Citation

Funnell C. Int. Rev. Victimology 2015; 21(1): 71-83.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, World Society of Victimology, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0269758014551497

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article provides a unique criminological examination of the social situation of victims of racist hate crime, specifically focusing on the consequences of victimization. Based on observational and interview data gathered over two and a half years and located at an agency run by victims of racist hate crime for such victims in England, the research project investigated inter alia how victims and their caseworkers defined racist hate crimes and incidents and what meanings they gave those experiences. Ethnographic research revealed how proximate relationships were perceived to generate 'risk' for victims and how, in response, they developed a range of behavioural modification strategies, including isolation of themselves and significant others to avoid further hate crime encounters. A comparison is made between Goffman's 'inmate' and that of the racist hate crime victim in his or her home and neighbourhood. Like inmates in total institutions, many who experience racist hate crime are effectively closed to the outside world. In consequence, they undergo processes of 'loss and mortification' within the home and neighbourhood context, including 'role dispossession', and become victims.

Language: en