Psychological Effects From Hate Crimes

A hate crime is a crime intended to harm or intimidate people because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or other protected group status. Hate crimes are shown to be more harmful than other non-motivated types of crimes and have longer residual effects psychologically. Since hate crimes affect both the person directly involved as well as the larger community, the effects are far-reaching.

Sexual Orientation

• According to Dr. Gregory Herek of the National Institute of Mental Health, hate crimes based on sexual orientation are the most distressing of the hate crimes. Survivors of this type of hate crime show increased depression, stress and anger. These psychological effects have significant damage on the person's self-esteem and harm coping skills in the person as well. The victim often lives in fear of another experience and often questions their self-worth as a person.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

• Post traumatic stress disorder is likely to occur in any victim of a hate crime. This disorder emerges after a person experiences an event that involves death, injury or a threat. Symptoms of this disorder often include intrusive thoughts, recurring dreams, inability to discuss the event and emotional distancing between the victim and people in their lives. Sufferers sometimes also show signs of irritability and difficulty concentrating, which affects their work lives and social relationships.

Effects on Community

• Typically, the person who is committing a hate crime is often trying to deliver a message about their negative opinion of a larger group of people. Members of this larger group do not have to be directly affected by a hate crime to feel its residual effects. These people also often experience fear and anxiety, and question their safety following a hate crime incident. By sharing the victim's identity, other members of the community internalize feelings of distress and often have lower self-esteem.

Behavioral Changes

• In response to a hate crime, the victim sometimes changes her behavior in an effort to ward off future crimes. She often feels that changing the way she acts prevents future attacks. The victim sometimes feels paranoid and is easily agitated. Changes in behavior include withdrawal from normal activities and changes in appearance. Other behavioral changes include retaliation, where the person becomes aggressive and suspicious of others.