Evaluating and Refining Solutions: Hate crimes can be described as criminal activities that are perceived to be fueled by prejudice against and hostility towards the victim based on an individual characteristic. In most cases, hate crimes are motivated by gender, disability, sexual orientation, race, identity, and religion or faith. The increase in hate crimes in the recent past has not only made it a major issue that needs to be addressed in the modern society but has also attracted several legislative measures to deal with it. However, dealing with this major societal issue not only requires these legislative measures but also necessitate creative and critical thinking to enhance the effectiveness of initiatives taken to address it. The development of suitable initiatives through creative and critical thinking requires evaluating and refining resolutions. Explanation of Hate Crimes: Based on their definition, hate crimes can be understood as criminal activities fueled either in whole or partly by negative attitudes and opinions toward a group of individuals. This is primarily because the offenses incorporate a particular aspect of the identity of the victim such as race and religion. Notably, these criminal activities are not simply biases but they incorporate dangerous actions like physical assault fueled by the biases (“The Psychology of Hate Crimes”, 2010). Generally, hate crimes differ from other violent offenses because of their impact on the immediate target and communities that the victim belongs to. Therefore, hate crimes are not only conducted to harm the victim but also affect the community that the victim is a member of. Refined Expression: Despite being one of the violent crimes, hate crimes differ from ot... ... middle of paper ... ...al with these crimes. Therefore, enhancing their training would help enhance their effectiveness in addressing these crimes. In conclusion, hate crimes are one of the major problems in today’s society because of the increased discrimination of various groups due to their religion, race, color, disability, and sexual orientation. These offenses are primarily conducted on the basis of bias motivation though the perpetrator must not necessarily hate his/her target. The impact of these crimes is two-fold i.e. psychological distress on victims and sending a message to a group on how they are unsafe or unwanted in a specific neighborhood. These crimes differ from other violent crimes since they tend to increase, escalate, and spiral. Some of the major ways of addressing the issue include enhancing the training of police officers and conducting awareness initiatives.
...o more attacks and feeling alienated, helpless, suspicious and fearful. (Ochi) This is an entry in a report regarding hate crime given by Rose Ochi from the U.S. Department of Justice. It explains all too well what people of both sides of hate crime feel. Those that commit hate crimes mentally ill; however psychologists do find that they have a, “high level of aggression and antisocial behavior.” (Dunbar) It was very interesting to find that those who commit hate crime offenses premeditate their crimes and will drive further out to commit these crimes.
. Spaid argues that hate crime laws, sometimes referred to as “reform laws,” are ultimately ineffective, harmful, and maintain an oppressive and violent system in which it claims to resist. These laws “include crimes motivated by the gender identity and/or expression of the victim,” (79) implicated in seven states across the country, such as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, created after the hate murders of these two men fueled by bigotry and hate. Proponents of these laws argue that they would work as “preventative messages,” and increase the regard in which these crimes are considered, under the terms of preserving the humanity of these victims, often trans women, while increasing their visibility. These
...ecommendations to reach this goal are to establish accreditations for law enforcement, increase the data collection, and continue to diversify the workplace, and reform court procedures and sentencing guidelines.
There are several reasons why offenders commit hate crimes, they vary from case to case, however, one key element is fear which is caused by ignorance. The offenders fear the unknown and the competition they feel that exists, them vs. the ‘others’. When fear is accompanied by other factors it could potentially lead to a violent crime. “The
The fact that hate crimes still occur in America is another signpost that tolerance is still an unheard of notion to a lot of people. In 2007 the Federal Bureau of Investigation released statistics showing that 2,105 law enforcement agencies reported 9,080 offences of hate crime. This includes vandalism, intimidation, simple and aggravated assault, and murder. This also includes not only race statistics, but religious, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and disability motivated crimes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released statistics of discrimination charges for the same year with all ...
Jacobs, James B. and Kimberly A. Potter "Hate Crimes: A Critical Perspective," Crime and Justice: A Review of Research, Ed. Michael Tonry (University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1997).
