Understanding Hate Crimes Acts, Motives, Offenders, Victims, and Justice [Hardcover]

Hate crimes and lesser acts of bigotry and intolerance are seen to be constants in todays world. Since 1990, the federal government has published annual reports on hate crime incidents in the United States. While the reported numbers are disturbing, even more devastating is the impact of these crimes on individuals, communities, and society.

This comprehensive textbook can serve as a stand-alone source for instructors and students who study hate crimes and/or other related acts. It invites the reader to consider relevant social mores and practices as well as criminal justice policies as they relate to hate crimes by presenting this subject within a broad context.

Foreword & Preface  1. Introduction - An overview  2. A History of Hate in America  3. The Evolution toward Modern Hate Crime Laws  4. The Criminology of Hate Crime  5. Perpetrators  What do we know about them?  6. Victims  Who are they?  7. Criminal Justice System Responses  8. International Perspectives  9. The Future of Hate Crimes

Petrosino challenges us to engage with some of the fundamental questions associated with hate crimes, and to think more critically about their nature, causation and implications. Written accessibly and authoritatively throughout, this text underlines the importance of seeing hate crime as a human problem which requires interventions beyond simply the immediate or the obvious.

Dr Neil Chakraborti, Director of the Leicester Centre for Hate Studies, University of Leicester, UK

In the last two decades or so hate crime has become a significant global cause for concern. Drawing upon her own vast experience and expertise in the area, Carolyn Petrosino has written a fascinating and accessible book that offers a comprehensive and wide-ranging overview of the complex field of hate crime. She oflÃÃ