Abstract
This article attempts to put forward a more holistic vision of hate crime causation by exploring the intersections which exist between three separate criminological theories. Within the extant literature both Robert Merton’s strain theory and Barbara Perry’s structured action theory of ‘doing difference’ have been widely used to explain why prejudice motivated crimes continue to pervade most communities. Together the theories help to illuminate the sociological factors which act to create immense fear of, and hatred towards, various minority identity groups. However, neither of these theories adequately explain why some individuals commit hate crimes while others, equally affected by socio-economic strains and social constructions of ‘difference’, do not. This article therefore moves beyond such macro explanations of hate crime by drawing upon Gottfredson and Hirschi’s A General Theory of Crime (1990). Using typology research carried out by various academics, the article attempts to illustrate how socio-economic strains and general fears of ‘difference’ become mutually reinforcing determinants, promulgating a culture of prejudice against certain ‘others', which in turn ultimately triggers the hate motivated behaviours of individuals with low self control.
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Notes
Most hate crime laws were introduced during the 1990s and early 2000s both in the US and the UK.
Perhaps a criticism which can be made about strain theory in general.
In general, the victim’s identity group will be minority. In granting certain identity groups hate victim status there should be a history of marginalisation and discrimination against that group (Lawrence 1999).
This can also be related to ‘realistic conflict theory’ which suggests that prejudice stems from competition between social groups for goods and services. However this does not necessarily take into account socio-economic structures and social expectations which are better explained using strain theory.
Agnew et al. (2002) have attempted to bridge the gap between strain theory and micro level offending by drawing upon general strain theory (GST) and personality traits. While this research may well have potential linkages to hate crime offending it does not consider the interaction between other factors such as social constructions of difference and personality traits, instead concentrating solely on strain. Moreover, the typology research which has been carried out by Levin and McDevitt (1993, 2002), amongst others, fits more neatly into Gottfredson and Hirschi’s conception of self control, focusing in particular on offenders’ desire to seek out thrills much in the same way that self control theory contends. It is for these reasons that the article expands upon the potential link between self control and not GST.
It should noted that hate crimes remain massively underreported (Perry 2009a). This means that we cannot be certain about the motives and background traits of all hate offenders due to the fact that no simple random sample of perpetrators is obtainable. However, it does not necessarily follow that hate crimes which go unreported will be qualitatively different to those that are. The theories discussed here and elsewhere that explain the motivations and behaviours of offenders remain persuasive, and by inference should apply to offenders whether they come to the attention of state authorities or not.
They may display traits of ‘authoritarian personality’ as explained in Part V..
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Acknowledgments
The author would like to that thank Carolyn Hoyle, Mary Bosworth and Jon Garland for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this paper and to the editor and anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.
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Walters, M.A. A General Theories of Hate Crime? Strain, Doing Difference and Self Control. Crit Crim 19, 313–330 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-010-9128-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-010-9128-2