Download Hate Crime – A Challenge to Democracy.

Hate Crime – A Challenge to Democracy.
A multidisciplinary study on hate crime in Skåne with a focus on causes, consequences and
support initiatives
Purpose and aims
Acts of violence and other forms of illegal methods have long been used by individuals and
groups on political and religious grounds. For example, globalisation and increased conflicts
have led to more areas being exposed to acts of terror and attacks on the social and political
system (Kelly & Maghan 1998). Over the last twenty years in Sweden, a growing outsiderhood
has resulted in an increase in the number of extremists with different religious and ideological
leanings. It is mostly individuals who are injured or killed by hate crimes perpetrators, which in
itself is an attack on the democratic system, although democracy is also obstructed by e.g.
journalists being intimidated into silence. Democracy implies a safeguarding of basic human
rights and that people are not exposed to acts of contempt or attacked because they are perceived
as different or as representatives of the democratic system. At a time when hate crime and
extremism as threats to the democratic society are growing it is very important to increase
knowledge about the causes and consequences of hate crime and extremism.
In recent years a number of murders and attempted murders have been committed in Malmö by
someone shooting at people of “foreign” appearance. In the autumn of 2010, the number of
shootings intensified and concern about “Malmö’s Laserman” spread. In November a person was
arrested on suspicion of at least three murders and eleven attempted murders of people with an
immigrant background. Even though at the time of writing the legal proceedings have not yet
started, the classification of hate crime will in all likelihood be included in the evidence
submitted to the court. In 2009 and 2010, in both the Swedish and the international media, much
was written and spoken about hate crime – especially against Jews in Malmö. The descriptions
were about how Jewish burial grounds had been desecrated, how Jews had been harassed on their
way to and from the synagogue and the burning down of the Jewish chapel. Another two hate
crimes that were highlighted in Skåne in 2010 related to a Somali woman living in Tomelilla
who was subjected to stone-throwing and verbal attacks by secondary school pupils and a young
Muslim girl in Södra Sandby who was assaulted because she was wearing a veil. The preliminary
inquiries were initially laid down, although when the media exposed the cases the police again
opened up the inquiries with the justification that hate crime was highly prioritised because that
kind of crime was an attack on individuals’ basic rights and on the democratic society. Despite
hate crime having been highly prioritised for some years, the number of hate crimes in Skåne in
the last two years has led to Skåne itself being regarded as a hate crime centre. According to the
police authorities in Skåne, 269 hate crimes were reported in 2009. Even though the number of
unrecorded cases is probably great and given the statistics differ somewhat between the Swedish
National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå) and the police authorities in Skåne, the figures
nevertheless show an increase in the number of hate crimes and that every one in three reported
crimes is anti-Semitic in nature (79 of 269). Hate crimes against Jews have attracted a lot of
attention, although 2/3 of those who are victims of hate crime in Skåne belong to other groups,
e.g. Muslims, Romanies and homosexuals. In this proposed project no delimitations will be
made, but the focus will be on all groups included in the Swedish hate crime definition, which
thereby means that different groups of victims can be compared with each other (see e.g. Tiby
2007 for the need for this kind of study).
The project Hatbrott – en utmaning för demokratin [Hate Crime – A Challenge to Democracy]
intends to examine the causes and consequences of different types of hate crime with a focus on
Skåne. The aim is also to suggest measures for improving the situation in different respects for
victims and to contribute to an improved knowledge of hate crime that will assist government
agencies and organisations that work in different ways with the problems of hate crime and
political and religious extremism. In the long-term the project aims to contribute to the reduction
of hate crime and, as part of that, contribute to increasing knowledge about the causes and
consequences of hate crime and disseminating this to relevant groups in society. In this way, the
intention is that it will be easier to prevent threats to the foundations of democratic society at an
early stage. Within the framework of the project important questions of a more structural nature
will be asked, such as: What are the underlying causes of the increase in the number of hate
crimes? Are external factors involved, such as those in the Israel-Palestine conflict, with local
religious connotations? Or is it mainly to do with internal factors in Skåne, such as segregation
and “us against them” attitudes in housing areas and schools? Does the increased support for the
Sverigedemokraterna [The Sweden Democrats] in Skåne have anything to do with hate crime?
