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21 Cards in this Set
- Front
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The factors that apply to prosecutors when dealing with prosecutions of hate crimes |
Prosecutors, like police, have a large amount of discretion Decide which cases to pursue Some prosecutors are elected & may be subject to political &social pressures May be faced with overburdened or limited resourcesMay even receive less training on hate crimes than police officers May not have a lot of experience/familiarity with such cases May be influenced by their own personal biasesAll crimes go through the same series of decision makers However, hate crimes have one important distinction: They require that each of the decision makers determine theoffender’s motive Determination of another person’s motivation is subjective ¬ always easy Interpretations are subject to our own biases & expectations |
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The attitudinal inoculation theory |
Hate crime laws might increase prejudice at the community level Theory of attitudinal inoculation If people have never been exposed to weak counterarguments to thebeliefs they hold, they are especially vulnerable to strong arguments Hate crime laws might discourage people from openly expressingbiased beliefs People who never hear these types of beliefs might fall laterunder the influence of a particularly persuasive speaker |
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The cognitive dissonance theory |
When people are given a small reward for acting in a way contrary totheir beliefs, they may changes those beliefs This is because they conclude that the reward was not large enough tojustify their actions, so therefore they assume that their actionsmust really reflect their beliefsSimilarly, if people are threatened with only small punishments forcertain behaviors, they may conclude that they avoided thosebehaviors because they actually did not want to perform them On the other hand, when people are given large rewards (or threatenedwith large punishments), their beliefs do not change They assume that their behavior is due to the reward orpunishment rather than the intrinsic motivationsIndividuals who have biased beliefs may conclude that their restraintfrom committing hate crimes is because of the possibility of harshpunishment They will not be motivated to change their beliefs & willcontinue to act out in ways that aren’t illegal If the laws are ever repealed, their rationale for not committingthem will disappear, & they may be even more likely to committhose acts |
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The paradoxical effects of hate crimes |
Argumentshave been made that hate crime laws actually harm members of minoritygroups Hatecrime laws might disempower minorities Hatecrime laws might increase prejudice at the individual level |
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Arguments have been made that hate crime laws actually harm members of minority groups |
Hate crime laws might inspire complacency Legislators Advocacy groups Hate crime laws might cause resentment of minorities “Teacher’s pet syndrome |
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Hate crime laws might disempower minorities |
Official hate crime data have shown that, although AfricanAmericans are disproportionately likely to be victims of hate crimes,they are also disproportionately likely to be identified asperpetrators |
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Hate crime laws might increase prejudice at the individual level |
Hate crime convictions are unlikely to reform the perpetrator May actually make them a martyr among their peers Perpetrator may actually blame the group to which the victimbelongs Prisons are prejudice-ridden |
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J. Levin and McDevitt (1993) examined thecase files of the Boston Police Dept. from 1991 and 1992 Found thatoffender motivation could be divided into three categories: |
1. thrill seeking 2. Reactive 3. Mission |
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Franklin (2000) found that four factorsaccounted for most of the variance in offenders ’ motivation (byorder of importance (by order of importance) |
1. Peer dynamics (i.e., the desire to fit in with and impress friends) 2. Antigay ideology 3. Thrill seeking 4. Self defense |
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Stereotype |
“an exaggerated belief associated with a category Amental picture that is attached to a particular group Often negative Can be positive as well Often erroneous and can be dangerous They lead us to make judgments about an individual based only onthat individual’s group affiliation rather than on info that wehave actually learned about that individualAs children learn stereotypes, they learn racial slursOften use them because they are forbidden, but sometimes do not knowwhat they mean At around age 7 children begin to show a preference for their owngroup Stereotypes become internalized, which leads to prejudicePrejudice– “an aversive or hostile attitude towards a person who belongsto a group, simply because he belongs to that group, and is thereforepresumed to have the objectionable qualities ascribed to that group”(Allport, 1954)Allport also found: Although grade-school-age children often engage in total verbalrejection of the outgroup, that rejection is often not reflected intheir behavior However, by the time children reach middle school, they havelearned that verbal rejection is not socially acceptable, so theyengage in politically correct speech However, by then they have adopted society’s prejudices, andthey usually reject members of the outgroup behaviorallyIf babies are not born knowing stereotypes, and yet learn them in afew short years, where do these ideas come from? Children are exposed to stereotypes from all aspects of their societyand culture Family Friends Teachers The media A particularly interesting aspect of stereotypes is theirconsistency College study of 10 ethnic group stereotypes Great deal of consensus from generation to generation Some fading of negative stereotypes, however this is believed tobe due to a change in the social desirability of expressing it ratherthan a reduction in p |
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Schema |
amental model of a thing, containing all of our knowledge about andattitudes towards that thing Essential to enable us to deal with an extremely complex world in anefficient manner Schemas contain knowledge, expectations, and stereotypesWhen we see a person, the schema about that person’s group isautomatically activated This is true regardless of our own degrees of prejudice or theextent to which we actually believe those stereotypes It takes conscious effort to nullify the stereotypes We may be unable to nullify them because: We are unaware the schema has been activated Our cognitive processes are occupied w/ other tasks We may be unwilling to nullify them because we are biased |
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Outgrouphomogeneity |
Once a schema has been activated, it acts as a filter It affects the way in which we process information about theperson One effect of this process is called outgroup homogeneity “We” are very different as individuals “They” are all the same Often results in polarized appraisals of members of the outgroup |
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Identification |
Occurs when a person finds a group attractive and wants to be likeits members That person assumes the group’s attitudes and behaviors, althoughthat person may not believe in them strongly Styles of dress Slang Musical tastes Drug/alcohol abuse |
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Deindividuation |
Occurs when a person feels anonymous It has been shown that deindividuated people are more likely to actaggressively Can take less responsibility for their actions Wearing uniforms or other identical gear further decreasesdifferences among members of a group, and increase deindividuation |
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Internalization |
Occurswhen a person internalizes the beliefs of others Tends to occur when the others are not only admired but are alsoconsidered particularly credible The other’s attitudes become a permanent, important part of theperson’s belief system and are extremely resistant to changeCan also occur because of cognitive dissonance, which is when peopleare driven to avoid inconsistency (dissonance) in their ideas andbeliefs (cognitions) When people become aware of inconsistencies, they must change eitherone of the cognitions or create new ones Acorollary to this theory is that when people inflict harm on others,they often self-justify their actions by denigrating the victim This may be particularly true when their harmful actions were done inpublic, in view of others The perpetrator may justify his behaviors by convincing himself thathis targets deserved what he did to themThe final process that can occur with groups is what is known as“groupthink” Groups sometimes strive so much to achieve and maintain consensusthat that dissent and critical thinking are strongly discouraged As a result, groups of people make poor decisions, even though theindividuals involved may be aware of the poor decisions and may nothave reached the same decision on their own |
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Conflict Theory |
Intergroup hostility arises when groups are in conflict for resources |
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Scapegoat Theory |
When things are difficult, people will strike out at a convenienttarget |
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Straintheory |
Straintheory |
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Groupthink |
The final process that can occur with groups is what is known as“groupthink” Groups sometimes strive so much to achieve and maintain consensusthat that dissent and critical thinking are strongly discouraged As a result, groups of people make poor decisions, even though theindividuals involved may be aware of the poor decisions and may nothave reached the same decision on their own |
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Thelinks between economics and hate crime |
These theories help explain an interesting phenomenon A significant number of hate crimes occur not between poor whiteand poor blacks but between poor white and poor blacks, but betweentwo minority groups Crown Heights LA riots Competition for the second rung on the socioeconomic ladder Vietnamese fishermen Vincent Chin However, numerous studies have not found a direct link betweeneconomics and hate crime The relationship appears to be complex, and additional research isrequire |
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Sourcesfor offender’s bigotry |
Allport argued that prejudice can be learned from parents in two ways It can be taught Tom Metzger It can be caught Jokes Personal interactionOur opinions and behaviors are strongly influenced by such factorsas: The attitudes of others around or near to us The norms of our group The relationships between our group and othersConformity,obedience groupthink |
