Topics in Sociology: Hate Crimes

Racism

1) A belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial groups is inferior to the others. 2) Hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

Doc Martens

A brand of durable boots popular with skinheads as well as young people in all walks of life, though skins lace these boots straight and wear either red or white laces.

Resistance Records

A record company that produces racist music. RaHoWa is a skinhead rock group that they produced.

Symbol

A thing that representing or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract.

Stereotyping

A widely held but fixed or oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.

Acronym

A word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of compound term; also: an abbreviation formed from initial letter.s

13th Amendment of the Constitution

Abolished slavery and involuntarily servitude, except as punishment for a crime. Put into place in 1865.

Nuremberg Laws

Antisemitic and racial laws in Nazi Germany. They forbade marriages and extramarital intercourse between Jews and Germans and the employment of German females under 45 in Jewish households and declared that only those of German or related blood were eligible to be Reich citizens.

_____ refers to systematic prejudice against Jews.

Antisemitism

"Boot Party"

Beating a victim to the ground then stomping and kicking him or her with steel-toed boots. It's a common term for Racist Skinheads.

The major issue in R.A.V. was: a) Civil Rights b) 14th Amendment c) Enhanced Penalty d) "Fighting Words"

D) Fighting Words

The Turner Diaries

Depicts a successful overthrow and subsequent of the United States and subsequent genocide committed by a revolutionary movement known as the Organization.

The two major constitutional issues with regard to hate crime laws are _____ and ______.

Enhanced Penalty; First Amendment Rights

Define enhanced penalty.

Enhanced penalty is the act of increasing the penalty and seriousness of a crime, in this case, based upon the motivations of the offender being centered in bias/prejudice for the victim's actual or perceived ethnicity, race, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, color, or country of origin.

Penalty enhancement

Enhancing the penalty of a crime based on the effect that it has on the community.

Discuss the relationship between exogenous or structural factors and intervening or mediating, factors in attempting to explain hate crimes.

Exogenous factors are conditions that are characterized as fostering an environment where bias-motivated crimes are more likely to happen. Intervening factors are the conditions of a person which can influence them to commit or not commit hate crimes. These two factors are presented as key to explaining hate crimes, as we are all subject to the same social environments. We are all a member of the same economic system, the same social media where we obtain news, the change in demographics, and the structural bias of our community as a whole. However, these exogenous factors of which we are all a part cannot feasibly explain why hate crimes occur. Every individual holds some biases, whether they are conscious of this fact or not, and we are all exposed to the same exogenous factors explained above. However, some individuals commit hate crimes/bias-motivated crimes, while others do not. While some explanation of this could be dependent upon one's propensity to commit a crime, be this analysis done with social bond theory or some other sociological theory, the fact remains that some individuals are so moved that they commit crimes against some individuals simply due to the bias/prejudice/hate that they feel for the group that the individual victim represents to the offender. This can only be explained on a more micro-/individual- level by the individual offender's intervening factors. Some of these intervening factors that can cause an individual to turn their bias into a violent crime containing the motivation specified are social-psychological factors, a perceived threat, and ideology/affiliation with Hate Groups. The intervening factor of social and psychological factors turns to the process of socialization for an answer. This socialization to learn prejudice against a group of people/intolerance for those who differ from the individual can act on an individual and a group level. On the individual level, these prejudices are learned as a reaction and absorb peer and family influences as well as cultural assumptions, making these thoughts a part of their own though process and thus, out of their control as subconscious thoughts. Some of these thoughts are believed to originate in fear or mental rigidity, or displacement of fear and anxiety on the target. Group level prejudice is slightly more complex, but ultimately rests upon the idea that certain groups of individuals carry an image of themselves and their group as a whole and that their behaviors may serve to either defend these views or to re-establish them. In my opinion, I believe that group level prejudice helps to form the individual prejudice of individuals by this socialization process. The second type of intervening factor is a real or perceived threat. While exogenous factors often fall into the category of being a potential threat, there are three possible reasons researchers believe are responsible for these intervening factors of threat. The first being a perceived competition for 'scarce' resources. Some individuals see the influx of individuals they perceive as not being 'the typical American' as a threat and inconvenience to their competition for food, jobs, housing, and lifestyles. The second is the threat of political mobilization, such as the beliefs held by the Z.O.G. theorists. These individuals genuinely believe that minorities are going to overthrow their political power and economic status. The third source of threat is that as these minority groups increase in size, that the dominant group will lose their cultural values, such as religion, language, and values. The fear is that the minority groups' cultural values will become more dominant and cause a loss of their power. The third and last intervening factor that we will discuss is an individual's ideology or affiliation with a hate group. An individual's involvement with such a group can cause certain thoughts and ideas to be planted, as well as to provide the individual with a sense of comradery in their thoughts and thus be steered in a more violent direction by their affiliations. These intervening factors can have a substantive effect on individuals and their propensities to commit hate crimes in the face of being instigated by exogenous forces, as they explain why some individuals would commit violent acts against an individual because of their group status and why others would not.

