Analysis and Causes of Hate Crimes - Essay Example

Introduction Hate crimes are actions that are criminal in nature and may harm certain groupings or intimidate them. They are usually aimed at people who come from minority groups and may be victimized on the basis of any of the following; their sexual orientation their race religion ethnicity other minority group factors Hate crimes have been in place from time immemorial. One moment in history was during the Nazi regime in the early twentieth Century. During that time, atrocities, killings and other forms of hate crimes were committed against people who held religious and ideological differences from the majority groups. More hate crimes were eventually perpetuated with the increasing number of blacks in The American Republic; this has been a problem that still exists up to modern day. Most recently, hate crimes have been geared towards people with an uncommon sexual orientation more commonly known as gays or lesbians. This latter group has attracted a lot of attention and has brought about a lot of psychological insights into the reasons why people engage in those hate crimes and what psychological trauma could result from those acts. (Bodenhausen, 1990) Psychological problems that underlie hate crimes Insecurities The human nature is such that when it has been faced with a particular problem which it does not seem to understand very well, it may look for the nearest party to blame. Prior to the September eleven attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon, there were numerous cases of many Arab Americans who could walk the street freely without fear or intimidation. But after the attacks, Arabs all of a sudden became the objects of scorn, suspicions, verbal abuses, threats, those who had shops had their property looted and some were even killed for the simple ‘misfortune’ of being an Arab. This scenario could most likely have been brought about by the fact that most people were now feeling more insecure. They felt that they had to do something to protect themselves since they did not feel safe within their country. They started viewing those they were unfamiliar with as potential suspects. A professor in psychology at the University of Massachusetts called Ervin Staub attributes such behavior to a reduced level of self importance. When Americans had been attacked by some other group, they felt that their senses of self had gone down and they regarded the world as a hazardous place. (Darley & Gross, 1983) It must be noted that not all people are capable of acting out on their feelings of mistrust. Most of them in fact go out of their way to suppress them but there are others who may not be able to control those emotions. This could be the reason why numerous cases of hate crimes were reported at that time. There was a scenario when one driver wanted to deliberately run over a woman of Pakistani origin. Besides that, there was also another case of someone who killed an owner of a gas station in Arizona. There were other less conspicuous acts that occurred as a direct result of the rising insecurities that Americans felt after the September eleventh terrorist attacks. The issue of insecurity here is in relation to an entire culture. It can be applied to explain why there may be a common phenomenon present among many members of a certain community/ society. Plenty of Americans felt suspicious of Arabs and this could be potential cause of hate crime. However, if such people were adequately informed about the Arab culture, then it would have gone a long way in reducing or eliminating those rising insecurities. (Bodenhausen, 1990) Tendencies towards aggression A research done by a psychologist from the University of California called Durban incorporated forensic techniques in the analysis of hate crimes. The research was done by examining the following issues from five hundred and fifty offenders of hate crimes; pathology levels child history motivation It was found that most of the offenders were not manic depressive or schizophrenic. But most of them had a considerably high level of aggression. They tended to engage in antisocial behavior more easily than other members who were not. The psychologist found that most people who had a tendency to engage in hate crimes were people who are already disturbed. They are usually problematic and they have the potential and capability of posing danger to the society. This can be attributed to the fact that most of them had bad childhoods. It is highly likely that they may have been abused by their parents or close relatives during their early years. Children who are brought up in such a manner assume that the only way to deal with problems is through violence. This could be the reason why some of them engage in those acts. (Dunbar, 1997) To further substantiate Doctor Durban’s argument, hate crimes are normally committed after intense and long periods of drafting and planning. Spontaneity is not a common feature in these kinds of crimes. It is possible to find that someone who engaged in gay bashment has most likely followed the victim for a very long time so that they may choose a favorable area to work in. On top of that, one may find that a hate crime offender used to start with small acts or utterances, this then graduate into deeper issues and they eventually enter into violence or arson. This implies that such a perpetrator had the potential to commit those crimes but was simply waiting for the ample opportunity. In line with this last argument, most hate crime