The American Psychological Association, an organization of over 151,000 members and affiliates, is pleased to submit testimony to the Early Childhood, Youth and Families Subcommittee of the House Education and Workforce Committee on juvenile justice and crime prevention. As a scientific organization, our members have produced a vast amount of research examining antecedents, causes and consequences of violent behavior. To summarize the body of psychological research on violence, we can conclude that violence is not a random, uncontrollable, or an inevitable occurrence. Many factors, both individual and social, contribute to an individual’s propensity to use violence, and are within our power to change. There is overwhelming evidence that we can intervene effectively in the lives of young people to reduce or prevent their involvement in violence. The APA has a long history of providing testimony and witnesses to Congress outlining this point, with an emphasis on early intervention programs for the prevention of youth violence. An issue of specific concern and the focus of this testimony today, is the increased need for crime initiatives to address and prevent violence motivated out of hate and prejudice.

An important societal factor that contributes to violence rates among youth is prejudice which continues to be a pervasive component of societal institutions and practices. Prejudice, intolerance, and discrimination are demonstrated in countless acts of interpersonal behavior each day. Hate crimes are an extreme expression of this intolerance that serve to threaten and intimidate entire categories of people. Unfortunately, violence against individuals on the basis of their real or perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, gender and other social groupings is a fact of life in the United States. According to recent research by psychologists examining hate crimes based on sexual orientation, anti-lesbian/gay violence was widespread with more than one-fifth of 2259 people surveyed reporting a hate motivated crime since age 16. Types of victimization included physical and sexual assaults, robberies, thefts, vandalism and assault with a weapon.

The purpose of hate crimes is to target and intimidate an entire group of people for their specific group identification, e.g., ethnic minorities, religious minorities, lesbians and gay men. Hate crimes not only represent an attack on an individual's physical self but on her or his identity and the community to which she or he belongs. As a powerful form of intimidation, hate crimes serve the same purpose regardless of which social group the crime is directed.

The psychological aftermath of hate crimes is more severe than other crimes with greater long-term implications. In addition to coping with the stress and trauma caused by a victimization, victims of hate crimes experience an attack on their identity which results in additional difficulties. Hate crimes can be committed by individuals or groups and are often perpetrated by male youth or young men. Children and youth who appear “different” in any way are more apt to be harassed and victimized by others.

We make the following recommendations:

• Education programs can reduce the prejudice and hostility that lead to hate crimes and violence against social groups. In light of the current debate on juvenile justice issues and youth crime prevention, we encourage Congress to consider crime policies that incorporate educational efforts on human relations to dispel stereotypes, encourage broader intercultural understanding and appreciation, and reduce the incidence of hate motivated violence.

• Early interventions should be developed to help victims of hate violence recover from attacks. Similar to the curriculum developed by the Justice Department’s Office for Victim’s of Crime (OVC), additional training programs for law enforcement and victim assistance professionals on the proper identification of and response to hate crime victimization should be developed and instituted.

• The Congress should further support the unique violence prevention role of the Community Relations Service (CRS) which is the only federal agency that exists primarily to assist communities in addressing intergroup disputes. They have assisted communities and law enforcement agencies in responding to organized hate groups. CRS has also played an important role in the implementation of the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, the Justice Department’s hate crime data collection mandate.

• The Congress and U.S. Civil Rights Commission should undertake a review of federal antidiscrimination laws, statutes, and regulations regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and physical disability to ensure the protection against discrimination and hate motivated violence.

In conclusion, while prejudice and bigotry cannot be outlawed, Congress can attend to the problem of hate crimes through the outlined intervention and prevention policy initiatives. It is imperative for this issue to be addressed in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act.

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