What are the underlying causes of hate crime?

[danny la rouge]

The Scottish Government has released this statement into the wild.

I strongly suspect they have no idea what the causes of hate crime are and are actually not doing anything to challenge those causes other than releasing statements.



But what do you think are the causes of hate crime? And how do you think they can be challenged?

 

[jontz01]

Inter-generational fear and ignorance for one, many other reasons.

 

[Elpenor]

In a sentence - fear which is caused by ignorance.

As for challenging. I can’t see a way to break the fear and ignorance without encountering those you have the fear of and realising you are all people under the same sun with the same hopes and fears

 

[QueenOfGoths]

Misinformation leading to blame. I've lost count of how many times I've quoted articles from Shelter, Amnesty etc.. about refuges and asylum seekers etc.. to people on local Facebook pages but just get "they get all the benefits" quoted back.

Likewise misogynistic cartoons and memes dismissed as banter.

How we deal with it? Education, keep calling people out. It does feel a bit like an uphill struggle though

 

[LDC]

Is fear and/or ignorance the underlying cause/s, or are these also the result of something else?

 

[Sue]

Is fear and/or ignorance the underlying cause/s, or are these also the result of something else?

Perceived unfairness?

 

[Eric Jarvis]

Misinformation leading to blame. I've lost count of how many times I've quoted articles from Shelter, Amnesty etc.. about refuges and asylum seekers etc.. to people on local Facebook pages but just get "they get all the benefits" quoted back.

Likewise misogynistic cartoons and memes dismissed as banter.

How we deal with it? Education, keep calling people out. It does feel a bit like an uphill struggle though

It has always been an uphill struggle, and probably always will be. However the lesson of history is that so long as enough of us keep engaging and working at it there will be progress. If we slack off then things go backwards.

 

[Pickman's model]

there are several causes, the fear and ignorance which has been touched on but also the means by which hate is actively spread. when, for example, the government proclaims a hostile environment for sections of the population, it sends a message to people who are already unhappy. but not just the government - the bile spewed during the eu referendum, for example, the talk of taking back control, the demonisation of immigrants, all these things reinforce existing prejudices, create them where they did not exist before, and create an atmosphere in which more direct opposition to immigrants or people of a different ethnic or religious background is legitimised.

to my mind it's the same with the transgender wars, the tory party really brought it up - i was given a leaflet referring directly to the tory review of it at the @ bookfair in 2017.

and that's before you get onto the way on social media that algorithms bring you the most appalling content

 

[Eric Jarvis]

One of the main factors has always been "divide and rule" being used by the privileged in power. We need to stay focused on the basic struggle between the thousands who peddle fear and hatred in order to gain power and wealth, and the billions of the rest of us. As much as possible show that the same patterns of abuse of power apply to every targeted group.

 

[Pickman's model]

One of the main factors has always been "divide and rule" being used by the privileged in power. We need to stay focused on the basic struggle between the thousands who peddle fear and hatred in order to gain power and wealth, and the billions of the rest of us. As much as possible show that the same patterns of abuse of power apply to every targeted group.

good points well made

 

[ElizabethofYork]

One of the main factors has always been "divide and rule" being used by the privileged in power. We need to stay focused on the basic struggle between the thousands who peddle fear and hatred in order to gain power and wealth, and the billions of the rest of us. As much as possible show that the same patterns of abuse of power apply to every targeted group.

Yes, that.

 

[ska invita]

i think Fear is overplayed, people dont necessarily 'fear' the 'others' they hate, they look down on them, are disgusted by them, etc thats different from fear

 

[PTK]

In a sentence - fear which is caused by ignorance.

As for challenging. I can’t see a way to break the fear and ignorance without encountering those you have the fear of and realising you are all people under the same sun with the same hopes and fears

I don't think that someone who sets fire to a house with people in it can be said to be acting out of fear.

 

[Pickman's model]

i think Fear is overplayed, people dont necessarily 'fear' the 'others' they hate, they look down on them, are disgusted by them, etc thats different from fear

i think we're using fear as a shorthand for that. the -phobia in islamophobia and transphobia, for example, isn't entirely the same as the -phobia in arachnophobia or claustrophobia

 

[Pickman's model]

I don't think that someone who sets fire to a house with people in it can be said to be acting out of fear.

this thread is about what are the underlying causes of hate crimes, not the immediate and specific causes.

i quite like lon milo duquette's song 'i'm scared' which while not specifically about hate crimes does indicate where fear leads

 

[ska invita]

some people cannot handle difference - they have a very fixed very limited idea of what is normal, and any deviation from that Must Not Be Allowed

 

[ska invita]

i think we're using fear as a shorthand for that. the -phobia in islamophobia and transphobia, for example, isn't entirely the same as the -phobia in arachnophobia or claustrophobia

just looked and dictionary describes phobia as "fear or aversion"
aversion i think more accurate here rather than visceral fear

aversion
/əˈvəːʃn/
noun
a strong dislike or disinclination.

arachnophobia is more like fear

 

[hash tag]

i think Fear is overplayed, people dont necessarily 'fear' the 'others' they hate, they look down on them, are disgusted by them, etc thats different from fear

But the fear can come in many forms, not necessarily fear of physical or mental harm. Fears our island will be overcrowded, fear the NHS will be overwhelmed, jobs will be taken, benefit system abused, that our culture and heritage will watered down etc

 

[Pickman's model]

just looked and dictionary describes phobia as "fear or aversion"
aversion i think more accurate here rather than visceral fear

aversion
/əˈvəːʃn/
noun
a strong dislike or disinclination.

arachnophobia is more like fear

maybe we can avoid getting too hung up on the fear thing when the thread's about underlying causes of hate crimes and so positing several layers of causes.

