...Hate Crimes in American Society in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries Sample Student Research Paper Project of Sociology Table of Contents I. Thesis Statement…………………………………………….………….....Page 4 II. Introduction and Summary………………………………….………….....Page 4 III. Literature Review………………………………………………………....Page 6 IV. Methods………………………………………………………….......….. Page 16 V. Socio-Historical Analysis………………………………………………. .Page 18 A. 20th Century 1. Lynching 2. Ku Klux Klan 3. Rodney King and the Los Angeles Riots 4. Matthew Shepard B. 21st Century 1. Post 9/11 2. Jena Six VI. Cause and Effect Analysis…………………………………………… ....Page 24 A. Causes 1. Prejudice a. Stereotypes b. Scapegoats c. Presence of Hate in American Culture d. Need for Status and Power 2. Reasons for Crime a. Sending a Message b. Thrill Seeking c. Defensive B. Effects 1. Psychological Trauma 2. Undo Social Progress 3. Community Unrest 4. Threat of Retaliation VII. Descriptive Analysis……………………………………………….........Page 30 A. Description of Victims 1. Bias against a Particular Race 2. Bias against a Particular Religion 3. Bias against a Particular Sexual Orientation 4. Bias against a Particular Ethnicity/National Origin 5. Bias against a Disability B. Description of Offenses and Offenders This must be your new section? VIII. Comparative Analysis…………………………………………………. Page 36 A. United States Justice Department Definition of Hate Crime B. International Justice...
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...Hate Crimes – Cause and Effects AIU Online Abstract This essay will look at motives of an individual and the people that may be targeted by their deviance. What causes an individual to deviate from the norms of society will be discussed along with the effects it has on an individual and members of the community. At last we will look at laws and education that may be useful in minimizing the occurrence of these deviances. Hate Crimes – Cause and Effects Hate crimes it seems are the newest deviances in our social justice vocabulary. Specific hate crime statutes started being passed by state legislatures in the late 80’s following research that showed an escalation of crime that was triggered by prejudice (Hate Crime). Emile Durkheim proposed the structural-functional approach to deviance saying that it is a necessary function to set and affirm our moral boundaries (Macionis, ch. 9, pp 197). But what is a hate crime; do we need a special classification for them and what type of individual would commit these acts? Crimes that are committed due to prejudices of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and other reasons are said to be hate motivated. Unfortunately, the federal government and the thirty plus states that have hate crime statutes cannot come together to agree or precisely define its meaning (Hate Crime). This confusion exists because of the first amendment rights to free speech and the difficulty in regulating individual’s beliefs. To find out who the...
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...Africa as a hate crime and its effects on the victims who experience the consequences thereof. Index 1. Introduction 1 2. Definitions 1 2.1 Definition of Hate Crime 2.2 Definition of Xenophobia 2 3. Hate Crime in South Africa 3 4. Xenophobia in South Africa 4 5. Effects on the Victims of Xenophobia 5 5.1 Individual Effects 5 5.2 Societal Effects 5 5.3 Secondary Victimisation 5 6. Conclusion 6 7. List of References/ Bibliography 7 1. Introduction South Africa has been praised for its peaceful and swift transformation to becoming an open society, founded on democratic values and a constitution that insures principles of human dignity, freedom, equality, and social justice. Regardless of policy and legislative guarantees for fundamental human rights, crime and violence are widespread. Incidents of hate speech, xenophobia and victimisation are on the rise, most recently being the outbreak of attacks against foreign nationals in informal settlements in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. South Africa has a long history of prejudice and discrimination. One of the main legacies of apartheid is that of intolerance towards „difference‟ - be it in terms of race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation or other causes. South Africa has to deal with the prejudice of the past or adopt new measures to address it. Because of South Africa‟s high crime levels,...