How do we explain the increase in the number of reported hate crimes and, despite this, the few
cases in which people are actually brought to court and sentenced in line with the recently
introduced severe penalty code? Other questions are more oriented towards the actors: Who are
the perpetrators of hate crime and what are their motives for committing such a crime? A third
group of questions relates to methods: How can society prevent, or at least reduce, the number of
hate crimes? What kinds of methods can be used to help those who are victims of hate crime and
how do we deal with the perpetrators of such crimes in order to prevent new crimes being
committed? Can specific success factors be identified among the different methods that are used
to counteract hate crime and political and religious extremism?
Survey of the field
The international literature on hate crime is firmly rooted in American research, since the
terminology originated from USA in the 1970s when social movements, interest groups and
other activists succeeded in attracting the attention of the media and influencing politicians in
Congress to legislate against hate crime (Jenness & Grattet 2001). In the book Hate Crime;
Criminal Law and Identity Politics, Jacobs and Potter (1998) point out that although hate crime
is a construction that has no obvious definition, prejudices against a certain identifiable group do
constitute the primary motive for the crime. Hate crime can be seen as the result of a complex
relation between individual and social factors, where general prejudices play a central role
(Gerstenfeld 2010:290). The difficulty of explicitly defining hate crime is intimately bound up
with changes in social norms over time and space. However, Petrosino (2003) maintains that hate
crime is often directed towards certain easily identifiable minority groups with less power than
the majority. Some scholars claim that hate crime only arises if the victim belongs to
marginalised and stigmatised groups, which means that this type of hate crime is not regarded as
being committed by individuals belonging to a minority group on another minority group or on
majority groups (Perry 2001). In line with Perry’s research, Sweden has adopted a more
comprehensive definition in order to include those groups who could be exposed to hate crime.1
In Sweden, hate crime is regarded as crime with xenophobic/racist, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic,
1
The concept hate crime was first introduced in a Swedish context in 1999 in connection with Eva Tiby’s thesis
Hatbrott? Homosexuella kvinnors och mäns berättelser om utsatthet för brott [Hate crime? Homosexual women’s
and men’s stories about exposure to crime].
other anti-religious, homophobic, biphobic, heterophobic and transphobic motives (Brå rapport
2009:10:10).2
Against the background of an increase in the number of hate crimes in Skåne over the last few
years, previous research has shown that those who are victims of this kind of crime often suffer
from long-term psychological damage. In addition, as such attacks are not only directed towards
individuals and groups, but also towards the democratic social system as a whole, the generation
of more specific knowledge about this kind of crime is regarded as being of great importance
(Iganski 2008; Herek, Cogan & Gillis 2002);Chapman (2008); Christersen (2008) &
Moskalenko & McCauley (2009).
In connection with the project application, the project group’s own research is highly relevant
and includes: the book entitled Rasismens yttringar . Exemplet Klippan [Manifestations of
Racism. The example of Klippan] (2001 a), by Berit Wigerfelt and Anders S. Wigerfelt, is a
study of hate crime based on the murder of Gerard Gbeyo, an asylum-seeker from the Ivory
Coast, in 1995 in Klippan in northern Skåne, by a 16-year-old Nazi sympathiser. The study,
which deals with the growth of racist and Nazi youth groupings in the area, was partly financed
by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention and was included in a series of studies of
similar crimes in different places in Sweden. The historian Helene Lööw was the initiator of
these studies. The book deals with how and why these groups emerged among the youth and how
they could be linked to adults’ xenophobic points of view. The study also seeks to answer the
question as to whether the growth of extreme movements can be explained historically and
regionally in a Scanian context. Different actors, such as schools, the police and the social
services, were relatively successful in dealing with these groups in Klippan, and their different
initiatives are described and analysed in the book. The authors have also been involved in further
research on hate crime, extremism, racism, segregation, outsiderhood and belonging, and how
government agencies have responded to these phenomena (see e.g. Wigerfelt & Wigerfelt 2001
b, 2001 c, and Wigerfelt A 2004, 2010 and Wigerfelt B 2010, 2011 a, 2011 b).
