Definition
Hate crimes are criminal offenses motivated by offenders’ animus toward their victims based on victims’ race, religion, sexual orientation, or other such characteristic. Hate groups are organizations of individuals whose organizing purpose is thought to reflect animus toward certain people based on their race, religion, sexual orientation, or other such characteristic.
The Economics of (Hate) Crime
Gary Becker (1968) pioneered the economics of crime by applying rational choice theory to analyze decisions to break the law. In his rendering, and in most of the enormous literature in the economics of crime following Becker, criminal activity is motivated by the prospect of material gain.
Although material gain undoubtedly motivates the vast majority of criminal behavior, it does not motivate all of it. One example of criminal behavior not so motivated is that which reflects “hate crime.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines such crime as “criminal offense against a...
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Ryan, M.E., Leeson, P.T. (2017). Hate Groups and Hate Crime. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_686-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_686-1
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Hate Groups and Hate Crime- Published:
- 09 June 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_686-2
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Hate Groups and Hate Crime- Published:
- 29 April 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_686-1