Usually, hate crimes are considered assaults against all members of a particular marginalized or stigmatized group (Perry, 2009). A hate crime includes the following two elements. Firstly, it is an act that is recognized to be an offense under criminal law. Secondly, the motives of the perpetrator of the crime are based on prejudice or bias, which can vary. A hate crime is not a new phenomenon; it traces back to World War I (FBI, 2017). Nowadays, it is the highest priority of the FBI’s Civil Rights program, which is connected with tremendous devastating effects that hate crimes have on families and communities. In addition, the dangerous nature of hate crimes can be seen when groups that are devoted to the ideas of intolerance plant the seed of terrorism in their own countries. Innocent individuals or groups of people usually become victims of such crimes in consequence of their race, religion, or ethnicity.
In average, FBI counts approximately between 5,000 and 6,000 hate crimes annually (Glickhouse, 2017). However, the total number is considered to be higher than that. The reason is that many victims of such crimes do not report what happened to them. As a result, this concealment leads to impunity of their offenders.
Thus, in order to prevent or effectively address hate crimes, the society has to provide psychological support to victims of those crimes. At the same time, law enforcement training, enhancement of methods of public outreach, and establishment of partnership with a wide range of community groups which activity is connected with prevention of hate crimes are essential measures in solving the issue of hate crimes.
References
FBIю (2017). Hate сrimes. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/civil-rights/hate-crimes
Glickhouse, R. (2017). What we know - and don't know - about hate crimes in America. Retrieved from https://www.propublica.org/article/what-we-know-and-dont-know-about-hate-crimes-in-america
Perry, B., Levin, B., Iganski, P., Blazak, R., & Lawrence, F. M. (2009). Hate crimes. Responding to hate crime. Westport, CT: Praeger.
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