects of the scenario or participants’ gender on blaming the victim. However, we found that men who were presented COVID-19 origin information were more likely to blame Asian victims compared to men who were not given origin information. Moreover, political conservatism was a significant predictor of blaming Asian victims of hate crimes. Possible explanations for the results and future research directions were discussed.

Hate Crime Victimization and Weapon Use

Prior research has suggested that hate crimes hurt more, in that they are more physically severe than other crimes. A separate body of research has focused on the role of weapons in exacerbating violence; yet, no research has considered the role of weapon use in bias crime victimization. Following this, this research examines the relationship between weapon use, bias motivation, and victimization in the United States. On one hand, weapons may play an important role in hate crime by exacerbating violence. On the other hand, weapons may be unnecessary for facilitating hate crime violence, given the animus associated with bias motivation. Using data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System, we find that bias crimes are both (a) less likely than nonbias crimes to involve weapons and (b) more likely than nonbias crimes to involve serious or lethal victim injury. These patterns are particularly pronounced for antisexual orientation hate crimes.

Embracing the emotional turn: responding to researchers’ emotions

This article examines the role of researchers’ emotions when researching sensitive topics. Drawing on two different ethnographic research projects, experiences of imprisonment and hate crime victimisation, respectively, we reflect on the important role that our emotions occupied within the research context. Within the framework of sociology of emotions, we discuss our subjective experiences of qualitative research with prisoners and victims of hate crime. We actively celebrate the work by Bondi (2005) and offer an extended discussion on the value of using emotions as important methodological tools that should be used as part of the methodological and analytical process. We employ the concept of the ‘emotional turn’ to emphasise the importance of researcher emotions in ethnographic work, and the value of those emotions in guiding methodological and ethical decision making. Specifically, we use envy, guilt and shame – three key emotions that we both experienced and utilised throughout our independently conducted research projects – to illustrate how and why emotions are important for guiding decision making in research. The particular emotions centred here (envy, guilt, and shame) are not tied to hard-to-reach groups or sensitive topics; rather, emotionally engaged research is important as all researchers need to understand how their emotions could/should shape their methodological choices. The article concludes by assessing the value and challenges of embracing the emotional turn, and offers some methodological guidance for future researchers. Within this we raise important questions about the universality of emotions experienced during research. We tentatively conclude that research work does trigger shared emotive responses.

Individual and community-level predictors of hate-crime victimization among Finnish adolescents

ABSTRACT Previous studies have explained hate-crime victimization using lifestyle-routine activities theory and social disorganization theory. This approach has yielded mixed findings regarding community characteristics due to the limitations of the measures used. Our study examined the effects of multiple individual-level factors and a neighborhood’s economic status, residential instability, and ethnic heterogeneity on hate-crime victimization. We used survey data on Finnish adolescents aged 15–16 and geographically referenced register data on the neighborhoods. Some public lifestyle factors, such as delinquent behavior, were associated with hate-crime victimization. Community-level characteristics did not predict hate crime directly, but individuals with an immigrant background faced a lower risk of hate-crime victimization in more diverse neighborhoods.

Racism Predicts Police Killings of Black Civilians

Contrary to public opinion and high profile cases, science has not established a clear general link between police officer-involved killings of black civilians and racism. Influential studies even reported an anti-white bias in the use of fatal force. Using the largest independent database on police killings across the U.S. between 2013 and 2019 I show that the likelihood of a black citizen dying at the hands of police is significantly, positively, and robustly associated with a range of county-level indicators for extreme racial hatred. Black lives are more at risk in areas where white supremacy hate groups are located or active and where black citizens are already victims of racist hate crimes. These conditional correlations are consistent with the systemic racism hypothesis.

The role of (in)visibility in hate crime targeting transgender people

This article explores incidents of hate crime targeted at transgender people. Drawing on in-depth interview data, it challenges and extends established theorisations of the significance of ‘difference’ and ‘vulnerability’ in relation to victimisation. It introduces and emphasises the idea of ‘visibility’ as a more useful lens through which to understand the systematic harm caused by hate crime victimisation. Through an analysis of complex identities, the article argues that current conceptualisations of ‘visibility’ do not appreciate the complex, intersectional nature of visibility, which is key in understanding how people navigate their identities in different spaces and contexts.

