Promoting Asians’ Willingness to Report Hate Crime Incidents to Police: Do Procedural Justice and Social Identity Matter?

• In Event: Hate Crime Against Asian-Americans and Policing (Organized by Korean Society of Criminology in America (KoSCA) & Sponsored by the Division of Cybercrime (DC))

Abstract

Asians have overwhelmingly been the target of discrimination and social exclusion, which, given the negative connotations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, should be of concern to authorities since social exclusion discourages people’s willingness to report criminal incidents to police. Without the Asian community’s willingness to report hate crimes, law enforcement agencies will struggle to charge the offenders and prevent future incidents of hate crime. We believe that police can strive to promote a sense of social identity and willingness to report hate crimes among the Asian community. The current study aims to explore factors that will embolden their resolve in reporting hate crimes to the police. In addition, drawing on the Group Engagement Model and the Uncertainty Management Models, we explore whether social identity will mediate and/or moderate the effect of procedural justice on Asians’ willingness to report incidents of hate crime to police.

Authors

• Yeonjae Park, University of Texas at Dallas

• Yongjae Nam, Michigan State University