____ is the number of crimes x 100,000 divided by the total population.

FBI Uniform Crime Rate

True or False: Because of all the attention to hate crimes in recent years, most hate crime incidents are probably reported to the police.

False.

True or False: Since the mid-1980s, there has been a general shift to the left in the political spectrum.

False.

True or False: The low levels of hate group membership in the U.S. suggests that they represent a tiny minority of the population and, therefore, are given far too much attention.

False.

True or False: The official (FBI) data indicate that the majority of hate crimes are based on religious preference.

False.

True or False: The shift from a manufacturing to a service economy has had the effect of turning blue collar jobs into white collar jobs and has brought improved statues and economic reward to workers.

False.

Hate Incident

Hate incidents involve behaviors that, though motivated by bias against a victim's race, religion, ethnic/national origin, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation, but may not be criminal acts.

Holocaust denial versus historical revision

Historical revision is a major function of serious historians, whose goal is to seek an accurate record of history wherever they find it. These are attempts to downplay the impact of the Holocaust by saying 1) It wasn't that bad. 2) It happened to other groups, too. Holocaust denial is when people are attempting to revise history to deny the conscious attempted genocide of Jews occurred. They argue that Holocaust as a policy of genocide was a fabrication by the Jews.

Define homophobia.

Homophobia is the dislike or prejudice against individuals who are or are perceived to be gay.

Define antisemitism.

Hostility/bias against Jewish individuals because of their faith, stereotypes associated, and their perceived inferiority to other groups of individuals.

Define "special rights".

Individuals who oppose laws that protect individuals from being victims of hate crimes have argued that the laws being put forward are giving individuals in these groups 'special rights.' While this is not the case, many opponents to these laws have claimed that the individuals of groups frequently seen as deviant by society and that are being attacked based on their group distinctions are receiving rights above other individuals in society.

Protest by Proxy

Individuals who target racial and religious minorities as a scapegoat for their displaced aggression for members of society who are profoundly frustrated in their efforts to be successful and cannot express their hostility toward the true source of their problems are engaging in protest by proxy. Scapegoat on a collective level by constructing an evil force, an enemy, that becomes the perceived source of their predicament and the object of their animosity and therefore deserving punishment. Allows for a sense of satisfaction not possible if one attacks vague and abstract economic and social forces.

Prejudice

Injury or damage resulting from some judgement or action of another in disregard of one's rights especially detriment to one's legal rights or claims. A preconceived judgement or opinion. An adverse opinion or learning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge.

Define manifest destiny.

Manifest destiny was widely believed notion that settlers in the 19th century were 'destined' or supposed to settle westward and across North America as their right. To do this, settlers did whatever they needed and took land from Native Americans in the process, asserting their needs over the rights of anyone in their way

The Supreme Court case that struck down a hate crime statute on the basis of First Amendment restriction was...

R.A.V. vs City of St. Paul, Minnesota

Define racial purity.

Racial purity is the policy of preserving the purity of a particular race. Hitler attempted to achieve racial purity through strict anti-missegregation laws and genocide of those 'racial groups' he viewed as inferior.

Define scapegoating.

Scapegoating is the process of blaming another individual for your personal actions and allowing them to take the fault for your actions.

RAHOWA

Short for Racial Holy War, a slogan that originally came out of the Neo Nazi Church of the Creator.

Jim Crow Laws

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States. They mandated racial segregation in all public facilities in the states of former confederate states of America.

The two major points of controversy regarding the constitutionality of hate crime legislation have centered around:

The 1st amendment and the enhanced penalty

_____ refers to the crimes that never get reported to the police, and, therefore, remain unmeasured and undocumented.

The Dark Figure of Crime.

Define Z.O.G.

The Zionist Occupational Government is a conspiracy theory held by some antisemitic individuals descent from the kingdom of Khazaria, historically, who are Jewish, have a conspiracy theory passed down from generation to generation that these descendants should accumulate wealth and high-power positions in society in order to allow the Jewish faith and individuals who practice it to take over control of the world.

Color-blind racism

The belief that racism is no longer a problem and that we all have equal opportunities. People who subscribe to colorblind explanations claim they do not see the color of people's skin and believe everyone to be equal. Colorblindness prevents us from seeing the historical causes of racial inequality persists in our society.

