The Consequences and Impacts of Hate Crime and Post-Victimization Experiences: The Longitudinal Hate Crime Victimization Survey (LHCVS)

This proposal responds to the RFP’s request for research to improve reporting of hate crimes and understand and address the needs of hate crime victims and their communities. Research has shown that hate crime victimization is associated with a range of negative individual outcomes. Not only are hate crimes typically more physically violent than non-bias crimes, but they are also associated with greater post-victimization psychological and emotional distress relative to other crimes. Further, hate crimes have been found to be associated with some broader negative community impacts, by potentially disrupting intergroup relations and elevating fear and other negative emotions among those in the immediate community, particularly those with shared characteristics to the victim. However, prior research demonstrating these harms has all been correlational and is thus unable to speak to causal relationships. With this in mind, the proposed research will develop and administer the Longitudinal Hate Crime Victimization Survey (LHCVS), the first existing longitudinal study explicitly focused on the consequences and correlates of hate crime victimization and related phenomenon. We have four primary objectives:

Examine within-person variation in experiences with bias and hate crime victimization—in various forms—over time.
Examine the within-person relationship between victimization experiences and various psychological/attitudinal outcomes over time.
Examine patterns in help-seeking following victimization and assess the efficacy of police responses to hate crime victimization.
Link prior experiences with reporting victimization to the police with variation in responses to subsequent victimization.

To accomplish these objectives, we will develop and administer our survey instrument via YouGov. We will administer four waves of the survey using a panel design such that the same participants are sampled at each wave. Once data are collected, we will use various data analytic techniques, including univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses to examine variation in experiences with hate crime victimization over time. Using this approach, the proposed study will conduct the first longitudinal assessment of the impacts of hate crimes on victims and their communities, reporting behavior, and the joint relationship between these impacts and help-seeking following victimization.

This study will generate multiple journal articles, research briefs, a webinar, and presentations to academic and practitioner audiences. Our results will help criminology and criminal justice scholars, law enforcement, and legislators by providing an important step toward understanding and addressing the needs of hate crime victims and their communities and improving reporting of hate crimes. CA/NCF