‘Hate crime’ and the city
Abstract
The impression often conveyed by the media about hate crime offenders is that they are hate-fuelled individuals who, in acting out their extremely bigoted views, target their victims in premeditated violent attacks. Scholarly research on the perpetrators of hate crime has begun to provide a more nuanced picture. But the preoccupation of researchers with convicted offenders neglects the vast majority of hate crime offenders that do not come into contact with the criminal justice system. This book, from a leading author in the field, widens understanding of hate crime by demonstrating that many offenders are ordinary people who offend in the context of their everyday lives. Written in a lively and accessible style, the book takes a victim-centred approach to explore and analyse hate crime as a social problem, providing an empirically informed and scholarly perspective. Aimed at academics and students of criminology, sociology and socio-legal studies, the book draws out the connections between the individual agency of offenders and the background structural context for their actions. It adds a new dimension to the debate about criminalising hate in light of concerns about the rise of punitive and expressive justice, scrutinizing the balance struck by hate crime laws between the rights of offenders and the rights of victims.
... We argue it is problematic to see forms of hate as solely committed by those with (openly) extremist views (Hardy, 2017). Rather, most hate crime offenders, or for that matter those subject to processes of radicalization (Luger, 2022), are 'ordinary people' showing hostility in the 'everyday' course of their lives (Iganski, 2008: 23, cited in Hall, 2019. This everyday hate characterizes many of the contributions in this collection and shows that while they may appear 'low-level' in criminal justice terms, such acts can have profound impacts on the mental and physical health and wellbeing of victimized individuals and communities (for example, in this collection, Wilkin; James and McBride; Clayton et al; Goerisch; Daly and Smith; and Durey et al). ...
... Hate is also often distinguished from discrimination and exclusion; these are commonly seen as social and structural, while hate carries a distinctive affective and visceral force, which may for some better capture what they and their communities experience. Indeed, rather than a focus on whether (or not) hate is a motivating factor of perpetrators, many have argued for the often traumatic experiences of victims (see Bowler and Razak, Chapter 11, in relation to racialized minority groups; and Wilkin, Chapter 8, regarding disabled people) to be central in the conceptualization of hate (crime) (Iganski, 2008;Hardy and Chakraborti, 2020), with several authors having published victim-centred accounts of, for example, transphobic (Colliver, 2021) and disablist (Sherry, 2010) hate. ...
... Hence, landscapes are not simply backdrops, but are 'both product and productive of social and political-institutional arrangements' and in sum refer to 'the complex embodied and organizational spatialities that emerge from and through the relationships of [care]' (Milligan and Wiles, 2010: 740). Flint (2004) and Iganski (2008) provide two contrasting perspectives on the landscapes of ('race') hate, both addressing the central role of space in the production, expression and experience of hostility. Flint (2004) focuses his examination on the maintenance of 'white privilege' in the US through explicit and overt acts of hate committed by those adopting or associated with far-right ideologies in their 'defence of territory', from harassment and even murder, to exclusionary housing policies. ...
... Is Greek society under financial crisis the social structure that enabled the public expression of racist bigotry and allowed the engagement of a significant part of its members in racist violence or does racism exist in Greece regardless of the current circumstances? Iganski (2008) in an attempt to interpret how individuals resort to engage in racial violence draws on ST. Statistically in the US and UK the majority of offenders of racial violence are not members of far-right organizations. ...
... By arguing that hate crimes -prompted by biased motivation -hurt more, a continuously growing amount of research is attempting to prove the more corroding and pervasive nature of the consequences on its victims. That proof would justify blanket uplift in penalties of hate crime offenders (Iganski, 2008(Iganski, ), (2015. In that attempt, numerous researches have established an array of short and long-term negative emotional effects on victims of hate crimes. ...
... Noelle (2002) in her turn demonstrated that the traumatic event of a hate crime such as the murder of Matthew Shepard forced non-victims of the LGBT community to redefine their Assumptive Worlds. As scholars on hate crimes have agreed (Iganski, 2008;Perry & Alvi, 'We are all vulnerable': The in terrorem effects of hate crimes, 2011; Craig-Henderson & Sloan, 2003), one of the main aims of a hate crime is to send a message of warning to victims' community or to individuals who share the same identity. Therefore, the details of this highly televised incident spread like a ripple across the LGBT community of USA, shattering their assumptions about the world. ...
Aiming to interpret the electoral success of Golden Dawn (2012) and the racist violence that followed on the streets of Athens, this study searches for sources of racism in the Greek ethnic identity (Greekness) and investigates its effects on immigrants. To address the first question this research analyses discourses that dominate Greeks’ understandings of (ethnic) self and others, along their daily and life-paths. To examine how those understandings shape immigrants’ realities, I conducted unstructured interviews and participatory observation with first and second-generation immigrants. The research found that racism is the outcome of Greeks’ participation in practices organized by state institutions and social systems (Education system, Religion, Media and Clientelism, Urban space) informed by Greekness. In short, racism is the result of Greeks “acting Greek”, that is, in accordance with Greekness’ principles. The strategies immigrants employ, to avoid the consequences of racism, constitute a response and add the knowledge of how to “act differently”. This thesis concludes that addressing the problem of racism in Greece in accordance to immigrants’ knowledge of how to do difference could lead to radical social changes, up to redefinition of country’s main structural principle - Greekness itself.
... This is important in the context of bias crime, in which research consistently demonstrates that only a small proportion of offences involve severe violence by individuals or groups motivated by deep-seated hatred (Tomsen 2010). While the impact of such violence can be profound, most bias crimes involve less severe forms of assault, property damage and harassment that are committed by 'ordinary' offenders when the opportunity arises (Benier, Wickes and Higginson 2016;HREOC 1991;Iganski 2008;Mason et al. 2017). Nevertheless, these 'everyday' incidents can cause inordinate harm because minority groups tend to experience them within a larger continuum of discrimination and hostility (Iganski 2008). ...
... While the impact of such violence can be profound, most bias crimes involve less severe forms of assault, property damage and harassment that are committed by 'ordinary' offenders when the opportunity arises (Benier, Wickes and Higginson 2016;HREOC 1991;Iganski 2008;Mason et al. 2017). Nevertheless, these 'everyday' incidents can cause inordinate harm because minority groups tend to experience them within a larger continuum of discrimination and hostility (Iganski 2008). ...
... Crime motivated by bias can have an aggravated effect on vulnerable communities (Iganski 2008). Accordingly, police are encouraged to take a 'big picture' approach to such offences by recording minor incidents, prioritising victim liaison and generating local intelligence about its nature and effect (Macpherson 1999). ...
Bias crime is crime that is motivated by prejudice or bias towards an attribute of the victim, such as race, religion or sexuality. Police have been criticised for failing to take bias crime seriously, and there is a pressing need to understand the reasons for this failure. This article aims to address this gap by presenting the results of the first empirical study of bias crime policing in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW). Drawing on interviews with the NSW Police Force (NSWPF), the study found that sustainable reform in this domain has proven elusive. This can be attributed to a number of key challenges including reporting, recording, identification, framing, community engagement and leadership. The lessons that emerge from the findings have important ramifications for all police organisations.
... That is, hate groups form as a result of the 'status frustration' of failing to measure up to middle-class societal standards by forming delinquent groups that reject middle-class goals and develop their own approaches to creating status, such as targeting specific minorities. Others (for example, Iganski, 2008) have suggested that any theory that attempts to explain hate crime must account for the fact that hate crime seems to be typically committed by 'ordinary people' in the course of everyday interactions and is not commonly committed by hateful bigots who seek out victims. ...
