Study finds no evidence that economic downturns spur hate crimes

Contrary to the social science theory that people more often commit hate crimes when they face diminished job prospects, economic downturns don?t correspond with spikes in bigoted violence, suggests a recent study.

'American hate crime is sporadic, isolated, uncoordinated and not tied to economic fluctuation,' says political scientist Donald Green, PhD, who co-authored the study with psychologist Jack Glaser, PhD, and political scientist Andrew Rich, PhD, of Yale University. 'Tying hate crime to economics only trivializes the depth and severity of the problem. We can?t make it go away just by expanding the pie. The reason people fear and dislike one another can?t simply be reduced to economic frustration.'

In the study, published in the July issue of APA?s Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 75, No. 1, p. 82?92), the authors analyzed the incidence of hate crime?violence, harassment and intimidation spurred by the victims? race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation?between 1987 and 1995 in New York City. The authors found no evidence of a link between hate crimes and the region?s monthly unemployment rates during that period.

Social theorists have claimed that drops in cotton prices triggered increased in lynchings between 1882 and 1930. But Green discounts that pattern, noting that rates of lynching declined most significantly during the nation?s biggest economic decline in recent history, the Great Depression.

Rather than economic downturns, neighborhood influxes of ethnically diverse people were most likely to spur bigoted violence, according to the analysis by Green and his team. The only time economic hardship relates to hate crime is when established political leaders convince the public that specific groups are to blame, says Green, citing the Nazi regime and the recent violence against ethnic Chinese in Indonesia as examples.

In August, APA released a new public policy position paper entitled 'Hate Crimes Today: An Age-Old Foe in Modern Dress.' The paper, which summarizes the research finding on the causes of hate crimes, is a joint project of the APA Office of Public Communications and the Public Policy Office. Copies are available by calling (800) 374-3120.

?B. Murray