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Consequences of bias-motivated victimization
Thu, September 4, 2:30 to 3:45pm, Deree | Classrooms, DC 603Abstract
Prejudice-motivated acts are intentionally directed against individuals on the basis of their social group membership and are based on protected characteristics such as skin color, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. What matters is not how those affected identify themselves or which group they feel they belong to, but which (historically marginalized) group the perpetrator sees the affected person as representing. In contrast to "ordinary" crime, the explanation focuses on negative prejudices against certain (real or perceived) characteristics of the attacked as the cause. The number of hate crimes in Europe and Germany has increased significantly and continuously in recent years. Most recently, in 2023, approximately 17,000 cases of bias-motivated crime were recorded in Germany, an increase of almost 48% compared to 2022. However, in Germany, as in other European countries, it must be assumed that there is a very high number of unreported cases in this area, ranging between 50% and 90%. This is all the more problematic given that bias-motivated victimization and bias-motivated violence are associated with particularly severe consequences for individuals, their communities, and society as a whole compared to nonbias-motivated victimization. Building on previous international research on the consequences of bias-motivated victimization, this paper examines the effects of bias-motivated victimization on trust in the police, fear of crime, and identity-related protective and avoidance behaviors. The data base consists of n = 4577 individuals from n = 96 neighborhoods in Hamburg, Germany. The results of the regression analyses confirm and extend the particularly serious consequences of bias-motivated victimization and the high priority that should be given to bias motives in future research on crime and its consequences.
Keywords: Hate crime victimization, group-focused enmity (GFE), victim surveys, trust in the police, fear of crime, protective and avoidance behavior.