... Developing a better understanding of HCOs is also of practical importance. As mentioned, the limited available evidence suggests that HCOs might be quite 'ordinary' (for example, Iganski, 2008). If true, then the most efficacious approach to reducing reoffending amongst HCOs would be to utilize the extensive knowledge of successful offender rehabilitation that has developed using high-quality evaluations over the last 30 years (Lipsey, 2009). ...
... If HCOs are qualitatively different from 'typical' offenders, then specialist interventions to address hate crime and hate crime motivation may be needed. Despite the limited evidence to suggest that HCOs are specialists in hate crime (for example, Iganski, 2008), there is a veritable industry in developing and delivering interventions for HCOs (as reviewed by Iganski, 2012). These include interventions for HCOs being released from prison (for example, Lukas and Korn, 2012) and for HCOs serving sentences in the community (for example, Dixon and Court, 2015;Palmer and Smith, 2010), amongst others. ...
Hate crime research has increased, but there are very few studies examining hate crime offenders. It is, therefore, difficult to determine to what extent those who perpetrate this offence might be different from those who have not committed hate crime. This study is the first to provide an account of the demographics and criminal histories of those serving time in prison for committing a hate crime. It is based on a large complete population of offenders in the UK. Hate crime offenders released from prison were found to have prolific criminal careers, having committed a wide range and large number of different types of offences. When compared with those who committed a general (non-hate) violent offence, violent hate crime offenders were significantly older and were considerably more prolific in their previous offending. Violent hate crime appeared quantitatively, as opposed to qualitatively, different from violent non-hate crime, but this was less clearly true when those who had committed public order hate crime were compared with other public order offenders. Interventions to reduce the later offending of violent hate crime offenders should be based on the effective interventions that exist for violent offenders, but should take into account knowledge about the surprisingly prolific criminal careers of hate crime offenders.
... This is important in the context of bias crime, in which research consistently demonstrates that only a small proportion of offences involve severe violence by individuals or groups motivated by deep-seated hatred (Tomsen 2010). While the impact of such violence can be profound, most bias crimes involve less severe forms of assault, property damage and harassment that are committed by 'ordinary' offenders when the opportunity arises (Benier, Wickes and Higginson 2016;HREOC 1991;Iganski 2008;Mason et al. 2017). Nevertheless, these 'everyday' incidents can cause inordinate harm because minority groups tend to experience them within a larger continuum of discrimination and hostility (Iganski 2008). ...
... While the impact of such violence can be profound, most bias crimes involve less severe forms of assault, property damage and harassment that are committed by 'ordinary' offenders when the opportunity arises (Benier, Wickes and Higginson 2016;HREOC 1991;Iganski 2008;Mason et al. 2017). Nevertheless, these 'everyday' incidents can cause inordinate harm because minority groups tend to experience them within a larger continuum of discrimination and hostility (Iganski 2008). ...
... Crime motivated by bias can have an aggravated effect on vulnerable communities (Iganski 2008). Accordingly, police are encouraged to take a 'big picture' approach to such offences by recording minor incidents, prioritising victim liaison and generating local intelligence about its nature and effect (Macpherson 1999). ...
Bias crime is crime that is motivated by prejudice or bias towards an attribute of the victim, such as race, religion or sexuality. Police have been criticised for failing to take bias crime seriously. There is a pressing need to understand the reasons for this failure. This article aims to address this gap by presenting the results of the first empirical study of bias crime policing in the Australian state of New South Wales. Drawing on interviews with the New South Wales Police Force, our study found that sustainable reform in this domain has proven elusive. This can be attributed to a number of key challenges: reporting; recording; identification; framing; community engagement and leadership. The lessons that emerge from our findings have important ramifications for all police organisations.
... Restorative justice responses to discriminatory abuse have not yet been clearly articulated but they align with safeguarding adults policy in England, which has increasingly emphasised strengths-based approaches and active participation by those affected (DHSC, 2023;DHSC, 2019;DHSC, 2017). Mason et al (2022) (Iganski, 2008). Importantly, many police reports do not result in prosecution, which Walters (2014) has described as a 'justice gap'. ...
... In terms of legitimacy, restorative justice remains controversial when addressing hate crime (Kaplan and Inguanzo, 2020). As discussed, the argument is that hate hurts more and merits punishment (Iganski, 2008) from the criminal justice system. As a result, restorative justice methods are not consistently used by criminal justice agencies in hate crime cases ). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider what safeguarding responses to discriminatory abuse and hate crime might learn from existing research on restorative justice and to drive practice development based on available evidence.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a scoping review of literature using four academic databases and reference harvesting. This comprised a critical appraisal of 30 articles, which were thematically analysed to appreciate the benefits and challenges of restorative justice responses to hate crime and how this might inform safeguarding responses to discriminatory abuse and hate crime.
Findings
The analysis identifies four domains where learning can be drawn. These relate to theory on restorative justice; restorative justice practices; perspectives from lived experience of restorative justice and hate crime; and an appraisal of critiques about restorative justice.
Originality/value
This paper connects the emerging evidence on restorative criminal justice responses to hate crime to the “turn” towards strengths-based practices in adult safeguarding. Although this provides a fertile environment for embedding restorative practices, the authors argue certain precautions are required based on evidence from existing research on hate crime and restorative justice.
... Targeted violence against minority groups has been part of the experience of groups and individuals throughout history -this is clear from histories of minority ethnic and faith communities in the US, continental Europe, Britain and indeed from what is known of the minority ethnic communities experience in Ireland. This is also clear from the accounts of LGB communities and people with disabilities in Western societies (Chakraborti and Garland (2009), and Iganski (2008) and Evans (2004)). Depending on where one sets the parameters around groups affected by hate crimes/targeted violence there is also ample evidence of hostility based violence towards older people and women. ...
... This raises particular issues of safety and fear of victimisation both for individuals and wider communities. (Chakraborti and Garland 2009;Iganski 2008). ...
The purpose of this paper to the Equality Authority senior management and Board is to: • provide a review of the policy, provisions and practices in relation to dealing with racist crimes and racist incidents in Ireland, • specifically focus on police responses to the issue of racist incidents and racist crime in Ireland, • consider issues of minority ethnic communities confidence in the police handling of racist incidents and racist crime, and • identify issues for the future in supporting an appropriate criminal justice system response to racist crime in Ireland
... The U.S. Congress has enacted several hate crime statutes, establishing a formal and public stance against such behavior, and thereby advocating for respect, equality, and tolerance of all groups of people (Grattet & Jenness, 2001;Iganski, 2008;Mason, 2014). The first piece of federal legislation was the Hate Crimes Statistics Act (HCSA, 1990). ...
... Policies adopted at all jurisdictional levels that specifically grant hate crime victims resources and assistance may be beneficial, given the deferential impact hate crime victimization can have on victims compared with other crime types (Iganski, 2008;Palmer & Kutateladze, 2021;Walters et al., 2020). The current study uncovered a paucity of mandated assistance and resources among state hate crime laws; only 15 states have mandated provisions specifically for hate crime victims. ...
Hate-motivated crime remains problematic in the United States. California passed the first hate crime law in 1978; Congress followed in 1990. States continue to amend their hate crime legislation, producing an amalgam of statutory provisions. This article creates a conceptual framework from which to classify hate crime legislation across the 50 states and Washington, DC. Laws were identified through Westlaw. Analyses compared the types of crimes covered, discrete and insular minorities protected, prosecutorial alternatives, mandates for law enforcement agencies, and additional rights provided to victims among states’ legislation. Considerable variation in scope and content of hate crime legislation exists among states, leaving several vulnerable groups unprotected, law enforcement underprepared, and victim rights and resources sparse. Future directions for hate crime policy and legislation are discussed.
