Hate crimes - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... FBI conducted a study through which it has revealed various characteristics of hate crime offenders. This study was based on a total of more than 5000 hate crime criminals. FBI reports that the highest percentage of criminals belonged to the white race (FBI, 2011). There is lack of data regarding the age of offenders, but according to a report that was created on the statistics of 1997 to 1999, majority of the offenders were below the age of 18 (Justice.gov, 2001).
Certain individuals belonging to different gender, race, religion and ethnicity are constantly being victimized through hate crime. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has reported that most of the hate crimes were carried out against victims who aged 12 to 17 and victims mostly belonged to the white race (Bjs.gov, 2013). These victims even belonged to households that were earning less than a total income of $25,000 per year and around 61 percent of the reported victims belonged to the male gender (Bjs.gov, 2013). The report even states that it is quite difficult to clearly predict the characteristics of victims due to lower number of reporting.
There is one single cause of hate crime and that is that the offender is prejudiced or biased against a characteristic of the victim. The offenders mostly target victims on the basis of their gender, age, sexual orientation and/or religion. The offender is most likely to hold a negative view point against the victim’s characteristics due to lack of tolerance for their characteristic. Victims of hate crime have to suffer various consequences that may impact them individually and even their family members. Victims may experience death or injury or their p-property might be damaged. The chances are that victims may even turn into offenders in order to seek revenge.
In order to tackle the issue of hate crime, policy makers and the criminal justice system needs to tackle the cause of hate crime. The main cause of hate crime is intolerance ...Download file to see next pagesRead More