ABSTRACT
In the last chapter we attempted to establish some sort of estimate concerning the physical manifestations of prejudice occurring in different parts of the world, but primarily through official sources. As we shall see in this chapter, whilst interesting, and indeed useful in some respects (after all, one can hardly begin to develop policies in relation to hate crime if one has no idea about its existence), these sorts of ‘number-crunching’ exercises are limited and necessarily mask a world of qualitative information concerning the lived experience of those who find themselves on the receiving end of negative prejudice. Indeed, as we shall see in chapter five, research in relation to prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination has long been of interest to psychology, and indeed the wider social sciences, precisely because of the potential consequences that it can have for those who experience it in a negative way, both individually and collectively. As Blaine (2008: 2) suggests, then, ‘if we are to fully understand the diversity of our community … we must appreciate that it is more than statistics about ethnicity, religious preference, or cultural background’. Therefore, to understand the real nature, and in particular the qualitative impact of hate crime victimisation, we have to look to other forms of research that go beyond just counting incidents. In this chapter then, we shall consider some of the available information concerning the more qualitative nature of hate crime, and in particular the impact that it can have on victims.
The British Crime Survey