... Those who deviate are marginalised and alienated (Javaid, 2017). But despite the imagery sometimes presented in the media, rather than being far-right group members, perpetrators of hate attacks are often everyday ordinary people living uneventful lives (Iganski, 2008;Ray et al., 2004). Some scholars argue the motivation behind an attack in certain cases has little to do with bigotry, instead it stems from an emotional and psychological inadequacy that is exhibited as an inability to control anger, or as a response brought on by intoxication, or a drug-fuelled state (Chakraborti, 2015;Gadd, 2009). ...
... The urgent need to establish laws challenging violence motivated by hate is confirmed by the fact that victims undergo more severe, negative and long term psychological, and in some cases, physical damage than victims of other crimes. The target of a homophobic hate crime is not merely unlucky, rather the individual realises it is their identity that is under attack (FRA 2012;Iganski, 2008;Smith et al., 2012;Willis, 2008). Danilo Matt is a case in point. ...
Ireland has been applauded internationally for its legislative progress in supporting the rights of (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) LGBT+ citizens. Yet much of the positive change within the social and political context of sexuality and gender expression has been achieved by campaign groups, operating outside government boundaries. Notwithstanding these advances, LGBT+ people continue to face discrimination, abuse and violence. Concerns surrounding acts of aggression towards transgender and gay people call for an ongoing dialogue between legislators, policymakers, and practitioners to explore ways in which safety can be ensured. This article draws from an emerging body of scholarship and research to question the effectiveness of current social policy and legislation in Ireland. It offers a discourse on hate crime related to transphobia and homophobia, while challenging the existing political thinking. Multi-agency collaborative working is suggested as key to fostering solutions together with changes in legal paradigms, and the continued formation of policy aimed at safeguarding the LGBT+ community.
... It is also possible to see a second group of scholarship that is concerned with hate crime victimology (Barnes and Ephross 1994;Iganski 2008). For this scholarship, the emotive language of bias or hate is less important than that the target is vulnerable (Chakraborti and Garland 2015;Perry 2001;Stanko 2004). ...
... Perhaps the most overwhelming view is that gay-bias crimes are those which more than other crimes inflict great harm upon their victims(Iganski 2008). The intensity of the harm, in both objective and subjective experience of extreme brutality, has been noted in these studies as being greater than in other assaults(Archer 1994;Berrill 1990;Campbell 1986;Garnets et al. 1990). ...
This article explores a high-profile review of cases of alleged historical investigatory police bias in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, referred to in The New York Times article, “When Gangs Killed Men for Sport: Australia Reviews 88 Deaths.” The title of the article contains the terms of a well-known feature of moral panic—a discovered crime fact and demand for an enforcement response disproportionate to the fact. Our analysis explores the response to the review of the list of cases, Strike Force Parrabell, as an illustration of runaway constructionism. Demand group-interest in the positive designation of the cases (as bias crime) was a means of acknowledging the prejudicial conduct of police during a time of wider attitudinal change. In spearheading the verification of this list of cases, demand groups and crusaders placed a high semiotic burden beyond its capacity as a comparable objective measure. The fitness of the list of 88 cases as a totem for police and societal wrongdoing requires evidence regarding disproportionality based on valid and reliable measures. Despite worldwide interest in NSW for its comparative high ranking in gay bias homicides, however, such ranking does not exist. Nonetheless, despite the impossibility that it stands in as proof of decades long prejudice, corruption or criminal negligence, the list of cases appears to do so anyway. As such, it is illustrative of the occupation of media frames and formats by weak data or of the runaway character of crime stories in an era of “fake news.”
... First, despite the fact that policy encourages the reporting of hate incidents, as well as crimes, it is highly unlikely that they will be reported to agencies due to their regularity and the resilience this engenders (Williams and Tregidga, 2014) and their minor nature and victims' perceptions of likelihood for redress (Christmann and Wong, 2010). As Iganski (2008) notes and the research below identifies and discusses, many incidents of hate are petty and banal, akin to the everyday racism previously discussed by Essed (1991). Further, Gypsies and Travellers tend to conflate their experiences of hate incidents with discrimination and thus are unlikely to report to agencies that they perceive as prejudiced towards them, including those set up as third parties (James, 2014). ...
... 'Critical hate studies' (James and McBride, 2018) developed as a response to a call by Perry (2006) for greater critical theorizing in hate studies. Further, the perspective grew out of a specific concern that existing critical theorizing (Perry, 2001) was unable to explain the breadth of hate behaviours in society that were both extreme and 'everyday' (Essed, 1991;Iganski, 2008) and have been exacerbated by the failure of agencies to implement joined-up, effective responses to bias-motivated behaviours (Chakraborti, 2018;HMICFRS, 2018). Perry's (2001) work within hate studies has been seminal and has arguably provided the critical backbone to research in this area (Hall, 2015). ...
This article sets out how a critical hate studies perspective can explain and illuminate the hate harms experienced by Gypsies and Travellers in the UK. In doing so, it directly responds to the question of how criminological theory can move beyond existing debates in studies of race and ethnicity and engage more effectively with the wider social sciences. The critical hate studies perspective provides a comprehensive theoretical approach to appreciating the harms of hate in late modernity. This framework challenges existing explanations for bias-motivated violence in society and proposes an approach that acknowledges the overarching role of neoliberal capitalism on individual subjectivity and subsequently the lived experience. By utilising this perspective, it is possible here to discuss the range and depth of hate experienced by Gypsies and Travellers and thus consider its genesis and the potential for positive praxis.
... • jebkurš noziedzīgs nodarījums, tostarp noziegums pret personu vai īpašumu, kad cietušais, vieta vai nozieguma mērķis ir izvēlēti pēc to faktiskās vai šķietamās saiknes, atbalsta, piederības vai dalības grupā, kas definēta "b" daļā; • grupa var balstīties uz tās locekļu reālu vai šķietamu rasi, nacionālo vai etnisko izcelsmi, valodu, ādas krāsu, reliģiju, dzimumu, vecumu, fizisko vai garīgo invaliditāti, seksuālo orientāciju vai citu līdzīgu pazīmi [12,11]. Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes Juridiskās fakultātes vadošais pētnieks Jānis Baumanis norāda, ka "naids ir cilvēka jūtu izpausmes veids, kas ir vērsts pret noteikto objektu (personu, personu grupu, procesu, parādību), kuram raksturīgs ļaunums, nelabvēlība un kas ir noturīgs, ar lielu intensitāti un destruktivitāti" [7,15]. Jēdziens "naids" tiek skaidrots arī kā "intensīvā nepatika" [32,112]. ...
... Minot "naida noziegumu" izdarīšanas motivāciju kā vienu no šo noziegumu īpatnībām, eksperts "naida noziegumu" jomā no Lielbritānijas Pols Iganskijs (Paul Iganski) norāda arī uz otru "naida noziegumu" atšķirību no pārējiem kriminālnoziegumiem, t. i.,sekām, ko tie rada [15,3]. ...
2019. gada 5. martā Eiropas Komisija pret rasismu un neiecietību (The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, ECRI) publicēja Piekto ziņojumu par Latviju. Tajā, atsaucoties uz Tiesībsarga biroja un nevalstisko organizāciju sniegto informāciju, norādīts, ka naida kurināšanas upuri bieži vien neinformē policiju par notikušo, jo viņiem nav pārliecības par tiesībaizsardzības iestāžu vēlmi vai spēju efektīvi izmeklēt šos notikumus, tādēļ tiek rekomendēts Valsts policijai izveidot speciālu struktūrvienību darbam ar mazāk aizsargātajām sabiedrības grupām. Iepriekšējā ziņojumā, kas tika publicēts 2012. gada 21. februārī, ECRI norādīja, ka par šāda veida noziegumiem piespriestie sodi (ar dažiem izņēmumiem, kad tika piemēroti sodi, kas saistīti ar brīvības atņemšanu) Latvijā ir pārāk saudzīgi. Rakstā tiek skaidrots, kā šajā jomā mainījusies situācija pēc ECRI Ceturtā ziņojuma publicēšanas. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) on 5 March 2019 published Report on Latvia (fifth monitoring cycle). Non-governmental organisations, minority representatives and Ombudsman of the Republic of Latvia indicated to ECRI that victims of hate speech do not often report incidents to the police due to lack of trust in the willingness or ability of the law enforcement agencies to investigate these cases effectively. ECRI recommends, as a matter of priority, that the authorities establish a unit within the State Police tasked with reaching out to vulnerable groups in order to increase trust in the police and address the problem of under-reporting of hate crimes. In 2012, the ECRI pointed out that penalties for racist violence (with a few exceptions, the imposition of custodial penalties) in Latvia are too lenient. Therefore, the author offers his vision of the actual situation and how things have changed since the fourth ECRI Report on Latvia.
... Although homophobic hate crimes make up a small proportion of the total crime recorded in Northern Ireland, this ought not to mean that they are taken any less seriously. Iganski (2008) has shown that hate crimes harm not only the individual but their immediate and wider communities more than other non-prejudiced crime. A further breakdown of these statistics shows that on average, half of the homophobically motivated crimes recorded by the PSNI involved a physical assault to the person, often serious enough to incur some degree of wounding. ...
... In Australia, Mason and Tomsen (1997) analysed the impact of HIV/AIDS on the fears attributed to gay men and the impact of these on elevated levels of homophobic violence. However, while these studies sought to situate the prejudice within the individual perpetrators, other analyses of homophobia have sought to show that isolated incidents may be endemic of unaddressed wider social issues, locating minority prejudice within the specific sociopolitical environment (Perry 2001;Herek 2004;Hall 2005;Iganski 2008). Perry (2003) has suggested that the violent victimisation of minority groups may be an indication of particular perpetrators 'doing difference': that is, acting upon the prejudices held by many rather than the few. ...
... As a result, prejudice towards senior citizens who have cognitive impairments is sometimes viewed as "daily prejudice". However, numerous people's stereotypes conceal this prejudice (Iganski, 2008). Because they are less deserving of attention than other more typical victim groups, victims of disability hate crimes who are elderly suffering from cognitive impairment are not including in consideration when analysing such incidents. ...
In England and Wales, Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 made disability hate crimes legal. This advocated for increased sentencing for perpetrators whose crimes were motivated by or demonstrated hate against a person with a handicap or a perceived disability. Currently, this additional sentencing provision is the only legal option for prosecuting disability hate crime perpetrators. This thesis explores the experience and aftermath of hate crimes committed against England’s cognitively challenged senior victim group. The cognitively challenged elderly victim group is far more likely to face bias and violence; they have a greater likelihood of re-victimisation and suffer significant suffering as a result of hate crimes. To date, the voices of cognitively deficient elderly victims and survivors have been mostly absent from scholarly research and hate crime policies. As a result, the purpose of this article is to look into present policy barriers and how the cognitively challenged senior victim group might best receive support, justice, and interventions following discriminatory hate crimes. There has been little examination and discussion of intersectionality in disability studies and hate crime research. Common ideas fail to adequately reflect the multifaceted, overlapping, and complex experiences of danger and victimisation. This paper builds on studies on hate crimes against the cognitively deficient elderly victim group. It noted the challenge of categorising individual encounters as one type of hate crime. Victims and their relatives recognised that they were targeted for a variety of reasons, including their inability to care for themselves and their age. The study contends that the present strand-based approach to hate crime conceals a multitude of cross-identity characteristics that, when combined, might raise the danger of victimisation while decreasing a victim’s chance of reporting their experiences. To address vulnerability, safety, and hate crime against disabled people in England and Wales’ criminal justice, health, social care, and refuge systems, barriers to including the cognitively impaired senior victim group in the policy process are presented, allowing for targeted suggestions and changes on relevant issues.
... Criminologists define hate as violent oppressive behaviors targeting victims on the basis of the perpetrator's prejudice against the actual or perceived status of the target (Craig 2002). Hate also affects the wider community acting as a "message" (Iganski 2008), i.e., creating an "in terrorem" effect that reaches all community members, prompting social tension and fear (OSCE-ODIHR 2009) and generating socioeconomic costs (Glaeser 2005). The role of context, rather than personality traits, in influencing hate is becoming increasingly clear (Anderson et al. 2020;Denti et al. 2023;Denti & Faggian 2021;Green et al. 2001). ...
Which are the effects of hosting refugees on hate events, the most extreme acts against minorities? While growing research considers the link between refugees and voting behaviors, little is known about the influence of refugee reception on radicalization of anti-immigrant attitudes. Exploiting a novel database on geotagged hate events in Italy and the geography of refugee hosting centers, this paper provides novel evidence on the effect of exposure to refugees on hate in Italian provinces. Using instrumental variable estimation, we show that provinces with bigger refugee hosting capacity experienced higher incidence of hate.
... As indicated earlier, hate crime legislation is founded on the principle of enhanced sentencing because of the sentiment that hate crimes constitute a particularly serious threat to the morals and ideals of modern, diverse and multicultural societies. On the other hand, it becomes increasingly questionable whether hate crime legislation successfully targets the vectors of hate ideologies where most hate crimes seem to be committed by relatively ordinary people in relatively mundane situations (Iganski, 2008;Chakraborti and Garland, 2012). ...
This article investigates how police officers and prosecutors make sense of and speak about their work with hate crimes. Our analysis rests upon Robert Reiner's widely acknowledged claim that policing is inherently political. We identified three core issues that illustrate the political nature of policing hate crimes. First, the politically contingent boundary work of distinguishing criminal from legal acts. Second, the impact of the enforcement of hate crime laws on the reproduction of social inequalities. Third, the “diversity politics” of gaining legitimacy and trust among minorities, which hate crime legislation is meant to protect. While a strong commitment to policing hate crimes is evident among our interviewees, we ask if the politically invested discourse they present may contribute to an absence of critical reflections regarding the limited effect of law enforcement, as well as a lack of engagement with pressing concerns regarding racialized crime control and racism.
... This causes problems, since empirical research suggests that most hate crime incidents take place in everyday situations and are "rooted in the denigration of the victim's identity" rather than in blind hatred and repulsion directed against the victim's group (Iganski and Levin 2015:33). For example, the vast majority of hate crime incidents are committed by nonextremists in casual and everyday settings (Iganski 2008), and the same is true for crimes grounded in misogyny (Perry 2001;Iganski and Levin 2015). ...
The inclusion of gender in hate crime legislation has been the subject of scholarly debate since the 1990s, but only a handful of empirical studies have focused on victims’ experiences of gender-bias hate crime. Therefore, misogynistic hate crimes are primarily discussed as a theoretical or legal category of events. In this study, the aim is instead to shed light on how female victims define, describe, and are affected by their experiences of gender-bias hate crime. In doing so, the study contributes insights into misogynistic hate crimes as lived experiences, rather than as an abstract legal or theoretical concept.