Which of the following best characterizes hate crimes? a)Behaviors which we now call hate crimes have always existed. They are just more frequent and violent in the last two decades. b)Behaviors which we now call hate crimes are a fairly recent (last two or three decades) phenomenon. c)The last two decades have witnessed the elevation of hate crimes to the level of social policy. d)The difference between hate crimes today and hate crimes in the past is that current hate crimes seem to grow out of a political agenda.

The last two decades have witnessed the elevation of hate crimes to the level of social policy.

Groupthink

The practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages creativity or individual responsibility. It's also a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

Define intentional selection.

The selection of an individuals as a target for discriminatory behavior based upon their personal characteristics.

Cultural correctness

The term that replaced political correctness. P.C. is commonly used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society.

Lebensraum

The territory that a state or nation believes is needed for its natural development. Their reason for Nazi expansion into neighboring western countries.

Define tolerance of white supremacy

Tolerance of white supremacy refers to an increasing sympathy in the general population for the ideology of white supremacy. While these people would never join a hate group or commit a violent bias-motivated attack, they are very likely to vote for candidates who promote intolerance and exclusion.

True or False: Hate groups have replaced the idea of political correctness with the language of cultural correctness.

True

True or False: "White Man's Burden" was a leading justification for the removal of American Indians in the interior of the North American continent.

True.

True or False: According to Erikson, when the moral boundaries of the collective order are under real or perceived threat, group members begin to behave irrationally.

True.

True or False: According to most experts, attacks against gays tend to be more violent and more severe than those against other minority groups, i.e. more likely to end in serious injury or death.

True.

True or False: Blaming other groups in society for all of society's woes is a process known as scapegoating.

True.

True or False: Islamic fundamentalism and Christian fundamentalism display more similarities than differences.

True.

True or False: Most perpetrators of hate crimes are under the age of 20.

True.

True or False: Most states which have hate crime statutes now include sex or gender.

True.

True or False: Of those 40 states which have hate crime statutes, about half do not include sexual orientation.

True.

True or False: Official crime data are improving in quality as increasing numbers of law enforcement agencies participate in the data recording and reporting process.

True.

True or False: One of the earliest nullification efforts in the U.S. history was the 1794 Whiskey Rebellion.

True.

True or False: The Silver Shirt Movement, led by William Pelley, is a forerunner of the Posse Commitatus movements as well as the Christian Identity Movement.

True.

True or False: The concept of "Culture War" implies the central commitment to saving one's way of life against imminent threat of extinction

True.

True or False: The violent anti-tax movement in the U.S. grows directly out of the doctrine of Nullification advanced in the late 1700s by Jefferson and Madison.

True.

True or False: Whereas ordinary crimes are generally committed by people with whom the victims are familiar, hate crimes and acts of violence are overwhelmingly committed by strangers.

True.

Elbow Web

Used by Racist Skinhead Organization. Racist-skinhead "badge of honor" often worn on the elbow, indicating that the wearer has committed murder for the skinhead movement.

White Privilege/White Supremacy

White privilege is the societal privilege that benefits people whom society identifies as white. White supremacy is a racist ideology based upon the belief that white people are superior in many ways to people of other races and that white people should be dominant over other races.

Define white supremacy.

White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to all other races and should have the ultimate power in society, particularly over African Americans.

The Supreme Court decision which upheld a state hate crime statute of "intentional selection of victim" and at the same time upheld penalty enhancement was...

Wisconsin vs. Mitchell

The major integrating factor which binds right-wing extremist groups together seems to be: a) Christian beliefs b) Cultural purity c) Political conservatism

a) Christian beliefs

The actions of Buford Furrow and Timothy McVeigh illustrate the concept of: a) Leaderless Resistance. b) Lebensraum c) Special Rights d) Homophobia

a) Leaderless resistance

All data collected on hate crime since 1991 indicates that the largest category of hate crime has consistently been: a) Racial bias b) Homophobia c) Religious prejudice d) Ethnicity and national origin.

a) Racial bias.

Since the early 1990s, a disturbing alliance seems to be forming between: a) Religious, economic, and racial determinists. b) White supremacists and prominent political official. c) Jewish interests and national government.

a) Religious, economic, and racial determinists.

It appears from available data that, even controlling for increasing participation by law enforcement agencies, a)Hate crimes have increased while most other violent crimes have decreased. b)Hate crimes have decreased while other kinds of violent crimes have increased. c)Hate crimes and other violent crimes have both increased significantly over the past decade. d)Hate crimes and other violent crimes have decreased over the past decade.

a)Hate crimes have increased while most other violent crimes have decreased.

