Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Hate Crimes: A Special Category of Victimization

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan

Abstract

Hate crimes are a special category of criminal behavior that involve targeting victims because of their group affiliation or immutable characteristics. Conceptually, hate crimes must include both a criminal offense and bias motivation on behalf of the offender(s). Both the criminal offense and the bias motivation need to be legally defined by statutory provisions. This chapter addresses the historical context of hate crimes in terms of occurrence and legislative response. Following the passing of the Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, the federal government began tracking the prevalence of hate crimes in the United States. Since then, surveillance systems such as the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program and the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) have measured hate crimes on an annual basis. Patterns and trends from both the UCR and NCVS are presented and compared. Over the course of the last three decades, legislation at both the federal and state levels has evolved in terms of what bias motivations (e.g., race, sexual orientation, and disability) are recognized by law and how the criminal justice system should respond to hate crimes. The debate over constitutionality of hate crime legislation is discussed. The perpetration of hate crime is addressed in the context of offenders and hate groups. Both formal and informal methods of fighting hate and preventing hate crimes are illustrated. The current body of research on this topic is evaluated to show the uniqueness of hate crime and issues with the underreporting by both victims and law enforcement. Finally, directions for the future of research and policy responses to hate crime are recommended.

This chapter was initially published with an incorrect copyright holder name. It has been corrected to © Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anti-Defamation League. (2012). Hate crime laws. Imagine a world without hate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466. (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  • Berrill, K. T. (1990). Anti-gay violence and victimization in the United States: An overview. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 5(3), 274–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berrill, K. T., & Herek, G. M. (1990). Primary and secondary victimization in anti-gay hate crimes official response and public policy. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 5(3), 401–413.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483. (1954).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of Justice Assistance. (1997). A policymaker’s guide to hate crimes-national criminal justice reference service. https://www.ncjrs.gov/

  • Campus Hate Crimes Right to Know Act, H.R. Res. 3043, 105 Cong. (1997).

    Google Scholar 

  • Carrier, J. (2004). Ten ways to fight hate: A community response guide. Montgomery: Southern Poverty Law Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Church Arson Prevention Act, H.R. Res. 3525, 104 Cong. (1996).

    Google Scholar 

  • Civil Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. § 245. (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, K. M. (2002). Examining hate-motivated aggression: A review of social psychological literature on hate crimes as a distinct form of aggression. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 7, 85–101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crime Codes of Pennsylvania 18 Pa.C.S. § 2710 Ethnic Intimidation. (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  • Cronin, S. W., McDevitt, J., Farrell, A., & Nolan, J. J. (2007). Bias-crime reporting organizational responses to ambiguity, uncertainty, and infrequency in eight police departments. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(2), 213–231.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar, E. (2003). Symbolic, relational, and ideological signifiers of bias motivated offenders: Toward a strategy of assessment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 73(2), 203–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2000). Hate crime statistics, 2000. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2000

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2001). Hate crime statistics, 2001. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2001

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2014). Hate crime statistics, 2014. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2014

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2015a). Crime in the United States, 2015. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2015/crime-in-the-u.s.-2015

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2015b). Hate crime data collection guidelines and training manual. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime-data-collection-guidelines-and-training-manual.pdf

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2015c). Hate crime statistics, 2015. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2015

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2016a). Crime in the United States, 2016. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016

  • Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2016b). Hate crime statistics, 2016. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2016

  • Fetzer, M. D., & Pezzella, F. S. (2016). The nature of bias crime injuries: A comparative analysis of physical and psychological victimization effects. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 34, 3864. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260516672940.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gellman, S. (1992). Hate crime laws are thought crime laws. Annual Survey of American Law, 1992/1993 (4), 509–531

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerstenfeld, P. B. (2017). Hate crimes: Causes, controls, & controversies. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Grattet, R., & Jenness, V. (2008). Transforming symbolic law into organizational action: Hate crime policy and law enforcement practice. Social Forces, 87(1), 501–527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haider-Markel, D. P. (2000). Enforcers and activist: The politics of hate crime policy implementation. Paper presented at American Psychological Association conference, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harlow, C. W. (2005). Hate crime reported by victims and police. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act, H.R. Res. 1152, 103 Cong. (1993).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hate Crimes Statistics Act, H.R. Res. 1048, 101 Cong. (1990).

    Google Scholar 

  • Herek, G. M., Gillis, J. R., & Cogan, J. C. (1999). Psychological sequelae of hate-crime victimization among lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 67(6), 945.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iganski, P. (2001). Hate crimes hurt more. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(4), 626–638.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iganski, P., & Lagou, S. (2014). The personal injuries of “hate crime”. In N. Hall, A. Cord, P. Giannasi, & J. Grieve (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook on hate crime (pp. 34–46). London: Routledge