... There is now a small but well-established literature that actively challenges the strangerdanger image of hate crime by arguing that perpetrators may be more likely than not to be known to the victim (Clancy et al., 2001;Mason, 2005;Maynard & Read, 1997;Sibbitt, 1997;Stanko, 2001) and that the very 'logic of the stranger obscures our ability to understand the ordinariness of hate crime' (Stanko, 2001: 323). Some scholars also suggest that the term 'bias crime' more accurately describes incidents motivated by prejudices as it emphasises the offender's bias, rather than hatred, towards a victim (Lawrence, 1999;Perry, 2006;Iganski, 2008;Wickes et al., 2016). 2 Notwithstanding these scholarly attempts at conceptualising racist violence and hate crime, 'academics, policy makers and practitioners continue to grapple with labelling and defining incidents motivated by an offender's prejudice towards a victim's identity' (Wickes et al., 2016: 240). What may or may not constitute a hate crime is widely contested and is 'discerned by social movements, codified in law, affirmed by the courts, reconstituted at the level of law enforcement policy and practice, and made publicly available by the media' (Jenness, 2007: 143). ...
This article is about denouncing the dehumanisation process that took place in the time of Covid-19. It recognises that governments have a vital role to play in setting national directions to tackle racist violence and that the value of having hate crime laws should not be underestimated. However, it argues that a broader approach is needed to embark upon a re -humanisation initiative and effectively combat racist violence. It emphasises that, to get people truly devoted to a course of action, they must develop a greater understanding of the sources of the problem. Accordingly, this article suggests that academia has a key role to play in shedding light on the occurrence of de -humanisation and the potential for re -humanisation.
... post-victimization psychological trauma -even when controlling for crime type [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Work by many academics for example, Paul ...
... In fact, the letter series is dominated by abusive and racist remarks based on national identity and ethnicity. Hate speech has received considerable attention in law, policy and social psychology, including the structural contexts and 'routine character' of its enactment (Iganski, 2008a;2008b). However, hate crime has received less attention in linguistics, as Nieto (forthcoming 2022) notes, highlighting how such acts are not as unusual or deviant as they have perhaps been characterised. ...
IN PRESS FOR CORPORA (17.2, 2022)
The paper presents a two-part forensic linguistic analysis of an historic collection of abuse letters, sent to individuals in the public eye and individuals' private homes between 2007-2009. We employ the technique of structural topic modelling (STM) to identify distinctions in the core topics of the letters, gauging the value of this relatively underused methodology in forensic linguistics. Four key topics were identified in the letters, Politics A and B, Healthcare, and Immigration, and their coherence, correlation and shifts in topic evaluated. Following the STM, a qualitative corpus linguistic analysis was undertaken, coding concordance lines according to topic, with the reliability between coders tested. This coding demonstrated that various connected statements within the same topic tend to gain or lose prevalence over time, and ultimately confirmed the consistency of content within the four topics identified through STM throughout the letter series. The discussion and conclusions to the paper reflect on the findings as well as considering the utility of these methodologies for linguistics and forensic linguistics in particular. The study demonstrates real value in revisiting a forensic linguistic dataset such as this to test and develop methodologies for the field. Content: Readers are advised that the letters analysed contain offensive language and that the
... Reasons for this slow progress include a lack of trust by victims 3 in public authorities such that they do not report or remain engaged with the criminal justice process; of skill, knowledge and commitment within public authorities to identify, support and protect victims of hate crime; of connection and cooperation, including around information sharing, across public authorities and with civil society organisations (CSOs) that support victims; and of consistency in legal approaches to defining and responding to hate crime (FRA, 2018;Perry, 2016;Schweppe et al., 2018). Indeed, there is active debate about the conceptual contours of hate crime: Which groups and types of crime, and what quality and quantity of 'hate', should fall within its boundaries (Chakraborti and Garland, 2012;Hall, 2013;Iganski, 2008;Perry, 2009)? An interactive timeline showing the development of international standards and their operationalisation is available on the Facing All the Facts website (n.d.). ...
This paper draws the attention of impact-curious sociolegal researchers to the potential of participatory research strategies; and proposes that the effectiveness of those strategies can be enhanced by the introduction of ‘designerly ways’. It explores and evidences this proposition through the multi-country Facing All the Facts project which aimed to support and accelerate the process of making hate crime conceptually and empirically visible in Europe. The paper concludes that by pursuing the designerly strategy of making experiences, perceptions and expectations around hate crime reporting and recording visible and tangible in artefacts (formal graphics and collaborative prototypes), the project activities generated structured-yet-free spaces in which publics/stakeholders could more effectively participate in practical, critical and imaginative discussion about how things are, and how they might be; and that this has improved the relevance and rigour of the research, and its ability to generate meaningful change (‘impact’).
... non-bias crimes find that bias crime victims often change their daily behaviors (such as not going out at night, carrying weapons, etc.) to try to decrease their chances of becoming victims again because of their vulnerable identity (Herek, Gillis, Cogan, & Glunt, 1997;Iganski, 2008;Tiby, 2001); had more psychosomatic symptoms (Iganski & Lagou, 2016); increased suicidality (Zeluf, et al., 2018); had a harder time getting over the event (McDevitt, Balboni, Garcia, & Gu, 2001); feel significantly more likely to feel wronged after experiencing an attack (Mellgren, Anderson, & Ivert, 2017); and that the harms of bias crime can last much longer at a more severe level than for non-bias crimes (Willis, 2008). In addition, bias crimes can cause "identity harms" because a bias crime removes a direct victim's individuality when they become a representative for their group identity without an individual identity. ...
... However, while research into the harms of hate crime has indicated similar experiences of trauma, self-blame and enhanced fear, parallels to the above gender-related harms have not been explicitly made. Evidence of these additional harms has been used to inform the thesis that there is a greater level of hurt inflicted on hate-crime victims, which warrants separate legislation and additional punishment (Iganski, 2008;Iganski and Lagou, 2016). This perspective may account for the recognition of hate crimes against sex workers by Merseyside Police in England (Campbell, 2015;Corteen, 2018). ...
Extensive debate about the place of gender within the hate-crime policy domain has been fuelled by national victimisation surveys indicating people’s experiences of ‘gender hate crime’ coupled with Nottinghamshire Police’s decision to begin categorising misogynistic street harassment as a form of hate crime. Drawing on the results of an online survey of 85 respondents, this article explores people’s experiences of gender-related victimisation as ‘hate crimes’. The analysis demonstrates how participants relate their experiences to the concept of hate crime, their perceptions on punishment and reporting to the police, and also wider impacts on their recovery processes. This paper provides a timely contribution towards current debates around using the existing hate-crime model for addressing crimes motivated by gender hostility.
... En strafferettslig diskurs risikerer dermed å overse muligheten for at slike handlinger kanskje bedre kan forstås som uttrykk for fordommer i den generelle majoritetsbefolkningen (Høy-Petersen og Fangen 2018:253-254). Trakassering, trusler og vold mot minoritetsgrupper blir i hovedsak begått av høyst ordinaere mennesker i hverdagslige situasjoner, noe som nettopp tyder på at disse handlingene også er et uttrykk for samfunnets strukturer (Perry 2001;Iganski 2008). I denne artikkelen bygger jeg videre på en slik strukturell tilnaerming til hatkriminalitet. ...
