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The Impact of Racial Slurs and Racism on the Perceptions and Punishment of Violent Crime
Donald A. Saucier*,
Jericho M. Hockett,
and
Andrew S. Wallenberg
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: saucier{at}ksu.edu.
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Abstract |
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When a crime is committed by an individual of one race against an individual of another race, there is the possibility that the crime is a hate crime. Legislation often mandates harsher penalties for perpetrators convicted of crimes determined to be hate crimes, yet this determination is difficult to make. This study used vignettes of violent crimes to examine how the races of the perpetrators and victims, the severity of the assault, and the use of racial slurs by the perpetrators would affect perceptions of the crimes as "hate crimes," victim blaming, and sentencing recommendations. Results showed that each of these factors affected participants perceptions and punishments of violent crime. Participants levels of racism were an additional factor. These results contribute to the understanding of how crimes in which the perpetrators and victims races differ are perceived.
First published on February 14, 2008, doi:10.1177/0886260507313774
Journal of Interpersonal Violence 2008;23:685.
A more recent version of this article appeared on May 1, 2008

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