The treatment goals of The NESS Counseling Center Hate Crime-Related Counseling program include:

• Creating genuine awareness within perpetrators that their instincts/actions are wrong under any circumstances, and why this is so;

• That only they are responsible for the painful/destructive act;

• Driving home the impact their actions have on the victims and victim communities;

• Helping them discover the root causes of the "hate" in their lives;

• Understanding the scope of its ramifications in their lives and upon society in general;

• Providing tools and ongoing support, to help deal with their hate, in the futur

Hate Crimes On The Rise

Although acts of hatred against minorities of all sorts have been part of an ugly underside to American life for some time, the incidence of these crimes may be on the rise as the 21st Century unfolds.

• In the latest two year span for which comparative statistics were available, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reported a 36% increase in hate-related crimes.

• In at least one representative sample, research indicated that young adults today may actually be more racially prejudiced than are their parents.

• It has been estimated that for every hate crime reported to law enforcement officers, as many as nine may go unreported.

Definition and Related Facts

• Hate crimes are defined as crimes directed against individuals or groups on the basis of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or gender.

• 70% of all hate crimes are committed against people, as opposed to property

• 60% of all hate crimes are race-based.

• Most hate crimes are committed by multiple perpetrators against individuals

• The largest group of hate crimes victims are Blacks.

• The majority of hate crimes based on religion are committed against people of Jewish descent, or against property identified with Jewish institutions.

• Hate crimes most commonly occur at night and around specific holidays such as Martin Luther King Day or Chanukah.

• Based on one study, the most frequently reported hate crimes were physical assault, verbal harassment, and threats by phone or mail, followed by slogans or symbols of hatred on personal property, then by attacks on homes or other vandalism.

Who Commits Hate Crimes?

• Most perpetrators of hate crimes are white, male, aged 16-25, and are NOT members of any organized hate group.

• Organized hate groups account for 8 - 15% all hate crimes

Motives for Hate Crimes

• Thrill - These are the most commonly occurring hate crimes. They are often spontaneously carried out, have no precipitating factors (other than a desire for thrills, exhilaration or sport), and happen to victims chosen at random (gays and lesbians are the most frequent victims of thrill-motivated hate crimes).

• Reactive - Perpetrators are reacting to a perceived threat which the victim represents to their neighborhood, school, or workplace. These crimes often escalate in violence level until the victim "gets the message" (Hutson, et al, 1997).

• Mission - Mission-motivated hate crimes are the most likely to be extremely violent. The perpetrator believes he/she is following special instructions (e.g., from G-d, the feuhrer, etc.) to rid the world of the members of a targeted group.

Effects of Hate Crimes On Victims

• Victims of hate crimes involving violence are more likely to sustain severe physical and psychological injury than victims of other forms of violent crime (McLaughlin, Brilliant & Lang, 1995; Levin & McDevitt, 1993).

• Hate crime victims who have property defaced or damaged or who experience verbal harassment may feel especially violated because a common response of others is "Well, it's not serious - at least no one was hurt" (Barnes & Ephross, 1994).

• In fact, even one incidence of hate-related harassment may trigger a lifetime of memories of prejudice, discrimination, and intimidation, so the victim is seldom reacting just to the one incident.

• Victims of all sorts of hate crimes share the common affront that the act both singles them out, and marks their whole group, simultaneously. Such acts strike deeply at the victim's sense of personal safety, as well as having an isolating, alienating effect, particularly that of unwarranted (and personally unacceptable) guilt derived from perceptions that the majority culture believes that the victim's group is, in fact, inferior.

Psychical Injuries That Follow From Hate Crimes

• Though research is scarce the studies that have been completed suggest that hate crime victims respond initially in much the same way as do victims of other types of violence, such as rape.

• Immediate (2-4 week) responses may include:
  • Emotional Numbing
  • Expressions of indifference toward the crime or, conversely, expressions of anger and desires for revenge
  • Increased feelings of vulnerability and related fear
  • Sadness and depression related to the incident
  • Difficulty sleeping and related fatigue
  • Physical signs of stress such as heart palpitations, headaches
  • Increased irritability, and perhaps, rage
  • Intensified startle responses
  • Increased suspicion of others
• Longer-term psychological effects have not been adequately researched. One study's results (Barnes & Ephross, 1994) indicates that resolution may involve the regaining of self-esteem by attributing responsibility for the crime to the prejudice of the perpetrators. (This appears to be in contrast to victims of other types of personal crime who may continue to blame themselves for the crime's occurrence).

• Longer-term behavioral effects of hate crime that have been identified to date include:
  • Increasing home security and taking other safety precautions for oneself and one's family.
  • Avoidance of community facilities that were previously a part of the victim's life, such as church, clubs, or political organizations.
  • Practicing with weapons or purchase of a weapon (some with ideas of retaliation rather than protection only).