Denne artikkelen diskuterer hvilken betydning trakassering, trusler og vold som oppleves som homofobisk har for hvordan skeive skaper seg selv og hvordan de forholder seg til omgivelsene. Artikkelen bygger på dybdeintervjuer med LHBTIQ-personer som har opplevd trakassering, trusler og vold de selv mener har sammenheng med deres seksuelle orientering og/eller kjønnsuttrykk. I analysen tar jeg utgangspunkt i Judith Butlers teori om performativitet og Didier Eribons arbeid om fornærmelse. Jeg foreslår at fornærmelse, og måten skeive bruker heteronormative kjønnsuttrykk for å unngå fornærmelser, kan forstås som subjektivering innenfor en heteronormativ, sosial orden. Flere av deltakerne i studien gir uttrykk for at homofobisk hatkriminalitet indirekte rammer alle skeive og peker på viktigheten av å anmelde slike hendelser. Fornærmelse kan dermed også forstås som et utgangspunkt for å yte motstand mot homofobi og heteronormativitet. Jeg argumenterer for at det strafferettslige begrepet hatkriminalitet både kan forstås som et resultat av, og grunnlag for, skeiv identitetspolitikk og medborgerskap.
... Measure α Globalization is on the rise [1] , but rapid diversification in compact districts often induces intergroup tensions, which may invoke discrimination, conflict, and hate crimes. [2] Prejudice, the preconceived bias towards specific individuals or groups, facilitates such escalations. ...
... Hate crime laws in England and Wales currently exclude gender identity. This is a matter of special concern, given that research shows that transgender people are frequent victims of violence and harassment across their lifetime (Stotzer, 2008(Stotzer, , 2009 factors include: (1) official policing strategies, (2) police structure, (3) hate crime policies and procedures, (4) police agenda priorities, (5) police culture, and (6) community resistance (Bowing, 1999;Ray and Smith, 2004;Hall, 2005;Iganski, 2007Iganski, , 2008Chakraborti & Garland, 2009). Individual factors include: (1) the criteria that officers consider when identifying hateful motives, (2) individual resistance to enforcing hate crime laws, and (3) formal hate crime training (Maynard & Read, 1997;Bowling, 1999;Macpherson, 1999;Gerstenfeld, 2004;Hall, 2005). ...
This article makes an important contribution to the field of hate studies by advancing the understanding of hate crime policing in the United Kingdom. The article presents an ethnographic case study on hate crime policing within a small-city police station in England. The study focused primarily on the police stations Community Cohesion Unit (CCU), which was responsible for supporting hate crime informants, and for monitoring and assisting police officers handling hate incidents and hate crimes. The case study is mostly descriptive and exploratory in nature. Its primary objective is to provide needed insight into the inner workings of a police unit in order to obtain systematic knowledge on how hate crime laws are enforced in real-world settings. The study does not aim to present a new theory of hate crime policing; but in gathering fresh data from a new source, the study suggests potential directions for future empirical work and theoretical inquiry.
... Victim Services: In light of the layered foundations and impacts of hate crime and the diversity within and across the affected communities, WHAT COMMUNITIES WANT 29 effective responses are grounded in victim-centred approaches (Iganski, 2008) that understand and acknowledge the impact of hate-motivated crimes on individuals and on the targeted community as a whole (McDonald & Hogue, 2007, p. 32). Awareness and knowledge of how hate crimes affect "others" in our midst allows service providers to implement services that are appropriate to localized dynamics. ...
The theme of the Third International Conference on Hate Studies, The Pursuit of Justice: Understanding Hatred, Confronting Intolerance, Eliminating Inequality, took me immediately to the subject matter of this article: Who is meant to be served by the subthemes of this conference, if not the targets or potential targets of hate crime? An equally important set of questions would ask: What justice looks like from the perspectives of those individuals and groups? What do hate crime victims want, and what do they need? And, what do vulnerable communities want and need?
... Rather than blaming an inherently unfair system, or the processes that marginalized them, some of those we spoke to justified violent enactments of hate on the streets as a reaction to the decline of tenured jobs and the corrosion of legitimate opportunity. It was the 'other', demonised as a threat to jobs, housing, and the future of the area, that becomes the target for such violence (see, inter alia, Sibbit, 1997;Iganski, 2008;McDevitt, Levin, Nolan, & Bennett, 2010). ...
Since the summer of 2009 in the United Kingdom there have been a number of violent clashes amongst white and south Asian males, antifascist demonstrators, and the police. These disturbances have centred around the activities of a new far-right grouping, the English Defence League (EDL), which claims to oppose radical Islam. This article charts the growth of the EDL and examines its motivations and ideologies. It argues that the increasing influence of this organisation reflects wider socio-economic and political processes, and in particular needs to be understood in light of the contemporary state of post-politics in which the UK is embroiled. Drawing on our own empirical research, we argue that the growth in popularity of the EDL amongst some segments of Englands marginalised and disenfranchised white working class must be understood in the context of the failure of mainstream political discourses to reach out to these communities, who have instead turned to the EDL as an organisation through which they can vent their anger at the Islamic other rather than at the political and financial classes that are the real source of their disadvantage.
For many disabled people, violence can become an unwanted, yet ordinary part of everyday life. Often, these crimes are attributed to understandings of disabled people as vulnerable and largely, passive victims. Attending to the aims of this special issue, this paper aims to dismantle these stereotypes and attend to the unique ways that disabled people can resist and respond to hate crime through creative and collaborative research practices. Building upon this, I argue that there is a pressing need for hate studies researchers to work “with” and not “on” those who have experienced targeted violence. Working in this way builds upon long-standing efforts of disabled activists and disabilities studies researchers to challenge reductive research practices by working in more collective and inclusive ways. To demonstrate this, I reflect upon a project working in partnership with disabled people to create a disability hate crime toolkit. The toolkit, now published, shares accessible and informative resources that can be used to raise awareness about disability hate crime. While the focus of this paper is disability, I consider methods of collaboration, co-production and participation that can be drawn upon by researchers to respond to hate crime and interpersonal violence more broadly.
This chapter uses original data to scrutinise the official efforts towards the proposed expansion of hate speech and hate crime laws to include grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity in Poland between 2005 and 2022. The analysis reveals a façade of work that primarily aims to maintain the status quo, a strategy driven by the prevailing fear that criminalising hate speech might legitimise further rights for LGBT people. Beyond the anti-LGBT attitudes, the study uncovers specific norms within criminal law that act against the adoption of the international hate crime model. These traditional, offender-focused norms, entrenched since the Second World War, aim to prevent extremism and preserve peace by punishing acts of racism and xenophobia, thus posing a challenge to the recognition of additional protected grounds. The chapter argues that, while the adoption of the international hate crime model hinges on political opportunities, lawmakers should facilitate a smooth norm transfer. This implies that the extant narrow norm should be replaced with a broader, rights-based approach centred on victims and their needs. Such a shift requires a nuanced evolution in law-making, replacing paternalism with a commitment to rights and inclusivity, thereby ensuring consistency within legislation and legal practice.
