Montrose Counseling Center - Articles

SYNOPSIS OF

SELF-REPORTING OF HATE CRIMES SURVIVORS
IN A COUNSELING CENTER

INTRODUCTION

Hate crimes are becoming a topic which more and more people are talking about. We hear about African American churches being burned and famous individuals being killed. However, we tend to hear less of the individual attacks, harassment and property defacements which are occurring on a daily basis. We don’t hear of the gay male who had his car spray painted with the words, “fags will die.” We also don’t hear about the African American female who continually is passed up for promotions at work, although her work is better than her co-workers.

DEFINITION

Hate crimes are defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) as crime motivated by, “racial, religious, ethnic or sexual orientation bias.” Hate crimes can be physical or verbal assaults, intimidation, destroying or defacing property or derogatory written statements. These crimes often result in death, injury, hospitalizations, police investigations, disability and insurance claims. The cost is tremendous in both personal and societal terms.

METHOD

Montrose Counseling Center saw the need for an in house study to look at the nature and numbers of people who had been targeted for a hate crime. The Center wanted to see how many individuals, not presenting as a survivor of a hate crime, but rather initiating services for other issues, would report they had been targeted. A four month period was chosen to compile statistics regarding clients self-reporting incidents of hate crimes. The Center created a Screening form to be included with each intake for individuals requesting counseling services. The Screening form included demographic information (i.e., gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, education and income) and questions regarding being physically or verbally attacked or harassed, discriminated in housing or employment and discrimination in law enforcement or being refused services based on sexual orientation, race, religion or ethnicity. The responses were then compiled and statistical analysis was conducted to find percentages of people being targeted for various types of hate crimes.

OUTCOMES

The results of the survey showed that one third (32% or 64) of all of the respondents (203) reported they were physically attacked or harassed based on either sexual orientation, race, religion or ethnicity. One quarter or twenty-five percent (25%) reported they were physically attacked or harassed based on sexual orientation, eleven percent (11%) reporting physical attacks or harassment based on race, five percent (5%) responding that they were physically attacked or harassed based on ethnicity and four percent (4%) reporting being physically attacked or harassed based on religion. The survey showed that over fifty percent (55%) reported they were verbally attacked or harassed based on either sexual orientation, race, religion or ethnicity. Forty-eight percent (48%)said they were verbally attacked or harassed based on sexual orientation, race motivated verbal attacks or harassment accounted for eighteen percent (18%) and eight percent (8%) reported verbal attacks or harassment based on both religion and ethnicity.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

The FBI reported that in 1995 a total of 56 crimes were considered hate motivated in Houston, Texas. MCC’s study showed that in a four month period, 64 people self-identified as having been the target for either a physical attack or harassment hate crime. Projection would lead us to believe that in a year, MCC’s study may have found an estimated 200 people in Houston alone reporting a violent hate crime. The large discrepancy in percentages may be attributed to numerous factors. Part of this may lie with public perception and the media. It is more newsworthy to write about a famous fashion designer who is killed rather than a less public transgender individual who is killed. The lesser known incidents of hate crimes often get overlooked, understated and misunderstood. Another part of this may lie with ourselves. Statistics show that we are not reporting the majority of the hate crimes being committed against us. We tend not to report because we are afraid, shamed, unaware or just don’t care. Accurate reporting means accurate statistics. With situations as serious as hate crimes, we need to obtain as accurate statistics as possible to show that hate crimes are occurring and they are weakening our communities.