Hate Crime: The General Theory Of Crime

Over half of hate crime offenders enjoy the thrill and excitement of committing a hate crime, which fits perfectly into the elements of the General Theory of Crime. As mentioned above, there are many people who have thoughts regarding other people and judge them because of characteristics they might not be able to change. This could be their race, disability, or gender identity. Not everyone chooses to commit criminal acts towards someone based on their thoughts of him or her. The people that do commit hate crimes are exhibiting low self-control along with other characteristics that Gottfredson and Hirschi claimed are elements of low self-control such as insensitivity. Jack McDevitt, Jack Levin, and Susan Bennett (2002) explain the different

Hate crime is extremely unfortunate for all involved, therefore it is critical that an effective policy is created and implemented to prevent hate crime from happening. As mentioned, a theory that can be applied to hate crime is the General Theory of crime. The General Theory of crime explains that crime occurs because of low self-control. There are many policies that can be set forth to help reduce and prevent hate crime. Gottfredson and Hirschi believed, “children gain their self-control by the age of 10, and if they do not gain self-control before that age then they will stay stable criminals over the life-course” (Tibbetts, 2015, p. 161). A policy that could assist in the prevention of hate crime would include mandating that all United States children are educated about diversity before the age of 10, to ensure they understand that people are different and they will encounter them in their lifetime. This also ensures that these children are aware that they should not commit criminal acts against anyone, especially if it is dependent upon a specific characteristic such as race, religion, or

Hate crime can also be called a bias crime, which means that someone commits a crime against someone based solely on their particular characteristic that they cannot or do not want to change such as religion or gender (Hate Crimes, n.d.). Sadly, hate crimes occur often and can have a lasting effect on the victim. The definition of what constitutes a hate crime has broadened over the years, as the FBI has changed it to address those who are victimized by disability or gender identity as society has continued to grow more diverse and change substantially (Hate Crimes, n.d.). It is crucial that the United States understands how many people are victims of hate crimes and how often it occurs to better understand the scope of the problem. According to the FBI, the most frequent hate crimes are racially motivated at almost fifty percent (Latest Hate Crime Statistics, 2015). This means that there are many people that are victimized because of their race, which is unchangeable and pre-determined. Religious hate crime and sexual orientation hate crimes were tied for the second most prevalent in the United States (Latest Hate Crime Statistics, 2015). These people are victims because of who they are and how these offenders see