Globally, there has been a trend in rising levels of hate crime that scholars have argued is reflective of significant social problems within society. Research into hate crime has typically focused on the police and their subsequent response to this crime type, with many findings reporting that the police are racist, homophobic and Islamophobic, to name but a few. However, existing research seldom captures the insights and experiences of sworn police officers, as much of the data is gathered from third parties. This paper presents the empirical findings from a Delphi study conducted with one police force in Australia, sampling sworn New South Wales (NSW) police officers between October 2020 and October 2021. The findings focus on four overarching areas: defining hate crime , perpetrators of hate crime , victims of hate crime , and responses to hate crime . These themes capture the perspectives of NSW police officers in relation to operational and organisational practice in respect of hate crime. Drawing on a Delphi method, the research outlines police perceptions of the nature of hate crime, as well as capturing how hate crime can be effectively reported, recorded, and responded to. Conclusions and implications are considered. These include the requirement for a clearer definition and targeted education strategies aimed at improving knowledge and understanding relating to hate crime. Future directions include the development of a standardised approach to reporting, recording, and responding to hate crime.
In this chapter, the authors introduce the readers to SHELTER, support and advice through health system for hate crimes victims, an European project implemented between 2018 and 2021, by a diversity of partners conformed by universities and NGOs. The main aim of the project was to improve the protection of victims of hate crimes and their access to resources and networks that facilitate the report, assistance and specialised support, by four specific objective: Tackling the underreporting data whithin the health system in relation to aggression and violence committed under the approach of hate crime; strengthening the medical and psyco-social care to victims of hate crime at the heath system; facilitating the access of victims to protection, assistance, and specialised support resources; and incorporating the health system institutions to a international network for supporting victims of hate crime.The results showed, among others, an improvement on the knowledge of the state of art and enhancement of the competences of the medical staff trained.
The respect and protection of religious identity in public life is currently one of the most pressing global concerns. Many religious groups and individuals around the world struggle with different level of discrimi- nation, persecutions and restrictions due to their religiosity. Driven by an ever-increasing need for interdisciplinary knowledge that can be an antidote to the new winds of misunderstanding, intolerance, discrim- ination and overt violence toward religion, the Pro Futuro Theologiae Foundation, implementing the project of the Laboratory of Religious Freedom, organized in Toruń on 4-5 November 2021 the international scientific conference „Challenges to religious identity in public life — between art and medicine”. The aim of the conference was to undertake an in-depth, multi-faceted discussion on the proper ways of respecting and protecting religious identity in public life, not only at the national but also global level. The event was attended by experts representing various scientific disciplines, both from Poland and abroad (USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Argentina). Their interdisciplinary contributions presented in this volume provide a rich- ness of multiple research strands from such disciplines as law, sociology, philosophy, theology and medicine, all united by the common interest in promoting and preserving religious freedom for everyone everywhere.
The volume opens with academic reflection on A Brief and Biased His- tory of Religious Freedom offered by John Perry who discerns an interesting correlation between an ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 in which we live and Seventeenth-century Europe, dominated by epidemics and religious- ly-based persecution, a century that closed with important steps toward a more tolerant society. David Hodge in Silenced voices in western discourse: Subjugated knowledge and the international struggle for religious freedom rights argues that silence and disregard for violations of religious freedom can no longer be an option and offers several strategies to make visible the subjugated voices of people of faith. The problem of compatibility between Religious Exclusivism and Political Pluralism is discussed by Bojan Žalec. The first chapter concludes with a study on Nicholas Wolterstorff and the Prospect of Shalom in American Public Schools by Jeffery Porter who on this example argues that certain forms of religious education can better serve than secular education to safeguard and promote justice, freedom, peace, and rationality in education.
In the second chapter contributors offer a mutlifaceted view on the relationship between freedom of religion and artistic expression. Cristi- ana Cianitto in her paper Among Religious Freedom, Insult and Freedom of Art: When the Word Hurts offers legal analysis of conflicts grounded in the clash between freedom of religion and freedom of expression, complemented by Fernando Simón Yarza, who in his paper From ‘Je suis Charlie’ to the ‘Phobic’ Hysteria. Paradoxes of Free Speech examines the relativistic liberalism in the context of freedom of speech. María García Ayuela in Art and Attacks on Religious Freedom in 21st Century in Spain offers an insightful report of the Observatory for Freedom of Religion and Conscience on blasphemous artwork exhibitions and performances which took place in Spain. Finally, Ewa Dryglas-Komorowska in Beauty that Saves. A Few Remarks on the Influence of Aesthetic Education on the Shaping of a Modern Man Identity reflects upon the need of proper aesthetic education in order to fully grasp one’s own religious and cultural identity.
In the third and final chapter, dedicated to challenges concerning the respect of religious freedom in medicine, Roger Kiska analysis the interplay between a government’s legitimate aim in promoting and safeguarding public health and its obligation to respect religious freedom in Religious Freedom During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: The United Kingdom. In this context Błażej Kmieciak explores practices of pastoral activities undertaken by representatives of the Catholic Church in Polish healthcare facilities in Patient’s Right to Pastoral Care During a Pandemic: Problems, Questions and Dilemmas. Legal aspects concerning freedom of conscience in the context of Spanish regulations are analyzed by Paloma Duran y Lalaguna and Consuelo Martínez Sicluna in Pluralism and Conscientious Objection. An Analysis of the Spanish Case in Euthanasia Regulation. Lastly, Weronika Kudła in the paper Conscience Wars in the USA in Light of the Judgments of the Supreme Court of the United States presents the latest religious liberty litigations in the federal Court of the United States which invoke conscience as a ground for objecting to obey reproductive laws. Contributors, through a broad and multidimensional perspective, managed not only to diagnose the compelling threats and burdens for the religious identity, but also to offer useful strategies designed to protect human dignity, religious identity and religious freedom. It is our hope that in contemporary exigent circumstances we are compelled to face, this publication will add to the broad debate on prevention, protection and promotion of religious freedom for everyone everywhere, especially by taking into consideration that religion is the center and the core of souls, identities and lives of 84% of the world’s population regardless of social, political and economical spheres.
In this chapter, I explore the way in which boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’ are re-enacted through hate crimes. Concerned with both the affectsaffect theoryaffect of strain and the affirmation of structural inequalities and relationships, hate crime works to bind bodies as a collective distinct from others. Hate crime can be understood within the wider circulation of emotions, which move between bodies and impress upon them in different ways (AhmedAhmed, S.The Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2014). From this understanding, hate circulates between bodies aligning ‘us’ together, and against ‘them’ who are perceived to be other.
This chapter engages critically with a range of terminology that are difficult to define and outlines current debates regarding the use of particular language. In doing so, this chapter highlights the importance of language and power in the construction of ‘legitimate’ hate crime victims. I provide the reader with an overview of legislation that polices hate crime within England and Wales. In relation to hate crime, this chapter also addresses some of the key theoretical and conceptual ideas that dominate hate crime discourse. In particular, this chapter addresses the use of ‘strain’, ‘doing difference’ and ‘vulnerability’ in current hate crime scholarship, outlining the emergence of these theories and concepts in relation to hate crime. Given that these are dominant theoretical and conceptual ideas within hate crime scholarship, it is key to provide a strong critique of these ideas in order to provide a foundation for the analyses presented throughout this book.
Using Hungary as a case study and focusing on legislative policies and the practical application of hate crime legislation, this article shows the various ways legal policy can become misguided in the labyrinth of identity politics, minority protection, and penal populism. The first mistake states can make, the author argues, is not to adopt hate crime legislation. The second error arguably pertains to conceptualizing hate crimes as an identity protection but not a minority-protection mechanism and instrument. The third fallacy the author identifies concerns legislative and practical policies that conceptualize victims based on self-identification and not on the perpetrator’s (or the wider community’s) potential perception and classification. The fourth flaw concerns the abuse of the concept of hate crime when it is applied in interethnic conflicts wherein members of minority communities are perpetrators and the victims are members of the majority communities. The fifth is institutional discrimination through the systematic underpolicing of hate crimes.
