NCJ Number
232733
Date Published
2010
Length
39 pages
Annotation
After reviewing issues that must be addressed in research on hate crime in the United Kingdom, this chapter presents an overview of the chapters in this book.
Abstract
The questions that must be addressed in research on hate crimes are framed under the topics of who, what, and why. The issues pertinent to the "who" topic involve answers to the following questions: who are victims of hate crime, who should hate crime laws be designed to protect, who commits hate crimes, and who should be responsible for shaping improved responses to hate crime? In discussing each of these questions about hate crime, this chapter considers why these questions must be addressed before the response to hate crime can be framed in law and enforced by law enforcement agencies. Issues discussed regarding "what" are what should and should not be classed as hate crimes. Although currently there is a substantial body of literature that addresses this question, and some degree of consensus has been reached over the types of offenses included within the conceptual framework of hate crime, questions are still being asked about what behaviors motivated by hate do and do not constitute crime. The "why" issue discussed in this chapter pertains to the following question: why do we need to think afresh about hate crime? Despite the increased attention to hate crimes over the past 10 years, the large number of hate crimes and the continuing uncertainty about what the term "hate crime" means warrant ongoing attention to the nature of and ways of countering hate crime. Regarding the content of this book, the chapters are grouped into two sections, one that aims to develop more nuanced understanding of hate crime and a second one that that develops more nuanced responses to hate crime. 5 notes and 33 references