Pieter Bevelander has large experience of conducting surveys and to analyze survey data
(Bevelander & Veenman 2004, 2006; Bevelander & Groeneveld 2006; Bevelander & Pendakur
2009, 2010). Moreover, he has in a number of publications analyzed the attitudes of young
people towards Muslims in Sweden as well as hate crime experiences by young Muslims in
Sweden (Otterbeck & Bevelander 2006; Bevelander & Otterbeck 2010; Bevelander & Otterbeck
2011). The main results of these studies show that, when controlling for several background
variables simultaneously, the country of birth, socio-economic background and
school/programme factors all have an effect on the attitude towards Muslims.
Moreover, socio-psychological factors, the relationship to friends and the perceptions of gender
role patterns are found to be important. In addition, local factors like high levels of
unemployment, high proportions of immigrants in a local environment also have an effect. No
differences in the attitudes of boys and girls were found. Further, the study establishes a
correlation between negative attitudes and right-wing populist seats in local government. In
general, negative stereotypes and harsh views on Muslims were fairly rare in their attitude study.
Still, when Muslim youth answered the questionnaire, the self-evaluation of discrimination was
2
In Sweden hate crime is not classified in the penal code as a specific crime but as a serious offence, which means
that severe penalties can be imposed on conviction if hate crime can actually be verified.
higher than that of other comparable groups. Examples of verbal abuse and racist slurs were also
given from qualitative research (Otterbeck 2010). Results indicate clearly a difference between
young and old people in Sweden. Older individuals have in general more negative attitudes
towards Muslims than younger people. This is also signaled in interviews with Muslims who
give accounts for being verbally attacked mainly by elderly persons, not because of their own
actions or words, but just for being there.
Right-wing populist parties and movements in Sweden and Europe and a possible connection
with an extreme form of anti-democratic discourse are dealt with in Populism and a Mistrust of
Foreigners. Sweden in Europe (2007), by Fryklund, Kiiskinen and Saveljeff. The book entitled
Att dansa i otakt med väljarna. Socialdemokraternas och Moderaternas strategiska bemötande
av Sverigedemokraterna [Dancing out of step with the voters. The Social Democratic Party’s and
the Conservative Party’s strategic treatment of the Sweden Democrats], by Jenny Kiiskinen and
Sigrid Saveljeff (2010), discusses how in different ways the presence of right-wing populist
parties forces established parties to adopt positions on the very issues around which these parties
mobilise the electorate. This in turn results in the refugee- and immigration issue being moved
higher up the political agenda, which can lead to different scenarios where one development can
mean an increased scope for policies and rhetoric that are strongly coloured by intolerance and a
mistrust of people with a background other than Swedish, which in turn can give rise to an even
more extreme political and religious discourse. A categorisation of “us” and “them” is thus an
important ingredient in a hate crime context.
Project description
In order to create a theoretically-based understanding of the complex nature of hate crime we
will focus on collective identity-creating processes in which the self-definition of “us” and the
boundaries against “them” are fundamental. Identity-creating processes are maintained by a
continuous recreation of categorisations that are evident in e.g. language and rituals. In some
cases the boundaries themselves often become part of the exclusion processes that affect groups
with less power: “they” are not regarded as having the right to live among the “normal”
(Wigerfelt 2010). Charles Tilly’s (2000) argument about including and excluding linked to
categorisation is important in this context. Groups construct and preserve their boundaries with
the aid of categories. We could say that categories consist of a group of actors that share a
demarcation line through which they are separated from and connected to at least one other
group that is excluded by the preservation of this boundary. If changes in the boundaries are to
take place, categories have to be used in order indicate the conditions that apply to potential new
members of the social organisation. Here Tilly’s starts out from a relational perspective, i.e. that
categories should not be regarded as isolated but rather in relation to other categories. The
categories that are constructed can be “Swedes”, “immigrants”, “homosexuals”, “Muslims” etc.
Through the construction and the relational connection between categories clearer border lines
are created that in some environments can eventually lead to hate crime. Carole Sheffield (1995)
sees hate crime as part of a political culture in which rights, privileges and prestige are dependent
on biological or cultural marks of identification. Barbara Perry (2003) argues that differences
between people are used as forms of identification and that sometimes these identities are of a
border-crossing nature and are thereby perceived by some as dangerous. Hate crime can thus be
seen as both dependent on circumstances and also as part of the prevailing political culture
(Kelly & Maghan 1998). Hate crime is often a kind of “communication” with the intention of
stirring up anxiety and fear among the target groups (Perry 2001).