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...The advanced knowledge of the use of technology brings new and advanced ways of spreading hate all over the world.Society is hurt by crimes committed at the click of the finger.Hate crimes have caused national fights and are disturbing within a society.Hate crimes cause ethical, traditional, and financial misery to a society and the individuals involved. These crimes can cause some emotional impacts that are harmful to human existence.Crimes are being committed against indecent people.Hate crimes terminate our morals and give others a sense of power over those who are deemed weak.In order that the bigger problem is covered hate crimes are sometimes overlooked by those with the authority to stop them. To know how another culture is by prejudging...
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...Jessica Suarez Unit 3 IP Hate crimes are a tragic part of American history. Hate crimes can be defined as violent, intolerant, bias motivated actions against people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, disability or gender. Hate crimes have probably existed since the beginning of society. Every minute of every day in the United States you can find children playing. You also go to find somebody talking on their cell phone to their loved one. Every day so once churning sweet 16 is getting the car of their dreams. And also 21 times a day so one is being be up, bullied, or some other kind of hate crime is going on. Create a profile of the typical individual who commits hate crimes. When creating this profile the only thing I had to do was look in the mirror. Anyone can commit a crime. It doesn’t have to be physical. Most hate crimes are verbal and or mental. But if he had to give a profile they would be mainly young, Caucasian males between the ages of 16 to 25. The people who commit these hate crimes usually judge people based on their sexual orientation and or their race. It is very common for minorities to commit hate crimes not only against other races religion for sexual orientations but against Caucasian people as well. Who are some targets and/or victims of hate crimes? Typically in the United States the victims of hate crimes are normally any minority class other than Caucasian. And anybody that is not heterosexual. African Americans, Middle...
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...Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal.” The term “Hate Crime” defined by Public Law #103-322A, a 1994 federal law, defines a hate crime as: “a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person.” Although this is the federal definition, each state has their own legal hate crime statues, which states what constitutes and is punishable as a hate crime in that state. Some states do not recognize hate crimes at all, yet, as it clearly states in the countries founding documents the people of this country are “one nation” and “all men are created equal.” The number of hate crimes being committed is growing in numbers. What is considered a “hate crime” today is no longer restricted to the issue of black and white, but the national standard for these crimes remains unclear. Some individuals feel that hate crime legislation or Hate Crime Laws are not only unconstitutional, but redundant and unnecessary. The writer of “Hate Crime Laws Are Unnecessary” argues that “hate crime laws, whether at the state or federal level, are not necessary” ("Hate Crime Laws Are Unnecessary"). The writer further argues that passing such laws will not prevent crimes motivated by...
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...Bethany L. Coderre Theater-3 Ms. Kewley Hate Crimes After reading “The Laramie Project” your left with so many questions, ideas and emotions. The play is a series of interviews (reenacted exactly as they happened) to give the audience facts and true statements so that they can form there own opinion. The play takes place in Laramie Wyoming, after the “hate crime” that left 21 year old Matthew Shepard fighting for his life that ended soon after all because the fact that he was gay. Hate is a feeling and hate crime is acting on that hatred, but what exactly is a “hate crime”? What makes it so different from any other crime? Isn't all crime hate crime? “People would like to think that what happened to Matthew was an exception to the rule, but it was an extreme version of what happens in our schools on a daily basis.” (Laramie Project,47) This quote shows how people are going through hate on a daily basis and it sucks that the only way to get peoples attention was for something as tragic as Matthew Shepard story. The term ghate crimeh was given the name in the 1980's by journalists that were trying to describe a number of incidents directed towards Jews, Asians and African Americans. The federal Beureo of investigations defines hate crime as ga criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national...
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...As societies are evolving, people are becoming more and more aware of the effects language has on relationships. It has become important for the wider population to take care of what they say and in what situation they say it. This has been incorporated in the term now called Political Correctness or PC. In the last decade, this term has increasingly gotten popular in almost every institution of society. In this paper, the prevalence of political correctness in politics is analyzed. As politics plays a part in connecting all other function of society, it is important to take a view of how the lack of political correctness has changed the society in difference forms by causing an upsurge in hate crime and white supremacy. In this paper, the presidency of Obama and Trump is contrasted as two differing sides of PC and the harmful effects of Trump’s anti-PC campaign are showcased. Political Correctness in Politics The term Political correctness has been weaving in and out of political talks since quite a while but...
