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Hate Crimes Research Paper

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Hate Crimes Research Paper
Lifeless bodies with slashed throats were found in the mountains of Virginia nearly six years ago. This is quite a disturbing image; the unfortunate result of a hate crime. What exactly is a hate crime? The American Psychological Association defines hate crimes as "violent acts against people, property, or organizations because of the group to which they belong or identify with" (1). The different groups usually involved include homosexuals, ethnic groups, and religion affiliations.

Dr. Jack McDevitt, a criminologist at Northeastern University in Boston, said hate crimes are forms of messages the offender wants to send to members of certain groups letting them know they are unwelcome in that neighborhood, community, school or workplace (APA, …show more content…
Rice is serving an 11-year sentence in federal prison in Petersburg, Virginia, for attempting to abduct and kill a female bicyclist in the same park in 1997. U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft called the killings of Williams and Winans "hate crimes" and said Rice could also receive the death penalty, in addition to the present sentence (Frieden, 1).

Examples of hate crimes provided by Stephen Wessler 's "Addressing Hate Crimes: Six Initiatives" include (3):

·the dragging death of African-American James Byrd, Jr., in Jasper, Texas

·the deadly attack on Matthew Sheppard, a gay student in Laramie, Wyoming

·the shooting rampage targeting minority citizens in Chicago

·the shootings of children at a Jewish community center in Los Angeles

·the murder of Joseph Santos Ileto, a Filipino-American mail …show more content…
4.Establish school policies which clearly indicate that hate-motivated behavior will not be tolerated.

On a wider scale, since the 1980s research on hate crimes has increased, especially from those in the fields of criminology and law enforcement. There focus is primarily on reporting the frequency of the problem and preparing criminal justice responses to it. While many hate motivated crimes go unreported, the number of reported incidents is up. However, with special training, people are prepared to deal with the situations.

According to Wessler, the first professionals to respond to the scene of a hate crime are police officers. How they act in the situation will affect the outcome of the incident. Wessler stated, "law enforcement agencies have a pivotal role in responding to, investigating, prosecuting, and preventing hate crimes." Training is given to the police officers in order to carry out their role. Wessler said the training includes how to "recognize and investigate potential hate crimes, have clear protocols on how to respond to hate violence, and develop innovative programs for preventing the hate
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