In the project, hate crime will be studied on the basis of an actor-model and from a contextual
perspective. We will, for example, use Gidden’s structuring theory, which in simplified terms
means an actor-oriented perspective that is seen in relation to society’s overarching structures,
and also Messerschmidt’s theory on “structured action”(Guneriussen 1996, Giddens 1984 and
Messerschmidt 1997). The aim of the project will be operationalised by a pluralistic approach in
which quantitative and qualitative methods are combined in order to explain the underlying
causes and consequences of hate crime and the need for support initiatives that arises when such
crimes are committed. The project consists of complex questions of different character that also
require different approaches. The examination of the judicial system with regard to hate crime
related offences will result in a mapping and compilation of existing secondary empirical
material in the form of public statistics relating to hate crime and register studies of report
notifications and convictions in Skåne. These will then be compared with national and
international studies. We will also carry out a kind of “meta-study” of some of the methods that
have been used in different countries in order to improve the situation of hate crime victims and
for preventing perpetrators from committing new crimes related to extremism and threats to the
democratic society (see e.g. Björgo, Donselaar & Grunenberg (2009). Within the framework of
the project, we will acquire a deeper knowledge of the experiences of the victims and the
motives of the perpetrators. In this context, qualitative interviews with both the victims and
perpetrators/extremists of hate crime will be conducted.3 In addition to interviews with
perpetrators and victims, interviews will also be conducted with people who are involved in
some way with hate-crime related problems in Skåne. Interviews with the police, victim
supporters, employees in anti-discrimination bureaus and representatives of the newly
established Dialogue Forum are examples of important “official” informants to include in the
project. This is important for several reasons, e.g. the fact that knowledge about hate crime
needs to be disseminated and linked to those who are affected in some way by it, which is also
one of the objectives of the project. Schools are important arenas to explore too, because young
people are over-represented among hate crime perpetrators and among people with extreme
political and religious values. Many young people are also victims of hate crime. A selection of
schools will thus be made and a survey carried out that can be compared with earlier studies.
Some 3,000-5,000 pupils will be included in the survey in an attempt to map their attitudes
towards and experiences of hate crime and extreme political and religious viewpoints in different
parts of Skåne. The survey will then be followed up by a series of individual interviews with the
participating youth based on the questionnaire responses and by focus group interviews, which in
this context can be a suitable tool with which to study opinions and values and establish which
processes contribute to the construction of meaning in this context (Wibeck 2000:21).
The project will begin with phase 1 and the mapping of the judicial system’s approach to hate
crime offences and the definitions that are used. What happens to reported offences in the
judicial chain has not yet been explored in any depth (Brå report 2010:12:81). When Brå
followed up the report notifications from 2008 to March 2010 it was found that only 8 % of the
3
In order to maintain and ensure secrecy, the victims and the perpetrators will be contacted via the police authorities
in Skåne, a collaborating partner in the project, to ask whether they are willing to take part in the research project
outlined here.
reported cases had led to legal action, prosecution or the laying down of the case due to
insufficient evidence. Studies from The Living History Forum (2006) and Brå (2002) indicate
that severe penalties are seldom imposed for hate crime, i.e. this is an exception rather than the
rule. We will monitor the reported crimes in Skåne during the period 2009-2011, as knowledge
about what happens in the judicial system is an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle in the
mapping of the causes and consequences of hate crime. In other words, this phase will result in
the mapping and compilation of existing secondary empirical material in the form of public
statistics related to hate crime, register studies of reported offences and convictions in Skåne that
can then be compared with national and international studies. We will also conduct a literature
study of the methods used in different countries in order to prevent or reduce the number of hate
crimes and extremism. Kiiskinen, Wigerfelt and Wigerfelt will all be involved in this phase of
the project.