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacobs, J. B., & Potter, K. (1998). Hate crimes: Criminal law & identity politics. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacoby, J. (2002). Punish crime, not thought crime. In P. Iganski (Ed.), The hate debate: Should hate be punished as a crime (pp. 114–122). London: The Institute of Jewish Policy Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawrence, F. M. (2009). Punishing hate: Bias crimes under American law. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, B. (1993). A dream deferred: The social and legal implications of hate crimes in the 1990s. Journal of Intergroup Relations, 20(3), 3–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, B. (1999). Hate crimes: Worse by definition. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 15, 6–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, J. (2002). The violence of hate: Confronting racism, anti-semitism, and other forms of bigotry. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, J., & McDevitt, J. (1993). Hate crimes: The rising tide of bigotry and bloodshed. New York: Plenum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin, J., & McDevitt, J. (2002). Hate crimes revisited: America’s war on those who are different. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lim, H. A. (2009). Beyond the immediate victim: Understanding hate crimes as message crimes. In B. Perry (Ed.), Hate crimes: The consequences of hate crime, 2, 107–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, P. (1999). High rape chronicity and low rates of help-seeking among wife rape survivors in a nonclinical sample implications for research and practice. Violence Against Women, 5(9), 993–1016.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maldonado, M. (1992). Practical problems with enforcing hate crimes legislation in New York. Annual Survey of American Law, 1992/1993(4), 555–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, S. E. (1996). Investigating hate crimes: Case characteristics and law enforcement responses. Justice Quarterly, 13(3), 455–480.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masucci, M., & Langton, L. (2017). Hate crime victimization, 2004–2015. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDevitt, J., Balboni, J., Garcia, L., & Gu, J. (2001). Consequences for victims: A comparison of bias-and non-bias-motivated assaults. American Behavioral Scientist, 45(4), 697–713.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDevitt, J., Levin, J., & Bennett, S. (2002). Hate crime offenders: An expanded typology. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 303–317.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDevitt, J., Balboni, J. M., Bennett, S., Weiss, J. C., Orchowsky, S., & Walbolt, L. (2003). Improving the quality and accuracy of bias crime statistics nationally: an assessment of the first ten years of bias crime data collection Final Report Submitted to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. In B. Perry (Ed.), Hate and bias crime – A reader (pp. 77–89). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Messner, S. F., McHugh, S., & Felson, R. B. (2004). Distinctive characteristics of assaults motivated by bias. Criminology, 42(3), 585–618.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morsch, J. (1991). The problem of motive in hate crimes: The argument against presumptions of racial motivation. Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, 82, 659–689.

    Google Scholar 

  • National LGBTQ Task Force. (2013). Hate crime laws in the U.S. Retrieved from http://www.thetaskforce.org/hate-crimes-laws-map/

  • New York State Law, NYS.P.L. § 240.31. (2017).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nolan, J. J., & Akiyama, Y. (1999). An analysis of factors that affect law enforcement participation in hate crime reporting. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 15(1), 111–127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, B., & Alvi, S. (2012). ‘We are all vulnerable’ the in terrorem effects of hate crimes. International Review of Victimology, 18(1), 57–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petrosino, C. (1999). Connecting the past to the future: Hate crime in America. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 15(1), 22–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pezzella, F. S. (2017). Hate crime statutes: A public policy and law enforcement dilemma. New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pezzella, F. S., & Fetzer, M. D. (2017). The likelihood of injury among bias crimes: An analysis of general and specific bias types. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(5), 703–729.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pezzella, F. S., Fetzer, M. D., & Keller, T. (2019). The dark figure of hate crime underreporting. American Behavioral Scientist, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218823844.

  • Philips, M. (2002). Hate crime: The Orwellian response to prejudice. In P. Iganski (Ed.), The hate debate: Should hate be punished as a crime (pp. 123–131). London: The Institute of Jewish Policy Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • R. A.V. v. St. Paul, 505 U.S. 377. (1992).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, M. E., & Leeson, P. T. (2011). Hate groups and hate crime. International Review of Law & Economics, 31(4), 256–262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sandholtz, N., Langton, L., & Planty, M. (2013). Hate crime victimization, 2003–2011. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shepard, M., & Byrd, J. Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C § 249. (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shively, M. (2005). Study of literature and legislation on hate crime in America: Final report. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strom, K. (2001). Hate crimes reported in NIBRS, 1997–99. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorneycroft, R., & Asquith, N. L. (2015). The dark figure of disablist violence. The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 54(5), 489–507.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torres, S. (1999). Hate crimes against African Americans: The extent of the problem. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 15(1), 48–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, S., & Katz, C. M. (1995). Less than meets the eye: Police department bias-crime units. American Journal of Police, 14(1), 29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, M. M. (2014). Hate crime victimization, 2003–2011-statistical tables. Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wisconsin v. Mitchell, 508 U.S. 476. (1993).

    Google Scholar 

Web Resources

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Criminal Justice, Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA, USA

    Matthew D. Fetzer

  2. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, New York, NY, USA

    Frank S. Pezzella

Authors
  1. Matthew D. Fetzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Frank S. Pezzella
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthew D. Fetzer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, Alliant International University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Robert Geffner

  2. School of Health and Human Sciences, University of North Carolina at Greensbo, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Jacquelyn W. White

  3. Dept of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA

    L. Kevin Hamberger

  4. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA

    Alan Rosenbaum

  5. Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work, Norfolk State University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Viola Vaughan-Eden

  6. Education and Research, Zero Abuse Project, St. Paul, MN, USA

    Victor I. Vieth

Section Editor information

  1. School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA

    Michael B. Greene

  2. Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA

    Robert L. Johnson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Fetzer, M.D., Pezzella, F.S. (2020). Hate Crimes: A Special Category of Victimization. In: Geffner, R., White, J.W., Hamberger, L.K., Rosenbaum, A., Vaughan-Eden, V., Vieth, V.I. (eds) Handbook of Interpersonal Violence and Abuse Across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_102-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62122-7_102-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-62122-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-62122-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation