Hate Crime Research Paper - Report Example

Hate Crimes Introduction Hate crimes are criminal occurrences targeting a particular individual of people based on prejudice or elements of hostility towards a particular individual of people. Such incidences are usually affiliated to disability, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation and transgender identity (Willis 72). Both in law and crime, hate crimes are usually bias-based and in most instances, they usually result in violent activities against the targeted individuals. There are numerous incidences that involve physical assaults, damages to property and other forms of insults. Considering the wide spread occurrences of hate, there have been a number of laws and other regulative mechanisms put up in order to help such occurrences. However, despite the steps taken in curbing hate crimes, there are still rampant occurrences of such elements. Based on such a perspective, the paper analyses the occurrences of hate crimes, considering that they are biased-based crimes targeting particular individuals or people based on prejudice, which lead to violent activities against such individuals as well as cases in which individuals have experienced similar occurrences. Based on the fact that hate crime is a criminal occurrence motivated by the prejudice against a certain individual or group of people, many questions linger in an individual’s mind as to what factors would causes an individual’s prejudice to lead to the aggression of hate crime. Such a perspective has indeed been a question among many individuals, which begs the question of what are the causes of hate crime. Based on the manner in which the crimes usually occur, it is evident that the major cause of hate crimes is having the feeling of threat attributed to the integration of a certain group of people to which the perpetrator of the hate crimes is usually already prejudiced against. Additionally, experts have identified various factors as contributing factors towards the initiation of hate crimes among many individuals. Current occurrences such as the rise in equality and minority power, women’s rights and other rights associated with various individuals such as gay rights, have played a substantive role towards the increase of hate crimes (Willis 212). Under various circumstances, individuals and people of certain regions are usually guided by certain believes and activities. Going contrary to such occurrences is usually an avenue to attract hate groups from individuals of specific region affiliations, which usually end up causing hate crimes in such situations. Evidently, it is clear that despite the manner in which the hate crimes are usually carried out, they usually have origins in the perpetrators having certain feeling of threat leading to anger against individuals who previously had been prejudiced by the perpetrator, due to factors such as integration (Tripkovic 99). In many instances of hate crimes, the victims usually end up dead, however, whenever they survive the ordeals; there are usually significant psychological consequences faced by both the victims and other individuals associated with the victims. Such consequences include affective disturbances on the identity and self-esteem of the affected individuals, which might take longer time to heal and come back to normalcy. Other consequences include ominous effects of people belonging to the target group, mostly when the reasons associated with the hate have certain doctrinal and ideological differences between the perpetrator and target groups. Following the manner in which hate crimes are usually committed, it is substantively clear that hate crimes are usually different from other crimes on the basis that the offender, regardless of the intention involved in carrying out such activities is usually sending a stern message to particular individuals of the target group, that they are indeed unwanted in the specific environment they currently occupy, or even that the activities that the particular group engages in are unwanted in the surrounding environment (Roleff 74). Based on such a perspective, it is substantively clear that such crimes are usually performed as an element of victimization of certain individuals of particular group (Winters 62). In the recent past, hate crime has become a global problem with different regions experiencing only different angles of the crimes. With such occurrences, there has been an urgent need for the development of laws and other regulative measures that would work to curb the occurrences of hate crimes. As already stated above that unlike other crimes that are usually committed without any purpose of victimization, but instead inflicting pain and making gains over the victims, hate crimes are usually intended to send signals to the target victims that indeed they are unwanted. Therefore, in instances in which hate crime perpetrators attack a certain group of individuals, such as school kids with a certain affiliations like religion or culture, then it should never be taken as if such kids are the only targets but instead all the people that also affiliate to such kids on the religious of cultural perspectives. One case that has significant affiliation to hate crime is that of Teena Brandon. Teena Brandon’s case is one that has been a subject of debate for a long period of time, considering the circumstances under which she, even though dressed like a man, was killed. The Teena Brandon’s case was a hate crime occurrence that had roots in transgender identity. Teena Brandon was actually a female dressed like a man, who had visited Falls City from her rural home in Lincoln, Nebraska and was by the said time making a stay at Lisa Lambert’s home (Karina 58). Like it has been addressed above, hate crimes usually involve a brutal attack against an individual or group of individuals based on certain prejudice against certain characteristics by the individuals, which include sexual orientation, race, culture, ethnicity, transgender identity, and disability. In the Teena Brandon’s case, there is a criminal instance as a result of transgender identity as Teena Brandon was first raped then later killed due to issues pertaining to transgender identity as despite being female, she had dressed like a man (Uschan 512). The crime was therefore, because of an initial prejudice against Teena Brandon. Based on such a perspective, it is therefore evident that the murder of Teena Brandon was similar to other hate crimes affiliated to transgender identity. Like in many criminal cases, the media play a substantive role towards delivering information to the general public. In Teena Brandon’s case, it is evident that immediately after the murder, the news made headlines and many people were able to know about the criminal occurrence. By such a perspective, the media played a substantive role in informing the public about the occurrences of such crimes. However, despite the media having provided sufficient information to the public of the brutal murder of Teena Brandon, it was until a film “Boys Don’t Cry in 1999” by Kimberly Peirce, did the news reach the greatest number of citizens in the American public platform (Karina 85). This shows that indeed, the media still played a crucial role in informing the public audience. In the case, Teena Brandon, a female by physical appearance, dressed like a man, thereby attracting the attention of Lotter and Nissen, who would later brutally beat her and rape her before leaving her for the dead. In such occurrences, the victim was Teena Brandon and the perpetrators of the crime being Lotter and Nissen. However, later, Lotter and Nissen would attack Lisa Lambert’s home, shooting all those in their way, leading to the death of Teena Brandon (Perry 164). Such occurrence brings into perspective the aspect indeed in hate crimes, not only are the targets become victims but also other individuals who have relation to the victims. Such shows the similarity as discussed above in which hate crimes do not only affect the target victims but also those surrounding them. After all the occurrences, the result was that Teena Brandon was dead while the perpetrators of the crime, Lotter and Nissen, remain in police custody serving their terms with different counts of murder (Connors 127). Additionally, the case had a substantive significance to the society in that individuals with transgender identity issues remain under threat as they remain a target for perpetrators such as Lotter and Nissen. Works Cited Connors, Paul G.. "Hate crimes: v.1: Understanding and defining hate crime; v.2: The consequences of hate crime; v.3: The victims of hate crime; v.4: Hate crime offenders; v.5: Responding to hate crime." Choice Reviews Online 46.12 (2009): Print. Karina Eileraas, The Brandon Teena Story: Rethinking the Body, Gender Identity and Violence Against Women. Ann Arbor, MI: MPublishing, University of Michigan Library 2002 Perry, Barbara. Hate crimes. Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 2009. Print. Roleff, Tamara L.. Hate crimes. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2001. Print. Tripkovic, Milena. "Expansion of hate: Essential features of mass hate crimes." Temida 14.4 (2011): 37-54. Print. Uschan, Michael V.. Hate crimes. Detroit: Lucent Books, 2007. Print. Willis, Laurie. Hate crimes. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Print. Winters, Paul A.. Hate crimes. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Print. Read More