Research undertaken by Barbara Perry (2010) has pointed to the need for in-depth studies into
how different groups of victims are affected, and into the similarities and differences between the
different “categories of victims”. According to Perry, very few scientific studies have been
conducted in which perpetrators have been interviewed. She therefore argues for the importance
of more in-depth studies in a demarcated area, i.e. a local/regional study, in an attempt to
understand the political and cultural environments in which hate crimes are common. Thus, in
phase 2 of this project we will deepen our knowledge of the experiences of both the victims and
perpetrators of hate crime by means of qualitative interviews. In order to maintain and ensure
secrecy, victims and perpetrators will be contacted via the police authorities in Skåne, a
collaborating partner in the project, with a request to participate in the project. In phase 2 we
will, e.g. describe the victims’ experiences of being subjected to hate crime. What kind of
reaction leads to the insight of having been a victim of hate crime? What kind of support from
society do they expect? We will also ask e.g. what the perpetrators themselves think about the
underlying causes that lead to a hate crime being committed, and how they characterise the
actions that form the basis for the reporting of a hate crime. In addition to interviews with
perpetrators and victims we will also interview people who in some way are engaged with hate
crime related problems in Skåne. Interviewing the police, supporters of victims, employees in
anti-discrimination bureaus and representatives of the Dialogue Forum in Malmö who work to
prevent hate crimes between Jews and Muslims are examples of important “official” informants
to include in the project. This is important for several reasons, e.g. the fact that knowledge about
hate crime needs to be disseminated and linked to those who are affected in some way by hate
crime, which is also one of the objectives of the project. This is also something that was
highlighted in the report Offer för hatbrott – vad har gjorts och vad kan förbättras? [Victims of
hate crimes – what has been done and what could be improved?] by Chrystal Kunosson (2007),
where the need for in-depth studies into hate crime in Sweden is underlined and that the
knowledge that exists must be better communicated to the police, non-profit organisations and
potential victims. It is also important to examine how different actors deal with those in
vulnerable positions (the judicial system, the health care system, the social services, schools,
non-profit organisations).4 By collaborating with bodies like the police, local associations,
4
In Kunosson’s research overview of hate crime research in Sweden little is said about xenophobic/racist crimes.
Two such examples in the present project application of people taking part are the books Det lokala våldet, Om
rädsla, rasism och social kontroll [Local Violence. On Fear, Racism and Social Control] (eds Ingrid Sahlin and
Malin Åkerström, 2000) and Törnroslandet [Sleeping Beauty Country] (Integrationsverket 2001).
Dialogue Forum and non-profit organisations our aim is to contribute to the transfer of
knowledge and to recommend methods that in earlier projects and in this project have helped to
combat hate crime. According to Christman & Wong (2010), before a victim reports an offence
it is customary to consult e.g. an anti-discrimination bureau. We will therefore collaborate with
the Anti-discrimination Bureau in Helsingborg and make use of the bureau’s contacts in order to
try to interview those who have been subjected to hate crime but who are not always visible in
the report notification statistics. In the same way we plan to work with RFSL and different
religious organisations. Wigerfelt, Kiiskinen and Wigerfelt will take part in phase 2 of the
project.
In phase 3 we will focus on tracking attitudes among pupils that can result in extremism and hate
crimes and also on examining the degree to which Scanian pupils are exposed to hate crime. It
has already been established that young suspects are over-represented when it comes to hate
crime. Of those who were suspected of hate crime in 2008 40 % were below the age of 20, and
out of all the suspects 13 % were below the age of 15 (and therefore classed as minors). The
most common crimes that these young perpetrators are suspected of are damage to property or
the use of graffiti (Brå report 2009:10:78). Against this background, we consider the school to be
an important arena to include in this sub-study, where the school is partly studied as an arena for
hate crime and partly where a selection of schools that work actively with different methods of
combating hate crime is made. The sub-study will consist of a questionnaire survey and
interview study. The target group for the sub-study is young people in school Year 9 and upper
secondary school pupils in Years 1-3. The questionnaires will be distributed to some 3,000-5,000
pupils in Skåne. The selection will be representative in order to capture attitudes and experiences
of hate crime in different parts of Skåne. We think that including several parts of Skåne rather
than simply looking at large city areas is important in this context. There is a perception that the
problem of hate crime is much greater in Skåne, and that in Skåne the problem is much worse in
Malmö. With the aid of this questionnaire survey we will be able to ascertain whether or not this
perception is correct. In order to guarantee a satisfactory percentage of responses, and in order to
render the distribution more effective, the questionnaires will be distributed by teachers in
connection with lessons. In order to track possible changes over time the results of the
questionnaire survey will be compared with the results of two earlier studies: Islamofobi – en
studie av begreppet, ungdomars attityder och unga muslimers utsatthet [Islamophobia – a study
of the concept, young people’s attitudes and young Muslims’ vulnerability] (Otterbeck &
Bevelander 2006) and Intolerans, Antisemitiska, homofobiska, islamofobiska och
invandrarfientliga tendenser bland unga [Intolerance, Anti-Semitism, Homophobia,
Islamophobia and Anti-immigrant tendencies] (Ring & Morgentau 2004). Phase 3 will be led by
Bevelander, with the participation of Kiiskinen and B. Wigerfelt.
