NIJ’s Hate Crime Research Portfolio aims to inform efforts to prevent hate crimes, improve their identification and response, and enhance outcomes for victims.
Hate crimes are criminal offenses motivated in part or entirely by prejudice or bias against a defined group of people with specific characteristics. [1] Hate crimes — as widely codified in state and federal laws — are recognized as a distinct category of crimes that have a broader effect than most other kinds of crime because the victims are not only the immediate targets but others like them. Hate crime victimization also has distinct mental and physical consequences.[2]
NIJ funds research and evaluation projects to understand hate crime perpetration and identify effective prevention and intervention strategies; inform and evaluate efforts to improve hate crime identification, reporting, and response; and identify effective strategies to address the needs of victims. The portfolio supports qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods basic research and evaluation studies. Studies include data collection efforts, such as fielding national and specialized surveys, conducting interviews and focus groups, and compiling and analyzing existing federal, state, and community organization data on hate crime incidents and case processing.
NIJ-funded studies generate foundational knowledge, including the characteristics and motivations of individuals who commit hate crimes, the impact of hate crime victimization, and the reporting behavior and needs of victims. The findings are leveraged by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as community-based organizations, to inform investments and strategies to improve hate crime reporting and response such as through the development of trainings, outreach strategies, resource guides, and interventions.
Research Priority 1: Advance the understanding of hate crime offending.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 1.1 | What are the pathways and predictors of hate crime offending, including characteristics and motivations of individuals who perpetrate hate crimes? |
| Research Question 1.2 | What is the prevalence of hate crime offenses in different settings and toward different groups? |
| Research Question 1.3 | What are effective ways to measure hate crime offending and victimization? |
Research Priority 2: Identify effective prevention and intervention strategies.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 2.1 | What are effective interventions to prevent hate crime offenses? |
| Research Question 2.2 | What are effective community-level prevention and intervention strategies? |
Priority 3: Identify and evaluate strategies to improve the reporting, investigation, and prosecution of hate crimes.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 3.1 | What affects victims’ reporting of hate crimes? |
| Research Question 3.2 | What are effective strategies to improve victims’ reporting of hate crimes? |
| Research Question 3.3 | What are the barriers to and strategies for improving law enforcement and prosecutors’ identification of and response to hate crimes? |
Priority 4: Improve understanding and develop strategies to address the needs of hate crime victims and their communities.
| Number | Question |
|---|---|
| Research Question 4.1 | What are the impacts of hate crimes and the needs of victims and victimized communities? |
| Research Question 4.2 | What are effective services and service delivery strategies to improve outcomes for hate crime victims? |
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Use the links below to find additional information and resources related to hate crime.