NCJ Number
232735
Date Published
2010
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This chapter examines the development of hate-crime policy thus far in Great Britain and also identifies future challenges.
Abstract
Hate crime legislation in Great Britain identifies different types of hate crime based on the victim's race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability, and it mandates that the perpetrator should be punished more harshly. The criminal justice system has also developed policies designed to define hate crime and explain why offenses motivated by hate should be treated differently from other crimes. These developments have been set against a backdrop of campaign group activism that reflects the victim categories that have historically experienced hate crimes. The chapter examines the future challenges facing hate crime policy by reviewing the efforts of campaigners and criminal justice practitioners who have been involved with shaping the policy domain thus far. It examines the usefulness of the concept of hate crime and its future potential for addressing harmful bigoted behavior. Since hate crime legislation has been defined by the victim groups that are specified as common targets of harmful behaviors motivated by hate, future policy complications in this area are examined, with a focus on victim categories defined by age and gender. Age and gender are currently excluded from the hate crime policy domain primarily because of the difficulty of narrowing the motivation for a crime to hate related to the age or gender of the victim; however, the same could be said for the victim characteristics currently included under hate crime law. This suggests the need for a more thorough analysis of victim characteristics that makes them targets for hate-motivated crimes. 26 references