offenders take advantage of situations when there is general unrest in their country or society. They try to look for reasons to justify their actions like the terrorist attacks. This is because those acts will be understood by the rest of society. These offenders are normally people who had horrible experiences but never got the chance to vent out their frustrations and emotions. Consequently, these are the same people who will let out those unexpressed feelings at certain minority groups. (Conference on Civil Rights, 1997) An example occurred in the year 1998 during the month of June in the State of Texas. It had been found that there were three white men who held criminal records in the past. They came past a black man who happened to have a limp. These same people beat him up until he passed away. But they did not stop at that, they placed him at the back of their truck and pushed him until parts of his body were mutilated. There may have been a number of Texas residents who had negative perceptions in their minds about members of the black race but they did not act upon those stereotypes because they new better. The three men who did this, already had criminal tendencies and this hate crime was simply a manifestation of that deeper underlying social psychological problem The ‘out group’ phenomenon There are a number of psychologists who came up with the theory below, thee include Bernadette Park and Judd both from the University of Colorado, there was also Clark McCauley from the University of Pennsylvania. (American Psychological Association, 1996) The psychologists suggested that most people look at others who may not be members of their homogenous group as outsiders. They claim that it is very likely for one to lump members who may not come from their in-group into one common group where they all posses the same personalities. This is because it is quite difficult to make out certain distinctive features from them. Yet this is a very necessary thing that allows one to individuate another. Stereotypes normally arise as result of people who may not consider members from the out group as people with distinguishing features. For example, during the mid twentieth Century, there was a law that prohibited people from China to enter the US. But because people were not able to tell the difference, they also included Koreans and the Japanese in these sentiments. These outsiders are more likely to be branded one all encompassing name or image and it is assumed to cover all. This is normally as a result of low levels of knowledge or ignorance on the part of the offender. For example, prior to the 9-11 terrorist attacks, not many Americans new about Arabs, and the little information they got about them was that they were terrorists. The quickest tendency was for natives to assume that all people of Arab descent are militant and dangerous. This view was worsened by the fact that most Arabs within the United States can only be found in limited locations. There was very little room for them to interact with the natives. On top of that, little information was available about the history of Arabs and Islam. Ignorance could be the reason why mot people misunderstood the Iranian situation that occurred in 1980. The people who took hostage of that plane were in fact simply anti-Israeli; most people from Iran are not even of Arab descendent. But this assumption was made by most Americans because they did not have full knowledge of the goings on at that time; an offender who may base the foundation of his hatred on the fact that Arabs are ‘militants’ is in fact uninformed. This was the reason why Dr. McCauley believes that most of the time, hate crimes should not be called thus; they should be called crimes of ignorance or crimes of fear. (Fein S. & Spencer, 1997) Automatically activated attitudes A research done by a Doctor of psychology from the University of Columbia called Russell Fazio laid a foundation for the above theory. This social psychologist believes that most people who interacted with members of a different race tended to have negative associations of those people. They held those beliefs even without meeting them. This is what he called the automatically activated attitudes. He conducted an experiment where he got members of a different race in a line. He then asked them to describe those pictures as soon as they saw them with one word. It was found that most subjects had negative adjectives when they saw races different from theirs but the opposite was true for their own race. Dr. Russell believes that when one has negative associations about a particular race then they are most likely going to have limited if not negative interactions with those members of another race. On top of that, there was also a research conducted by Faz Tamara of Indian University. He asked a number of white subjects what they felt about interacting with members of the opposite race i.e. blacks in both intimate and non intimate interactions. It was found that most white subjects felt negative associations with blacks during interactions that were non intimate in nature for example a case of being served by a black person as a waiter in a restaurant. This also applies to those who were placed in more intimate situations. For example when one was required to share a dormitory with a black person or when they were required to date a black person. The situation was so tense that most people were unable to make the first move towards those members of the other race. This is the reason why many black