Typical Perpetrator Of A Hate Crime

A hate crime can be defined as a crime driven by sexual, racial or other prejudice, usually one including violence.
In my opinion, there is no typical perpetrator of a hate crime because that type of hate can reside in the heart of anyone. We usually associate hate crimes with organized hate crime groups. But according to studies by Edward Dunbar, PhD, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, the profile of an individual that partakes in hate crimes can be characterized as an average teen or adult. Young white male who has a small group of associates, very little or no criminal background. Usually not a member of an organized hate group although some are. They are not mentally ill, manic depressive, psychotic or schizophrenic.

But they do possess a very high level of antisocial behavior and aggression. They are however, disturbed and troubled. Their childhood reflect abuse and use of violence to solve problems within the family. These individuals usually plan their acts rather than act spontaneously. The hate crime profile also includes those who have had painful experiences and no opportunities to heal tend to be more hostile in general, and they more easily channel their hostility toward groups the society is already against (Demby, G. 2011).
FBI statistics indicate that 47.4% of the sufferers were targets because of the offender’s prejudice against their race. 20.4% were due to the offender’s prejudice against the victim’s sexual orientation. 19.2% were offended because of their spiritual belief. 12.2% were victimized because of a hate against an ethnicity/national origin and 0.8% were targeted because of a bias against a disability. According to the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the victim of a hate crime may be a business, an individual, an institution, or even a whole society (F. 2012).
Psychologists believe hate crimes are caused when some people encounter a crisis, they sometimes tend to justify protecting their own by finding someone else to blame for the problem which is truly an unfortunate human tendency. Most people would never do this but a small amount of people participated in incidents ranging from name calling to right out hate crimes. The effects of hate crimes on victims tend to have higher levels of stress, anger and depression, sometimes if five years after their crime occurred (DeAngelis 2001).
To minimize these senseless hate crimes as well as other crimes, Education is the key. By educating schools, students, police and our communities about prevalent bias and hate crimes, these criminal acts, in where the victim is targeted because of race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, are designed to intimidate victims and other members of the victim's community and leave them feeling isolated, vulnerable, and fearful may help generate environments that are safe, healthy, and free from violence therefore, creating a world where children can feel free to learn (Prevention Council, 2017).
Because prejudice and bigotry is on the rise and continues to be a massive issue in the United States, it becomes everyone’s responsibility to educate our children and community that these crimes are wrong and unacceptable. Not only that we must learn and teach survival techniques to deter these crimes. It is our job to try to eradicate the ignorance by teaching from within our circles, acceptance, the live and let live philosophy (Prevention Council, 2017).
Programs and educational efforts to raise awareness of hate crimes should be put in place by government, Law enforcement, as well as community members and private agencies. Schools should make available educational programs that address hate crime awareness and prevention. All of this should be done to create an atmosphere where hate crimes as well as any other crime does not exist (Prevention Council, 2017).