 

[ska invita]

maybe we can avoid getting too hung up on the fear thing when the thread's about underlying causes of hate crimes and so positing several layers of causes.

why? understanding the psychology is exactly that - is it a fear based response like seeing a bear in the woods, or is it an aversion based on superiority and deep categorical inability to handle otherness? thats exactly what the thread is about to answer the question

 

[Pickman's model]

why? understanding the psychology is exactly that - is it a fear based response like seeing a bear in the woods, or is it an aversion based on superiority and deep categorical inability to handle otherness? thats exactly what the thread is about to answer the question

the thing is it is both. there are more facets of fear than one in play here. the way in which excessive force is so often used by the police against black people and most often men here and in the united states - the way in which an alleged fear of their great strength is used in attempts to excuse the vicious force used. there's a specific term used, can't think of it right now but sure someone else has it to hand

 

[Pickman's model]

But the fear can come in many forms, not necessarily fear of physical or mental harm. Fears our island will be overcrowded, fear the NHS will be overwhelmed, jobs will be taken, benefit system abused, that our culture and heritage will watered down etc

fears that a formerly 'privileged' position will be watered down - for example in vicious loyalist murders in the six counties, like the 1960s uvf, the shankill butchers, the lvf etc - and it doesn't start in the '60s, orangeism has a long and sorry history of vicious hate crimes against catholics in ireland

 

[ska invita]

But the fear can come in many forms, not necessarily fear of physical or mental harm. Fears our island will be overcrowded, fear the NHS will be overwhelmed, jobs will be taken, benefit system abused, that our culture and heritage will watered down etc

Fair point
Which comes first though? Whats the relationship between the two aspects of aversion and fear?
I would guess that these fears are either deliberately or even subconsciously added to justify or stir up the initial impulse of aversion

i.e. i expect it goes:
initial impulse: this thing or person i am encountering is different to my idea of normality, therefore i dont like it/them
this feeling and thought is clearly intolerant, unemphatic, hateful etc
reasons of fears are added on top to make it palatable for the person - makes it seem justifiable and rationalised
same fears are further stoked up by others with a political agenda

 

[ska invita]

see parochialism, people dislike people from the next village up, from the neighbouring town, neighbouring county
theres a shitty part of human nature, maybe due to long evolutionary danger aversion, that can be deeply uncomfortable with otherness
like all shit bits of human nature it can be deprogrammed or it can be indulged

when indulged it leads to actual hate

 

[ouirdeaux]

People are lazy shits. Not all of them, not all of the time, but it's a human tendency. Another tendency is to form groups, and hate is more efficent than love in strengthening group identity. Obviously, these tendencies can and are used by those in power to maintain that power, but they wouldn't be able to do this if they weren't already there.

 

[Pickman's model]

see parochialism, people dislike people from the next village up, from the neighbouring town, neighbouring county
theres a shitty part of human nature, maybe due to long evolutionary danger aversion, that can be deeply uncomfortable with otherness
like all shit bits of human nature it can be deprogrammed or it can be indulged

As I understand it hate crimes could be misogynist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, anti-semitic and so on, while postcode wars or parochial violence are a somewhat different thing. After England went out to West Germany in the 1990 world cup German cars were attacked in England. So nationalism can play a part too - again, something whipped up by the media

 

[ska invita]

Nationalism for sure. the ultimate othering entity. Theres a direct correlation between our army taking part in the mass slaughter and destruction of the entire middle east and the rise in hatred for 'muslims' (anyone who looks like they might be from a country that is dominant muslim). If we have to kill these people we must have to fear them right? Maybe UK foreign/war policy is what the SNP had in mind?

 

[ska invita]

Thinking about people I hate...the people I hate, either individuals or class of people, is based on direct experience of the harm they do to me or things and people I care about. I'm not planning to criminally attack them, though the thought has crossed my mind.

 

[LDC]

Perceived unfairness?

Actual unfairness too though?

see parochialism, people dislike people from the next village up, from the neighbouring town, neighbouring county
theres a shitty part of human nature, maybe due to long evolutionary danger aversion, that can be deeply uncomfortable with otherness
like all shit bits of human nature it can be deprogrammed or it can be indulged

when indulged it leads to actual hate

Yeah that's the bit I was musing on. Like we could broadly say 'division' of various types (nationalism, culture, etc.) under capitalism is the cause of much of what is legal hate crime in the UK now, but if we widen the definition beyond a current legal one to broader attacks on people that have been 'othered' I think some complicated evolutionary stuff might come into play, and today's stuff gets exacerbated on the back of that?

 

[LDC]

I guess it's like the primitivist/anti-civilisation (and millenarian religious) thing of looking for the source of the 'problem' (development of agriculture, the fall from grace, etc. etc.) in that it's maybe an interesting exercise, but ultimately is both unprovable and doesn't help solve the problems in the here and now.

Although maybe the Scottish Government are about to go full-on 'Back to the caves!' as they see the root of hate crime as the divisions between humans and the natural world caused by civilisation as the root cause of our problems?