When the topic of hate and bias crime legislation is brought up two justifications commonly come to mind. In her article entitled “Why Liberals Should Hate ‘Hate Crime Legislation” author Heidi M. Hurd discusses the courts and states views that those who commit hate and bias crimes ought to be more severely punished. She takes into consideration both sides of the argument to determine the validity of each but ultimately ends the article in hopes to have persuaded the reader into understanding and agreeing with her view that laws concerning the punishment of hate and bias laws should not be codified. Hate crime is described as a violent, prejudice crime that occurs when a victim is targeted because of their membership in a specific group. The types of crime can vary from physical assault, vandalism, harassment or hate speech. Throughout the article Hurd tried to defend her view and explain why there should be no difference of punishment for similar crimes no matter the reason behind it. Her reason behind her article came from the law that President Obama signed in 2009 declaring that crimes committed with hatred or prejudice should have more sever punishments. While the court has their own views to justify their reasoning behind such decisions, in the article Hurd brings up points and facts to prove the wrongfulness of creating such a law. However, though Hurd has made her views clear in the following essay I will discuss reasons why the penalties are justifiable, why they should receive the same degree of punishment, less punishment and my personal view on the topic.
In my undergraduate studies, I endeavored to further my knowledge and understanding up to the more advanced levels and achieved an outstanding result. As I started my CJ studies in the Spring of 2014, I became preoccupied by the systematic trainings that I received in the criminological theories, crime correction, and the relevant laws. I was keen to study for this particular program because I understood how this knowledge can be utilized to reduce and prevent crime to benefit the lower classes of different communities. These experiences helped me to build up a solid foundation to carry out higher-level research in the
A hate crime is a crime, usually involving violence or intimidation committed against others based partially or entirely on race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation or membership in another social group.
Any crime motivated by a bias against a person or group based on their ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, religion or another characteristic is a hate crime. These crimes can either be committed against the people themselves or their property. When someone commits a hate crime they are targeting a group of people not just one individual. That’s why hate crimes have extra punishment. The punishment for hate crimes are very insignificant considering the deviant who committed a hate crime targeted an entire group of people. Hate crimes are very serious offensive but determining where to draw the line can be difficult. Hate crimes are very serious and can have lasting effects on victims.
There are many who believe hate crime should be punished more severely since it ‘’has the potential to cause greater harm.’’ (Hate Crime Laws, 2014) Hate crimes, like racial discrimination, have unfortunately been a part of this country for centuries, racial discrimination was rampant in the 19th and 20th century, but mostly in the south; many segregation laws were created at the time ‘’that banned African Americans from voting, attending certain schools, and using public accommodations. ’’ (Hate Crime Laws, 2014)
Today we have looked at the problem known as hate crimes and the varied causes which keep it in existence. We have also discussed some solutions to this act of hate.
A Hate Crime is a crime motivated by racial, sexual, or other prejudice, typically one involving violence. These crimes are committed by different people all around the world. In the late 1990s, the act of burning churches was one the many hate crimes that were committed. According to “Hate Crimes Are a Serious Problem” at a CDR press conference in 1996 there were “ninety black churches had been burned in nine southern states since 1990 and that more were being burned every year”(Lawson and Henderson 1). While there were many African American Churches that were burned down, it even says that there will be more to come. Throughout the years more and more crimes are happening, even the ones that aren’t reported rises the statistics of hate crimes.
Showing bias to a certain group in our society should not be how we express our differences of another community. We should not be hated because the color of our skins, our sexual orientation, or the religion that we chose to believe in. I know it is hard to accept that things are changing in American today but we must adapt to the change and not live with such hate in our hearts. Having the proper prevention strategies intact will help these crimes decrease each year. Educating everyone on the topic of hate crimes will give everyone a sense of understanding of the severeness of is crime and the consequences giving when this crime is
...believe the main issue for them is police racial and class biases. For this we see an increase in police training, to include diversity classes, implicit bias courses and race relations training. Then we have others who believe that the police need to work with the youth to improve future relationships and to help them become a stronger part of the community.