minorities or Arab Americans may face hostilities from members who may not be of their own race. There is a brush-off trait that normally crops up automatically. But the level to which this can cause other negative consequences differs from one individual to another. (Franklin, 1997) Misconceptions about economic and social factors There was research done by Jack Glaser of the University of California, Berkeley Goldman, Don Green of the Yale University and Andrew Rich who are all PHD holders. These psychologists investigated the reasons that could result in racial hatred. They did this by going to an environment that had mixed groups of people. They then talked to members who formed groups that were considered racists. These groups were then asked why they felt they way they did about members of the opposite race. It was found that most of them wanted to safeguard the integrity of their social group. (Green et al, 1998) The psychologists made charts about some of the reasons that justified their racist beliefs. It was found that most people believed that if they allowed blacks to interact with them, then they would come and take over their jobs. But majority of them seemed to be deeply disturbed by the fact that interracial marriages could occur. They felt that this could affect their homogeneity. The latter reason seemed to ignite a lot of passions within members of those groups more than the former reason. Another investigation was done by the same team to ascertain whether economic disputes as has been claimed earlier were the major causes of stereotypes and consequently hate crimes. It was found that some cases in the past were misinterpreted. For example in the 1940s, there were serious cases of lynching in the South. Those cases of lynching had been attributed to the fact that cotton prices had gone up. But the number of lynching was found not to relate to cotton prices. This served to nullify that fact. The team therefore claimed that the reason why the lynching went on was more social - cultural than economic. (Green & Donald, 1997) In line with this argument is the issue of ‘nativism’. Here, people believe that policies within their country should favor natives or people who were originally in that country. Such stereotypes normally stem form the fact that people assume immigrant populations will come and take away part of what was theirs. They believe that the immigrants may make them loose their jobs. Those people believe that it will be against the norm for them to admit people of a different background. This can bring about friction between those groups and consequently antagonism. One typical case is the way Hispanics are targeted by the majority group in the US. In the year 1995, it was found that 64% of all the hate crimes based in country were aimed at Hispanics; this was because they were immigrants. It has also been found that this fear of loosing economically could be the cause of many hate crimes that occurred in the California. Coincidentally, these people happened to be of Hispanic origin. Immigrants were also blamed for many economic and social problems that occurred in the South West; these were Mexicans. Most of these groups underwent numerous cases of torture and some were even deported. Another case in point is the increased cases of hate crimes against people of Pacific Asian Origin. In the year 1996, there was a Korean lady who had been beaten up until her hip was broken. In the year before that, there were about four hundred and sixty one cases of assault on people from Pacific Asian countries. The reasons that propagated those hate crimes were the fact that most perpetrators held the belief that most people from those areas are very hard working and academic. They are very likely to succeed in their endeavors and this poses as a threat to some natives. They believe that these communities may become more successful than them and may even take over their jobs. (American Psychological Association, 1996) Societal permissions Some people may believe that it is their right to commit hate crimes since they assume that they are acting in the best interest of society. Such people take up a role of a ‘hero’. They believe that they will be doing justice to society by riding it off such forces of ‘immorality’. For example most perpetrators of hate crimes against gay men and lesbians believe that they have a justification for committing those crimes and that society is okay with it. This was research that was done by Dr. Karen Franklin from an Institute of Mental Illness from Washington. On top of that, it is a common phenomenon to find that most victims of hate crimes do not report cases of hate crimes because they believe that the entire system already has a bias towards them. For example a research done by the La Ranza National Council found that most Hispanics avoid reporting cases of hate crimes against them to the authorities because they believe that there is already bias that police have against them. Most homosexual victims of hate crimes do not report crimes committed against them because they believe that the rest of society holds a bias against them. In the County of Los Angeles, it was found that about 67% of gay and lesbian victims felt that the system disfavored them consequently; they never report their cases to the police. Such a bias that may exist in society serves to encourage perpetrators of hate crimes because they believe that their crime will be dealt with in a less severe manner or the fact that victims themselves fear retribution