This chapter explores how hate against Gypsies and Travellers in contemporary society can be better understood by using a critical hate studies perspective. The chapter initially outlines the general theory provided by a critical hate studies approach before applying its central tenets to appreciate the impacts of hate harms on Gypsies’ and Travellers’ social and personal identities. In doing so the chapter demonstrates how all aspects of hate, from physical violence to everyday microaggressions, produce harms that negatively impact Gypsies and Travellers socially and psychologically.
The harms of hate are apparent in all aspects of Gypsies’ and Travellers’ lives. This chapter elucidates this by distinguishing between hate harms that are most easily identifiable as they are subjectively experienced, and hate harms that are less readily visible as they are systemic and symbolic and thus require an objective view to see them clearly. The chapter therefore initially examines hate crimes, incidents, and speech against Gypsies and Travellers. It then goes on to consider how discrimination, social and economic exclusion, and criminalisation affect Gypsies and Travellers and how those hate harms are embedded within and articulated through the norms of neoliberal capitalism.
Against the backdrop of an increase in reported hate crimes, we present the development of a U.K.-focussed instrument designed to evaluate the nature of public beliefs about hate crime, legislation, offenders and victims. In Study 1, 438 participants completed an Anglicized version of the Hate Crime Beliefs Scale (HCBS). Factor analyses revealed three subfactors: Denial (high scores represent a denial of hate crime severity and need for legislation), Compassion (high score reflect compassion toward victims and affected communities) and Sentencing (higher scores reflect more punitive attitudes). In Study 2 (N = 134) we show that scores on Denial are positively associated with those on Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), ideologies known to be associated with prejudice. Compassion was negatively associated with these ideologies. Mediation analyses showed that Big Five personality traits Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness predicted Denial and Compassion via RWA, whereas Agreeableness and Openness predicted scores via SDO, consistent with a dual-process motivation model of hate crime beliefs. Results are discussed in terms of the nature of hate crime beliefs and the importance of understanding public attitudes which may support undesirable social norms and influence jury decision making in trials of hate related offenses.
This chapter introduces the monograph. In doing this, it outlines the author’s recent research into disability hate crime and the motivation behind it. Whilst the particular focus of the author’s work was to understand the hostility enacted against disabled people through a focus on UK public transport, the chapter also explains how hate crime is defined in the UK. The nuances of disability hate crime are presented along with the two most recognised models of disability used. An overview of crime on public transport in general terms is given before the structure of the monograph is presented. The chapter is about breaking new ground. Research of this nature has mainly been avoided to date as has the routine inclusion of disabled people in research. It was the personal and academic aspirations of the author which drove this project as well as the unearthing of the plight of some disabled passengers.
This chapter takes the data revealed in Chaps. 3, 4 and 5 and aligns it with established academic research. The objective here is to ascertain if the experiences of victims and the behaviours of abusers broadly align with that in founded research studies. Aside from focusing on the techniques of abuse and the shorter- and longer-term impacts of abuse, the chapter will additionally explore the acts of collaboration and bystander non-intervention which have been revealed through my research. As well as established research, this chapter will disclose a new explanatory framework to explicate why previously unoffending fellow passengers collaborate in the abuse of disabled people. Collaborative Alimentation Theory is, in itself, new, although it is built on the shoulders of established theorisation.
This concluding chapter reflects on the personal research journey taken to reveal the experiences of disability hate crime victims on public transport by the author. The chapter substantiates the methodology used, its original contribution to knowledge and its findings. The chapter then turns towards the future. It discusses the implications for theory and knowledge and what changes have been made because of the author’s research. It then asks questions of future research and methodology before citing implications for policy and practice in the UK.
Chapter 6 addressed the intensification of Islamophobia that occurred against a historical background of discrimination and prejudice towards Indians, Asians, and Muslims within the United Kingdom. It highlighted how a series of disturbances at the end of the twentieth century and beginning of the twenty-first century underpinned efforts to strengthen social cohesion and develop a new British identity. The present chapter examines the existence of extremist ideologies within Britain. While the government accepted the need to address extremist groups and extremist ideologies within previous policy discourse, here the focus will be extended to include extremist far right and left wing political parties within Britain and also address the penetration of illiberal thought within populist narratives and media discourse. The present chapter consequently feeds into and informs Chapter 8 that will examine the salience of illiberal thought during the lead-up to the 2016 referendum campaign and thereafter.
This chapter examines accusations of discriminatory policing during the 1970s and 1980s within Britain. It addresses the communal response to what was seen as the systematic violation of human rights that culminated with the 1981 Brixton riots. The chapter discusses the subsequent Scarman Inquiry into the disturbances and the legislation that was in its wake. The chapter concludes with an examination of efforts undertaken to measure the extent of racial attacks and harassment.
Now in its second edition, Cybercrime: Key Issues and Debates provides a valuable overview of this fast-paced and growing area of law. As technology develops and internet-enabled devices become ever more prevalent, new opportunities exist for that technology to be exploited by criminals. One result of this is that cybercrime is increasingly recognised as a distinct branch of criminal law. The book offers readers a thematic and critical overview of cybercrime, introducing the key principles and clearly showing the connections between topics as well as highlighting areas subject to debate. Written with an emphasis on the law in the UK but considering in detail the Council of Europe's important Convention on Cybercrime, this text also covers the jurisdictional aspects of cybercrime in international law. Themes discussed include crimes against computers, property, offensive content, and offences against the person, and, new to this edition, cybercrime investigation. Clear, concise and critical, this book is designed for students studying cybercrime for the first time, enabling them to get to grips with an area of rapid change.
Sociology and anthropology show that individual violence does not occur in isolation from social and cultural factors. Nevertheless, until now, much of sociology has shied away from the topic of violence other than through a narrow branch of deviance and crime, while anthropology's immersion methods have made research difficult in contexts of violent conflict. However, studying the social and cultural factors can illuminate a great deal about violence. These two fields hold great potential as our understanding of the complexity of violence grows, and we can draw from the various theories about human society that sociology brings, as well as the documentation of the variety among human societies that anthropology has recorded, to bring our broader understanding of society and culture to human violence. We consider the two disciplines together here because of their increasingly similar approaches, at the same time as the usefulness of bringing together their unique strengths: sociology, for example, has highlighted the central need for social belonging, while anthropology has helped to elucidate the symbolic nature of human actions, even in collective violence. A better awareness of both these fields will help develop a perspective on human violence that is more comprehensive. Indeed, understanding how local, national, and global processes interlink at micro and macro levels has become critical for understanding how violence arises at any level.
The issue of racist victimisation in rural areas has been largely overlooked in academic and political circles, although there is growing evidence to suggest that the prevalence and impact of racism are significant problems for minority ethnic groups living in rural parts of England. This article aims to address the paucity of research conducted in the area by outlining the findings of a study conducted in rural parts of Suffolk (a county in the east of England), which was based upon a series of interviews with victims of racial harassment and local agency workers, a questionnaire survey of minority ethnic groups and focus groups with members of the county's established white rural communities. In highlighting the prejudiced attitudes and stereotypes that affect the day-to-day existence of rural Suffolk's minority ethnic population, the article draws attention to the alarming nature and extent of racial harassment in typically intransient communities, together with the perceived sense of isolation suffered by victims of such harassment. The article also discusses the reasons behind victims' reluctance to report racist incidents, and offers suggestions as to how local agencies can make much-needed improvements to their response to victims in rural areas.