By definition “Hate Crime” is a crime committed by a prejudice held mind-set/s that seeks out indifference within others and uses it as a weapon against them to internally and externally distort the unlucky victims.
This prejudice-motived crime attacks members of a specific/certain group of people that are almost exclusively limited to: sex, ethnicity, disability, language, religion, nationality, physical appearance, gender identity and/or sexual orientation.
Hate Crime violates the victims’ mental and physical health by aggressively taking the civil rights from them. - According to American Psychological Association (APA) states that “Hate crimes are any felony. They are prejudice’s most extreme expression. Compared to other crimes, hate crimes have a broader impact on victims and communities because they target core aspects of identity”.
There are various elements as to why hatred starts, but we can all agree on that it is created within the mind. How a person thinks is evidently the result to how act and/or react to different situations and circumstances faced.
Hatred may sometimes be due to the lack of trust and communication between two or more people, a misunderstanding (the lack of education), a failure of an explanation of some sort, jealousy & envy (due to limited or bad conditions in life), the lack of tolerance (in some cases), anger & unwarranted accusations, pride & greed etc.
Even we discussed what causes hate; hate crime is deeper in meaning as to why it exists.
“Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate”- it is believed by many that hate crimes start from fear of the “unknown”, resulting into violent actions to get rid of something that they (prejudice-motive mind-set) does not know or/and fully understand. E.g.: a family with a disabled child will understand and tolerate his/her condition, because they know what his/her limits are. However, a random person would do or say something in order to point out the indifference within the child, for they don’t understand his/her limits and has no knowledge of what that child goes through with his/her disability daily.-- Additionally, a key psychological perspective in hate crime is the notion that us, as human beings, seek to make sense of and ‘categorize’ the world around us; in order by which creating over generalizations, or stereotypes, about other people.- for easy understanding purposes.
There are four (4) types of motivators working under hates crimes presently.
Firstly, “Thrill-Seeking” are perpetrators engaging in hate crimes for excitement and drama. The actual animosity present in such a crime can be quite low, thrill-seeking crimes were determined to often be dangerous, with 70% of thrill-seeking hate crimes studied involving physical attacks.
Secondly, “Defensive” are perpetrators engaging in hate crimes out of a belief they are protecting their communities. These are often triggered by a certain background event. Perpetrators believe society supports their actions but is too afraid to act and thus they believe they have communal assent in their actions.
Thirdly, “Retaliatory” are perpetrators which engage in hate crimes out of a desire for revenge. This can be in response to personal slurs, other hate crimes or terrorism. The "avengers" target members of a group whom they believe committed the original crime, even if the victims had nothing to do with it. These kinds of hate crimes are a common occurrence after terrorist attacks.
Lastly, “Mission Offenders” are perpetrators which engage in hate crimes out of ideological reasons. They consider themselves to be crusaders, often for a religious or racial cause. They will often write complex explanations for their views and target symbolically important sites while trying to maximize damage. They believe that there is no other way to accomplish their goals, which they consider to be justification for excessive violence against innocents.
Moreover, with all this information I know you are wondering how to handle hate crime as the victims. Well each situation has different ways of solving this terrible wrongdoing; beginning with where the crime is or was being committed. For example: as a student (no matter the age) should always inform a teacher, principal and any member of staff if he/she is experiencing any forms of hate whether in schools, colleges, universities or outside of these educational institutions. Another example: as a worker in any working environment, should also inform their superiors of the misconduct happening. In addition no one should never feel silence by hate being thrown at them in any manner; and if the superiors above you are not doing anything effective to stop this harassment, the police and counsellors are always the best and perfect solutions of dealing with crimes committed.
In further meaning, as for tips in dealing with hate crime are to file a report/complaint, travel in groups (surround yourself with a number of people), video record the incident (victim or bystander), seek professional help such as a therapist, psychotherapist, consultant etc and inform to friends and family for moral support and protection.
Now as a bystander, it can be difficult to help the victim/s with support in dealing with hate crime that you have witness; but there is a way by which you can aid the situation, by intervening. A bystander’s intervention is the most important and effective way in tackling hate crime. This is so, according to numerous cases where the victims have been backed by those around them resulting in the hater/offender to be silenced by the majority and feeling of defeat.
Even though as a bystander it can be difficult to intervene in hate crime due to the fact of feeling out of place or the sense of “minding your own business” is best. Well, that in fact is totally wrong and a small-minded approach. For with bystander interventions it stops the incident or prevent it from escalating, it supports the victim with encouragement and safety, and it also teaches the hater/offender that the victim/s does not stand alone (strength in numbers). Furthermore, as a bystander, after the incident, check to see if the victims is ok or they need any assistance whether it be to call someone on their behalf or accompany them for safety.
Inference hate crimes are a cruel, inhumane and heartless acts that do damage mentally and physically to its victims; and must be dealt with by authorities as violations leading as transgressions and lawbreaking.