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...April 19, 2013 Abstract This paper will talk about the profile of a typical individual that creates hate crimes. It will also give some targets and victims of these hate crimes. It will talk about causes and effects of these hate crimes, and the actions that can be taken to minimize the occurrence of hate crimes. Usually hate crimes are committed by young juvenile men between the ages of 16-25. Most hate crimes are committed by organized groups, but some are committed by individuals (articlesfactory.com/articles/writing/hate-crimes-are-a-tragic-part-of-american-history.html). Hate crime perpetrators are usually prejudiced when it comes to someone’s race, sexual orientation, religion preference, etc... When I think of people that commit hate crimes I think of someone that narrow-minded or full of hatred. There are usually two main types of perpetrators. The first one is people that are under the influence of alcohol, drugs that like to do things for the thrill of it. People that hatred and anger built up things of this nature can manifest and strike up it can lead to a hate crime. The second type is people who are mission motivated ones that are on a mission to rid the world of minorities. These people are also ones that take special instructions and are committed to well thought out organized hate crimes. In both of these situations or in any hate crime the perpetrators usually lack any kind of empathy or respect for others. Generally in their minds they feel...
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...HATE CRIMES SHEMEKA COLLINS HATE CRIMES Hate crimes are not a new concept for society, because hate crimes have always been around. While the study of hate crimes and the laws that have been passed because of hate crimes is relatively new, hate crimes have always been around. Hate crimes were committed as far back as the 1800's and even back to The Civil War. Hate crimes are prevalent in society today just like they were in the past; because whether the crimes are aimed towards Muslims, the gay community, or any other minority group; they are fueled by something that every person has come into contact with- prejudice. Prejudice is defined as a preconceived thought or opinion about someone. While prejudice can be positive, in the concept of hate crimes they are negative feelings, thoughts, or opinions that are aimed towards a certain religious, ethnic, race, or even sexual orientation group. The typical definition of hate crime is that a crime has been committed by a majority member against a minority member simply because the victim was a minority. However, as of recent the definition has been expanded to allow for any crime committed by bias towards the victim's social group such as anti-gay or anti-lesbian. Hate crimes are an extreme, potential effect due to prejudice and discrimination towards someone based on ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation....
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...Contemporary Hate Crimes, Law Enforcement, and the Legacy of Racial Violence Ryan D. King University at Albany-SUNY Robert D. Baller University of Iowa This article investigates the association between past lynchings (1882 to 1930) and contemporary law enforcement responses to hate crimes in the United States. While prior research indicates a positive correlation between past levels of lynching and current social control practices against minority groups, we posit an inverse relationship for facets of social control that are protective of minorities. Specifically, we hypothesize that contemporary hate crime policing and prosecution will be less vigorous where lynching was more prevalent prior to 1930. Analyses show that levels of past lynching are associated with three outcome variables germane to hate crime policing and prosecution, but the effect of lynching is partly contingent on the presence of a minority group threat. That is, past lynching combined with a sizeable black population largely suppresses (1) police compliance with federal hate crime law, (2) police reports of hate crimes that target blacks, and in some analyses (3) the likelihood of prosecuting a hate crime case. Our findings have implications for research on law and intergroup conflict, historical continuity in the exercise of state social control, and theories that emphasize minority group threat. Steven F. Messner University at Albany-SUNY onflict theories of crime and criminal law posit that the...
