'The causes and motivations of hate crime: implications for Criminal Justice Social Work and beyond'.

There has been an increased focus on hate crime amongst academics, policy-makers, and criminal justice agencies across the UK and internationally. Significantly, Scottish hate crime legislation is currently undergoing a comprehensive review (Scottish Government 2017). Remarkably, there is little research on the motivations of those who commit hate crime (EHRC 2016), despite such accounts being central to our understanding of how and why hate crime occurs. Further, there appear to be no interrogations of the seminal 'typology' of hate crime offenders first proposed in 1993 (McDevitt and Levin 2002). No primary Scottish research into those responsible for hate crime appears to exist, nor an in-depth examination of the role of Criminal Justice Social Work (CJSW) in working with those convicted of hate offences (Hamad 2017). My research will thus explore the causes and motivations of hate crime through offender accounts, and the implications for CJSW policy and practice. My research questions therefore are: 1) What are the micro-level factors contributing to hate crime? e.g. 'thrill-seeking', the authoritarian personality, and shame and loss. 2) What are the meso-level factors? e.g. perceptions of threat, defending 'in-groups', and community 'profiles' producing contexts for prejudice-related offending. 3) What are the macro-level factors? e.g. political climates, the media and the internet, 'toxic masculinity', and socio-economic disadvantage. From these, I will examine the implications for CJSW policy and practice in Scotland, and draw attention to the wider implications for key stakeholders. Currently employed as a Criminal Justice Social Worker, I am uniquely placed to gain access to people convicted of hate offences and gather their perspectives first-hand. I will undertake an extensive review of the literature across a range of academic disciplines, including sociology, criminology, psychology, and social work research, as well as policy documents. I will draw primarily on Scottish/UK literature but will widen the focus as necessary. I intend to interview 30 offenders convicted of hate crimes to explore their perspectives on the offence, exploring the micro, meso, and macro-level themes (should these be evident). There will be scope for the generation of new data given the unique approach in directly obtaining offenders' views. I will supplement this by interviewing ten CJSW practitioners to discover how they conceptualise hate crime and its influence on their practice. This would aim to determine any similarities, as well as key differences, in perspectives and the implications for policy and practice. Given my unique access, it may then be beneficial to use an innovative approach by analysing the CJSW Reports produced on hate offences - how are perpetrator perceptions and motivations captured, and presented for use in judicial settings? I intend to undertake thematic analysis (identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns) using a software package such as NVivo. Existing themes in my research questions will be identified, with the use of semi-structured interviews allowing for new or alternative themes to arise. Thematic analysis will also focus on whether there are differences in the themes emerging from offenders themselves, and the professionals. I hope to build upon my existing work on hate crime as facilitated by my employer and the Knowledge Exchange Fellowship with the University of Edinburgh. I will also utilise my established networks to approach other local authorities (taking into account timescales and geographical limitations). The focus of the research would be Scotland-wide, to provide a broader analysis of hate crime and determine regional variations, and to ensure no single local authority is easily identifiable.