from society. (Conference on Civil Rights, 1997) Most of the criminals who commit engage in those acts take it upon themselves to send a message to the rest of the members of that target community. They are trying to inform members of another race that they are not welcome in their community. They hope that one crime committed by them will serve as reason to instill fear in members of the race that was victimized. Drugs and alcohol The reasons that have been examined above about the way people hold biased views have shown that there may be cases where people may hold a biased view. The may look at others as the different ‘other’. But this may not be reason enough for them to engage in horrendous acts. They that may be under the influence of alcohol may be under clouded judgment or may lack the self control necessary to prevent them from engaging in those hate crimes. It is also possible that such people may have lacked the courage to commit those crimes when sober. Alcohol or drugs will serve as a fuel that pushes them to engage in these acts so that there will be no sense of regret or hesitation from their part. Thrill seekers and peer dynamics There are a number of adolescents or teenagers who may not look into the severity of their hate crimes. Most of them simply want to depict a certain image of toughness amongst their peers. They may want to illustrate how they are tough by being heterosexual. They will therefore choose victims that may be gay to prove that point. In addition, these same youth may simply be looking for something to occupy their time. Since victims of hate crimes are most likely people who are defenseless or weak; then they form easy targets for such groups of adolescents. (Green et al, 1998) In relation to this, it is very easy to find that most cases of hate crimes are perpetrated by the youth because most of these youngsters have high tendencies to engage in risky behavior. They tend not to look into issues critically as most of them will be easily be convinced by groups and will most likely engage in those acts without having valid reasons for their actions. Self defense assailants There may be some groups that operate under the notion that they are protecting themselves against future crimes that may be committed against them. For example, one might find that an assailant may believe that certain minority groups like blacks will become criminals if they let them live in their neighborhoods. This is why it is a common phenomenon to find most hate crimes being committed in areas where there are renewed immigrants. Some people think that those minorities will become dangerous in the future so they take it upon themselves to wipe them out in the present. But a deeper analysis into the feelings that such people reveals that most of these perpetrators may be afraid of changing from the traditional way of doing things and adopting a new way of life. Some people may perceive gays and lesbians as sexual aggressors. They imagine that these people if left unchecked will come for them and they consider themselves as prey. Therefore such people take it upon themselves to prevent these future advances by trying to stop homosexual acts all together. (Community Relations Service, 1997) Conclusion Hate crimes have been a sad history of America and the rest of the world. Most of the reasons why they occur surpass time and history. This is because there are some common attributes that may be found in assailants. One of the most common is the fact that most perpetrators have a tendency towards aggression and may simply be looking for a scapegoat. Others may experience a sense of loss after a major event has occurred. On top of that, there may be cases of misinformation especially with groups that normally do not come in contact with an ‘out-group’. Others may believe that they will be doing society justice by committing the crimes. Sometimes reasons may be minor like drugs or peer influence. Reference American Psychological Association (1996): Is youth violence just another fact of life? A journal for clarifying the debate: Psychology examines the issues Community Relations Service, U.S. Department of Justice (1997): Hate crime: The violence of intolerance, a report by the US department of Justice Dunbar, E. (1997): Hate crime patterns in Los Angeles County: Demographic and behavioral factors of victim impact and reporting of crime, a report presented by the American Psychological Association Franklin, K. (1997): Psychosocial motivations of hate crime perpetrators: Implications for prevention and policy, a report presented by the American Psychological Association Green, Donald P. (1997): Cause of hate: Economics versus demographics, a report presented by the American Psychological Association and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Green, Glaser, Jack, Rich, Donald P. & Andrew (1998): From lynching to gay-bashing: The elusive connection between economic conditions and hate crime, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, pp. 1-11. Conference on Civil Rights (1997): Cause for concern: Hate crimes in America, a report for civil rights Fein, S., & Spencer, S. (1997): Prejudice as self-image maintenance: Affirming the self through derogating others; Routledge Publications Darley, J. M., & Gross, P. H. (1983): A hypothesis-confirming bias in labeling effects; Melbourne publishers Bodenhausen, G. V. (1990): Stereotypes as judgmental heuristics: evidence of circadian variations in discrimination; University of Colorado Publishers Read More