ABSTRACT
This chapter examines one element of the construction of hate crimes as a social problem: the process whereby select constituencies are defined as victims. It identifies some of the actors and social processes that have contributed to the construction of hate crimes as a social problem in the United States. The chapter demonstrates how the concept of hate-motivated violence has been extended first to racial, ethnic, and religious constituencies, then to sexual minorities, and most recently to girls and women. It describes how various watchdog organizations and their attendant claimsmakers have brought new attention to old forms of violence by documenting incidents of violence and pointing to the law as a source of remedy. The chapter also describes the law as an institution with considerable "defining power", one that has used public policy to bestow victim status upon select individuals and groups and not others. It examines contemporary efforts to define violence against women as a hate crime.