Associations Between Dutch LGBT Hate Crime Experience, Well-Being, Trust in the Police and Future Hate Crime Reporting

Abstract. LGBT-related hate crime is a conscious act of aggression against an LGBT citizen. The present research investigates associations between hate crime, psychological well-being, trust in the police and intentions to report future experiences of hate crime. A survey study was conducted among 391 LGBT respondents in the Netherlands. Sixteen percent experienced hate crime in the 12 months prior. Compared to non-victims, victims had significant lower psychological well-being, lower trust in the police and lower intentions to report future hate crime. Hate crime experience and lower psychological well-being were associated with lower reporting intentions through lower trust in the police. Helping hate crime victims cope with psychological distress in combination with building trust in the police could positively influence future reporting.

Correction to: When Might Heterosexual Men Be Passive or Compassionate Toward Gay Victims of Hate Crime? Integrating the Bystander and Social Loafing Explanations.

The following errors were present in this article as originally published.

Reporting Racist Hate Crime Victimization to the Police in the United States and the United Kingdom: A Cross-National Comparison

Abstract Hate is a global phenomenon as evidenced by recent increases in hate crimes in both the United States and the United Kingdom; unfortunately, these crimes are also substantially underreported in both nations. Following this, this research presents an examination of racially motivated hate crimes and victim reporting to the police in both nations using data from the National Crime Victimization Survey and the Crime Survey of England and Wales from 2003 to 2015. Results indicate that, overall, victim reporting has been increasing in the United Kingdom and decreasing in the United States. Disaggregating by victim and offender race, however, reveals divergent trends such that anti-black hate crime victim reporting is increasing in the United States and decreasing in the United Kingdom. Policy and research implications are discussed.

When Might Heterosexual Men Be Passive or Compassionate Toward Gay Victims of Hate Crime? Integrating the Bystander and Social Loafing Explanations.

Compassionate feelings for people who are victimized because of their perceived sexual deviance (e.g., gay men) may be incompatible with support for heterosexual norms among heterosexual men. But, indifference (or passivity) toward such victims could raise concern over heterosexual men's gay-tolerance attitude. Two classic social psychological theories offer competing explanations on when heterosexual men might be passive or compassionate toward gay victims of hate crime. The bystander model proposes passivity toward victims in an emergency situation if other bystanders are similarly passive, but compassionate reactions if bystanders are responsive to the victims. Conversely, the social loafing model proposes compassionate reactions toward victims when bystanders are passive, but passivity when other bystanders are already responsive toward the victims' predicament. We tested and found supportive evidence for both models across two experiments (Ntotal = 501) in which passivity and compassionate reactions to gay victims of a purported hate crime were recorded after heterosexual men's concern for social evaluation was either accentuated or relaxed. We found that the bystander explanation was visible only when the potential for social evaluation was strong, while the social loafing account occurred only when the potential for social evaluation was relaxed. Hence, we unite both models by showing that the bystander explanation prevails in situations where cues to social evaluation are strong, whereas the social loafing effect operates when concern over social judgement is somewhat muted.

Black Out-group Marriages and Hate Crime Rates: A Cross-sectional Analysis of U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Objectives: This study introduces an indicator of racial out-group marriage to the research on hate crime. Drawing upon a variant of group threat theory, we hypothesize that Black out-group marriage with Whites will be positively related to anti-Black hate crime rates insofar as such marriages are perceived as transgressions of cultural boundaries. Informed by Allport’s contact theory, we hypothesize that Black out-group marriage with Whites will be negatively related to anti-Black hate crime rates insofar as such marriages indicate intercultural accommodation. Methods: Using data for a sample of U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas circa 2010, we assess our hypotheses with two operationalizations of levels of hate crime—incidence rates and victimization rates. Results: Our results reveal that levels of Black out-group marriages with Whites are positively related to the Black hate crime victimization rate but not related to the incidence rate. Conclusions: Our analyses suggest that any salutary effect of intercultural accommodation associated with interracial marriage is overwhelmed by the influence of the perceived cultural threat and intensification of animus for the “at-risk” population for perpetrating anti-Black hate crimes.