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Hate Crime Offenders: An Expanded Typology
Author(s) -
McDevitt Jack,
Levin Jack,
Bennett Susan
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/1540-4560.00262
Subject(s) - typology , culpability , criminology , sanctions , psychology , relation (database) , sociology , social psychology , political science , law , computer science , anthropology , database
Little research has been conducted to determine the motivations of hate crime offenders. This article builds on an earlier work of J. Levin and McDevitt (1993) in which a typology of offender motivations was first articulated. We reanalyze 169 Boston police case files that were originally studied in order to provide empirical grounding for the typology. In this updated study, characteristics of the three original motives—thrill, defensive, and mission—are examined in relation to a new category: retaliatory motivation. In addition, the article addresses the issue of levels of culpability in explaining the most appropriate sanctions for certain kinds of hate offenders.