Individual and Macro-Level Correlates of Hate Crime Victimization

• In Event: ISRD Panel 4: Digital Deviance and Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Online Crime

Abstract

Hate crimes have increased notably in Europe within recent years. Hand in hand with this pressuring trend, we have seen rising waves of hate speech and political polarization. Even though previous studies have reported cross-national differences in the prevalence of hate crime, the relationship between societal atmosphere and hate crime has rarely been studied, especially in comparative international level. By utilizing a cross-national design and representative urban dataset, this study examines the individual and macro-level correlates of hate crime victimization among 13-17-year-old adolescents. We test hypothesis that youth hate crime victimization is associated with society’s hostile climate and population’s level of generalized prejudice in 15 European countries. In this study we combine individual-level data on hate crime victimization, measured by the Self-Report Delinquency Survey (ISRD-4), with societal-level predictors provided by the European Values Study (EVS 2017). We reflect on how social values correlate with hate crime and whether certain social contexts may be particularly dangerous soil for intergroup conflicts. We also discuss how our results can inform criminological theory on hate crime and interventions aimed at reducing hate motivated attacks as well as protecting affected communities.

Authors

• Essi Pentikäinen, University of Helsinki

• Karoliina Suonpää, University of Helsinki

• Markus Kaakinen, University of Helsinki