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...Control theories make a little more sense to me. Reckless' containment theory says there are predispositions that make people commit crimes. He uses the terms pushes and pulls. Pushes can come from troubled psyches, or stressful circumstances outside the individual, whereas pulls can be from family, friends, etc. His point is however that these pushes and pulls are not evenly distributed between society. He recognizes these pushes and pulls but says there is more needed to completely explain. Not all youths in socially disorganized areas that are exposed to these pushes or pulls commit crimes. Hence the factor of control. He studied inner and outer containement. Inner involves a strong conscience, conventional beliefs, commitment to goals, etc. Outer containment is an array of forces that limit exposure to criminal pushes and pulls. I like this theory a lot. I think it's hard to test, because we're talking about a lot of inner questions like morals and goals. He recognizes the "pushes and pulls which can explain a lot of crime, but not all. Then he factors in these containment factors which push the theory further. I think it's very valid and important to study these types of factors, but at the same time I think it's hard to study it. All in all, I like this theory and I think it makes a lot of sense. Hirschi's a bit different with the social bond theory. He didn't attempt to explain why individuals engage in criminal acts, but rather why individuals choose to conform to conventional...
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...rights movement’s activities, most of which helped stem the tide of racism. Since the 1960s, the period during which the civil rights movement carried out its activities, tremendous progress has been achieved. The achievements can be misconstrued by some to mean absolute elimination of racism and anti-Semitism. But the reality of the matter is that racism and anti-Semitism are still part of the American society, and evidence from research will be discussed to support this claim. The first evidence of the continuity of racism in America is the placement of a limit on the number of Asians who can be admitted to Ivy League colleges in the United States (Lubin, 2012). Racism is also shown to be part of the American society as shown by anti-black sentiments as well as anti-Hispanic sentiments in the United States as of 2012, more than four decades since the civil rights movement staged protests (Associated Press, 2012). Additionally, the Anti-Defamation League reports that hate crimes that are related to religion were predominantly directed to Jews who suffered 77% of these crimes (ADL, 2012), a scenario that serves as evidence of the continued presence of anti-Semitism in the United States. Racism is manifested by the decision by some colleges and universities to limit the...
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...Hate Crimes COM/172 August 5, 2014 Hate Crimes The term “hate crime” may seem new, given the attention it has received in the past several years, these types of offenses have been around for many years. Ever since and before the 1964 Civil Rights Act, people have been victims of crimes and perpetrators have committed those crimes against others based mainly or solely on the victim being “different” in one respect or another from the perpetrator. With many reasons why people commit crimes against other people, the burden of proof to prove a hate crime has become easier with the wording of newer laws directed at “hate crimes.” What is the main reason hate crimes are committed? Simply because of a different race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or other minority group status as the motivation for perpetrating those crimes against people. The world is full of hate. What makes someone hate someone else enough to kill or harm another human being? Hate crimes are criminal actions intended to harm or intimidate people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or other minority group status. They can also be referred to as bias crimes. Hate crimes have been going on in the world for a long time. Jesus was crucified by the Romans because of religious reasons they did not agree with. Was the crucifixion of Jesus the root of hate crimes going on in our society? There is no way to say what really was the actual root of hate crimes, but there are a...
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...Organization the Ku Klux Klan The actions of this group have taught many lessons through out the United States, especially in the deep southern states. We will discuss particular cases that created fear and intimidation to an entire race of people. I feel the KKK from it’s beginning to the present preaches violence and hatred. This is a group that doesn’t believe that another race should have any civil or human rights now in the 21st century and have caused tough race relations within our society. The Klan has even committed murder at times to use as a display of power and control, together at meetings often dressed up in their white robes to be intimidating to others. Blacks have won the struggle for freedom from slavery, but now face a new struggle against racism and terrorism from the KKK. The number of incidents involving the Klan has since tapered off from the late 1960’s, but it still hasn’t vanished. I’ll address the beginning of the KKK along with hate crimes, effect of human relations and examples of violence used from past and present. It will be clear that the KKK organization is a terrorist activity no different from other known terrorist groups today. “Around 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee a group of Confederate Army Veteran’s formed a social club led by Nathan Bedford Forrest”. http://www.geocities.com/__izzy__/Dengue/kkk/history.htm This social club was known as the Ku Klux Klan and they believed in a philosophy of white superiority, they exercised...
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