Hate Crimes

Four teenagers attacked a 13 year old boy because he admitted to be homosexual. The attackers were teenaged boys whose ages ranged from 14-16 years old. The boy who was attacked was named David and he was walking home from school when he was approached by his attackers. David claims that he did not know his attackers but they knew him. According to sociologists, it is common for victims of hate crimes to have been attacked by people they do not know. The attackers called David names like “Queer” and “Faggot” to relate to his sexual orientation. David was brutally beaten and was also threatened with a pocket knife to keep the beating a secret. This is considered a hate crime because a hate crime is generally considered a crime where one is discriminated against and victimized by his or her sexual orientation, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion, or national origin. In this specific hate crime, David was victimized by his sexual orientation which lead him to be brutally beaten and threatened. Being brutally beaten is common among hate crimes than any other crime.
Only 10% of hate crimes are related to sexual orientation. Social scientists suggest that hate crimes result in the feeling of power. By making someone feel inferior, the attackers will feel superior to that group of people being discriminated against. Social scientists also claim that prejudice results from being socialized or through life experiences. In 1990, the Hate Crime Statistics Act was passed which collected and publicized statistics about crimes committed through bias. After this study, hate crimes increased dramatically and with recognition of these crimes increasing, the minority supporters promoted for there to be penalties for committing these hate crimes. These minority supporters gained laws that allowed the increase of the sentence for a criminal who committed a hate crime. Social scientists suggest that the victims of hate crimes are inflicted with more psychical and psychological