Year 2012: The project will begin in phase 1 with the mapping of how the judicial system deals
with hate crime related offences and a deeper and wider reading of international literature
concerned with hate crime and extremism. During the first six months two meetings with the
reference group will be held, at which the detailed project plan will be discussed and revised and
a communication plan drawn up in cooperation with collaboration partners with the aim of
disseminating the results of the project’s different sub-studies. We will also collate and process
available theoretical material and develop the methodological framework that will be required
for the work in phase 2, which will be mainly focused on interviews with perpetrators and
victims. Based on the material examined in the judicial chain, e.g. reported offences, with the aid
of the police authorities in Skåne we will identify hate crime victims for interview. Another
intermediate objective is to establish contact with the schools included in the questionnaire
survey. The idea that the questionnaires will be distributed in the school in connection with
lessons is dependent on well-established contacts with the teachers and principals of the schools
concerned.
Year 2013: An intermediate objective for the project’s second year is to carry out all the
necessary data collections for phase 2. This will mainly concern conducting interviews with
victims of hate crime, the perpetrators of hate crimes and key people/organisations that are in
different ways involved in the prevention of hate crime. Another intermediate objective in the
second year is to construct the questionnaire, which will be done on the basis of previous models
(Bevelander & Otterbeck 2006) that will be further developed and streamlined in order to align
with the project’s aims and plans, and make it available for distribution.
Year 2014: The overarching goal for the project’s third and final year is to conclude the work in
phases 2 and 3 and to collate the results of the project Hate Crime – A Challenge to Democracy.
Significance
No regional scientific studies have been conducted on hate crime and its connection with
democracy in Sweden. The present situation makes Skåne an extremely interesting and
justifiable “case” to study in the framework of the proposed project. The project group’s
combined competence and our collaborations with other researchers and “practitioners” will
generate interesting and useful results that will benefit other researchers, people who work with
hate crime in different contexts and, not least, those groups that are victims of hate crime. Our
ambition is that the project will contribute to the prevention of hate crime by means of the
transfer of the generated knowledge to the relevant parties and in that way reduce threats to the
democratic system and its values. In order to realise the project’s objectives relating to the
recommendation of suitable methods to use to address hate crime, we will study examples of the
practical projects against hate crime and extremism that have hitherto been carried out. Our
intention here is to create the necessary data in order to be able to recommend suitable methods
to use to combat hate crime and extremism. The results of the project Hate Crime – A Challenge
to Democracy will be presented at the end of the project in a final report. In addition, the results
will be disseminated by means of articles published in Swedish and international journals. The
aim is that the project group will succeed in having at least three articles published in peerreview journals. We will also present the results at suitable national and international
conferences.
At a time when hate crime and extremism as threats to the democratic society are immediate and
important subjects about which to disseminate knowledge to circles that reach beyond traditional
academia, the results will also be disseminated in wider contexts. In cooperation with the
project’s different collaboration partners, several different conferences will be organised that e.g.
address the police, people working in schools and the social services, municipalities and nonprofit organisations. The project group also plans to present the results of the project in a
textbook anthology that can be used in training courses for the police, social workers and other
relevant fields. The ambition is that a textbook of this kind will have an actor-oriented approach
that offers target groups definite tools with which to work and that are based on the accumulated
experiences of the project.