Understanding Hate Crimes

Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 Understanding Hate Crimes Hate crimes and lesser acts of bigotry and intolerance seem to be constants in today’s world. Since 1990, the federal government has published annual reports on hate crime incidents in the United States. While the reported numbers are disturbing, even more devastating is the impact of these crimes on individuals, communities, and society. This comprehensive textbook can serve as a stand-alone source for instructors and students who study hate crimes and/or other related acts. It invites the reader to consider relevant social mores and practices as well as criminal justice policies as they relate to hate crimes by presenting this subject within a broad context. Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino is Professor of Criminal Justice in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Bridgewater State University. She served on the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice Advisory Council during the Romney Administration. As a result of her research and writings on hate crime, she was invited to Capitol Hill in 2002 to participate in a Congressional Briefing on the state of hate crime research and public policy in the United States. She recently co-authored a book, American Corrections, now in its second edition. In addi- tion, she has published several articles and book chapters on hate crimes in the Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 areas of the history of hate crime in the United States, affiliation dynamics and recruitment practices of hate groups, and the nature and scope of anti-Black hate crimes. Her next project focuses on communities, collective efficacy, and com- munity response to hate crimes. Turpin-Petrosino challenges us to engage with some of the fundamental questions associated with hate crimes, and to think more critically about their nature, cau- sation, and implications. Written accessibly and authoritatively throughout, this text underlines the importance of seeing hate crime as a human problem which requires interventions beyond simply the immediate or the obvious. Neil Chakraborti, Director of the Leicester Centre for Hate Studies, University of Leicester, UK In the last two decades or so hate crime has become a significant global cause for concern. Drawing upon her own vast experience and expertise in the area, Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino has written a fascinating and accessible book that offers a comprehensive and wide-ranging overview of the complex field of hate crime. She offers insightful analysis of not just the harmful effects of hate, but also of the motivations and profiles of offenders, both from a US and international perspective. I’ve no doubt Understanding Hate Crimes will become a key texts for academics, students, and practitioners. Jon Garland, Reader in Criminology, University of Surrey, UK Thoughtful, well-written, and broad in scope, this book provides a strong overview of hate crime. Researchers and students in a variety of disciplines will find this text enlightening and accessible. Professor Turpin-Petrosino brings a fresh perspective to a topic still badly in need of more study. Phyllis B. Gerstenfeld, J.D., Ph.D., California State University, Stanislaus, USA Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 Understanding Hate Crimes Acts, motives, offenders, victims, and justice Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 First published 2015 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2015 Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino The right of Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Petrosino, Carolyn Understanding hate crimes: acts, motives, offenders, victims, and justice / Carolyn Petrosino.—1 Edition. pages cm 1. Hate crimes—United States. 2. Violence—Psychological aspects. 3. Criminal psychology—United States. I. Title. HV6773.52.P487 2015 364.150973—dc23 2014036287 ISBN: 978-0-415-48400-8 (hbk) Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 ISBN: 978-0-415-48401-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-88369-3 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK Contents List of figures vi List of tables vii Foreword viii Preface ix Acknowledgments xi 1 Introduction: an overview 1 2 A history of hate in the United States 30 3 The evolution toward modern hate crime laws 51 4 The criminology of hate crime 77 5 Perpetrators: what do we know about them? 103 6 Victims: who are they? 136 7 Criminal justice system responses 170 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 8 International perspectives 191 9 The future of hate crimes 220 Index 231 Figures 2.1 Distribution of military experience in post-9/11 White supremacist extremism 40 5.1 Hate crime perpetrators are not alien species 129 6.1 Victim perceptions of offender bias in hate crime, 2003–06 and 2007–11 138 6.2 Religious bias hate crime 2011 156 6.3 Violent crime of disabled versus non-disabled persons 2011 160 6.4 Anti-disability hate crimes by disability type 2010 161 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 Tables 1.1 Hate crimes statistics 2008: incidents, offenses, victims, and known offenders by bias motivation 18 1.2 NIBRS data (1995–2000): number of incidents by location and bias motivation 19 4.1 Allport’s scale of prejudice 79 5.1 Education/occupation of past and present leaders in the United States hate movement 108 6.1 Reported anti-Black motivated incidents 2000–10 139 6.2 Reported anti-Asian/Pacific Islander motivated incidents 2000–10 144 6.3 Anti-Hispanic incident rates 147 6.4 Anti-Hispanic incident rates in Arizona 150 6.5 Sexual orientation hate crimes 151 6.6 Anti-Jewish and anti-Islamic incidents 155 8.1 Trends in racial violence and anti-Semitism in France since 2008 200 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 8.2 Hate crimes in the OSCE region: police reports, prosecutions, and convictions in 2009, 2010, and 2011 209 Foreword It is often said that racism “is as American as apple pie.” But that is an insipid met- aphor because it disrespects a dark history of how White Europeans conquered North America by devastating the native population and how they then built their new nation’s economy on the backs of kidnapped Africans who had been turned into chattel slaves. In perhaps the most poetic Presidential inaugural speech of all time, on March 4, 1865, Abraham Lincoln wondered aloud why God saw fit to send the slaughter of the Civil War to the United States. His conclusion: that slavery was a kind of original sin for the United States, and all Americans had to do penance for it. Nineteen days later, Lincoln was killed by the racist John Wilkes Booth. One hundred and fifty years have passed since Lincoln’s assassination and his admonition for penance is all but forgotten. From the White House and Congress to the federal courts and corporate boardrooms, racism is seldom discussed. What has not changed, however, is the pervasive character of racism in American crime and violence. Few criminologists pay attention to this problem. Yet according to the FBI, 5,800 hate crimes are committed each year in the United States. Sixteen hate crimes occur each day; one hate crime is committed every ninety minutes. Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American President, is the target of some thirty assassination threats a day. Still, criminologists ignore this dangerous form of criminality. Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:44 24 May 2016 Thankfully, Carolyn Turpin-Petrosino has our pedagogical back. Herein lays a comprehensive review of the hate crime phenomenon covering its historical breadth, its structural correlates, its perpetrators, and its victims. This book will not only sound an alarm in college classrooms across the country, it may well inspire a generation of students to do their part in seeking penance for our nation’s original sin. Mark S. Hamm Preface Teaching a course on hate crime is no easy task. Personally, I don’t think it should be. The subject itself is disturbing on many levels. But many subjects in criminology, such as homicide, terrorism, and sex crimes, are disturbing. Hate crimes, however, are particularly harmful because they are designed to not only injure the direct victim, but to send a message to the group the victim represents. The questions that a course on hate crime must tackle are equally disturbing. How is it that the possession of a certain social or biological characteristic such as race or disability becomes condemnatory? How is it that some people come to vilify other members of the human family, not because of personal experience and factual data, but because of flawed and destructive ideologies they hold onto out of fear and ignorance? But teaching such a course is invaluable for students and instructors alike, as hate crimes serve as a barometer on the state of social relationships in an increasingly multicultural world, and contributes to discussions about social justice and egalitarianism.

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