NCJ Number
213633
Date Published
2006
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Using research on the perpetrators of racist violence who were contacted through the Probation Service in Greater Manchester (England), this chapter discusses recent efforts to develop resources for managing this category of probationers.
Abstract
Research findings show that even since the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, many racially motivated offenses are undetected; and if they are identified, probation officers are anxious and uncertain about how to deal with probationers whose attitudes and beliefs about race they find offensive. Among the findings of such research is that racism is rarely the only motivation of such offenders. Typically, racism is a symptom of feelings of dispossession, low self-esteem, and resentment/rage that stems from the sense of being a victim of abusive treatment. A second finding is that the portrayal of racist violence as a "hate crime" in which a victim who is unknown to the offender is targeted because of his/her race is not a useful profile of the offense. Most often racially motivated offenders know their victims, albeit not very well. A third finding is that few racially motivated offenders regard themselves as racists; and another finding is that moralizing about the evils of racism with such probationers is more likely to be met with defiance rather than a change in attitude. A fifth finding is that racist violence is usually the outcome of intense and complex emotions that can lead to violence under certain conditions. Interventions must consider the irrational dynamics of these emotions if they are to have a chance of achieving behavioral and attitudinal change. The work reviewed in this chapter is a potentially useful source of guidance for practitioners, given the absence of accredited and accessible programs for probationers who have committed racially motivated offenses. 26 references