By far the most common category of victims is on the basis of: a) Ethnicity b) Race c) Religion d) Sexual Preferences

b) Race

Some gay activist groups, e.g. Bill Dobbs, oppose penalty enhancement because: a) It is unconstitutional b) It amounts to special rights and is therefore discriminatory. c) It encourages resentment against an already devalued group. d) Many gays commit hate crimes against non-gay victims.

c) It encourages resentment against an already devalued group

Hate groups have been an active part of life in the United States: a) Since colonial days b) Since the beginnings of the U.S. as a nation. c) Since the mid-1800s. d) Since the end of World War II

c) Since the mid-1800s

In their claim to be "constitutionalists," patriot movement members: a) believe that the highest level of citizenship established by the constitution is at the local level. b) that a federal income tax is a violation of constitutional rights. c) strongly defined state rights. d) All of the above.

d) All of the above

Current official crime data (FBI) for bias-motivated offenses display the following serious deficiency: a)They are collected from a small fraction of police departments. b)Because of their recency they do not permit extensive trend analysis c)Police are not willing to classify crimes as "hate crimes" d)All of the above

d) All of the above.

The U.S. counterpart to "White Man's Burden" is best expressed as a) The Monroe Doctrine b) White Supremacy c) AngloIsraelism d) Manifest Destiny

d) Manifest Destiny

Despite limitations in current hate crime data, we can fairly safely assert that: a) Most hate crimes are committed by organized hate groups. b) Most hate crimes are committed by individuals with a distinct political ideology. c) Most hate crimes are committed by individuals acting out of personal rage. d) Most hate crimes are committed by individuals who feel they are reacting to an attack or perceived insult by the victims.

d) Most hate crimes are committed by individuals who feel they are reacting to an attack or a perceived insult by the victim.

Advocates of penalty enhancement argue the constitutionality of such laws on the basis of a)The principle that although the government may not punish abstract beliefs, it can punish a vast array of depraved motives. b)Penalty enhancement laws do not prevent people from expressing their views, nor do they punish them for doing so. c)The severe nature of hate crimes are more likely to provoke retaliatory crimes, inflict distinct emotional harm on their victims and incite community unrest. d)All of the above.

d)All of the above

____ is a Latin term which suggests that the only level of constitutional authority is the county.

Posse Commitatus

____ means to arrive at a conclusion prior to or without regard for the facts.

Prejudice

Essay: Brian Levin has argued that hate crime legislation is in harmony with broader and historically valid goals of the criminal justice system. Identify three of these goals and discuss them in relationship to hate crime laws.

Brian Levin has identified that the institution of hate crime legislature is in line with the criminal justice system's traditional goals regarding crime and punishment. He identifies many factors that support this claim. For instance, the criminal justice system has always sought to determine culpability and motive for criminal acts. The court acknowledges crimes committed purposefully versus crimes committed out of negligence as different and variant in the punishments that are deserved. There are also given differences between an individual's motive and intent. This factor is often very key in the sentencing aspect. The main reason that hate crime legislature is concordant with previous laws and enactments is that it causes a greater harm to society due to the fear that the public has for their safety as an outcome and also the effect that it will have on society when/if the victim's group retaliates. This causes gaps between certain groups of people and these reasons can cause enormous problems on the community level and can lead to extreme loss and damage to individuals and the community. One of the most serious reasons that hate crime legislature is in line with the goals of the criminal justice system is that these crimes are often more violent and are more likely to be committed against a person, rather than property. Individuals who sustain these traumas and live experience 21% more severe psychological and physical trauma than individuals who sustain similar injuries that did not have an origin in bias. Crimes motivated by bias are clearly more dangerous and harmful than crimes committed for non-bias reasons. For these reasons and more, it is clear that the criminal justice system is keeping pace with their previous motivators to change laws and alter the system to best protect the community and its citizens.

Essay: While I recognize that this is still at the level of a hypothesis, discuss the concept of marginalization as a contributing factor in the formation and maintenance of hate groups in the United States.

Marginalization is the process by which certain categories of society find themselves moving toward the margins of society. Marginalization states that one of the possibilities for an individual turning to violent criminal acts against an individual on the basis of their perceived group against whom they hold a certain bias or prejudice is that the individual feels as thought they are being pushed out of their society. They feel a loss in their status and their economic stance. Most of these individuals are working-class individuals who feel victimized by immigrants, claiming that they are taking their jobs, and that their ego is weakening as their government does nothing to protect them. These individuals fail to see that the real problems causing their status shift and their ego wounds are the fact that globalization is occurring, that they are being out-sourced by companies who give to the lowest bidder, and that they truly have little to no skills. Rather than tackle the larger problems, these individuals choose to place the blame on the perceived minorities that are jeopardizing their futures.