Session B

Victim Impact

Overview of the Session: At a Glance

Presentation: Overview of Victim Trauma--5 minutes
Activity: Analysis of Video Segments--20 minutes
Presentation: Unique Features of Bias Crime and Its Impact on Bias Crime--15
minutes  
Victims Victim Presentation and Discussion-- 20 minutes
TOTAL TIME--60 minutes

Objectives

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
o Identify elements of victim trauma
o Identify the unique features of bias crime
o Understand the impact of bias crime on victims

Materials and Equipment

Time: 60 minutes 
Videos: "Understanding Why," Prime Time Live, October 28, 1993, available
for purchase from the Federal Document clearinghouse at (800) 225-5222
(be sure to allow at least four to six weeks for delivery)
"Hate on Trial," 60 Minutes II, October 12, 1999, CBS Network, (800)
934-NEWS, or CBS Video, 19 Gregory Drive, So. Burlington, VT 05403;
(800) 542-5621
Handouts: Assessment of Victims' Physical, Emotional, and Financial Injuries
Transparencies: Secondary Injury; Unique Features of Bias Crime; Bias
Crime: Victim Impact; Bias Crime: Community Impact; The Ripple Effect of
Bias Crime
Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; flipchart, VCR; monitor

Instructor's Notes

I. Presentation: Overview of Victim Trauma (5 minutes)

Bias crime victims experience many of the same difficulties and traumas as
victims of other crimes, but bias crimes also have a unique impact. 

Crisis of Victimization


Many victims experience a crisis as a result of their victimization. Morton
Bard, author of the Crime Victim's Book, defines the crisis of victimization as
"a sudden, arbitrary, unpredictable event that is threatening to the self and
produces a disruption in the emotions and behaviors of the threatened
person."[1] Crime victims experience this crisis as a result of the primary and
secondary injury or harm. 

Types of Victim Trauma or Injury

o Physical injury
o Psychological trauma
--initial crisis
--long-term stress reactions
o Financial loss
o Secondary victimization by society and its institutions

Note to Instructor

Explain that the video to be shown is an actual portrayal of a hate crime victim
and the reenactment of a hate crime. It is very graphic and involves serious
physical and psychological injury. Explain that participants may have trouble
viewing the film and may wish to leave the room if they believe it will be
particularly disturbing. It may be helpful to have victim assistance professionals
available after this session to assist anyone who has strong reactions to the
video.

I. Activity: Analysis of Video Segments (20 minutes)

Pre-screen and select one of the two recommended videos listed at the
beginning of this section, both of which portray hate crime victims. Ask
participants to keep the types of victim trauma in mind when they view the
video segment.

Show video segment.

Distribute Handout B1, "Assessment of Victims' Physical, Emotional, and
Financial Injuries." Explain that this assessment list was prepared to be used
with victims of any type of crime to understand the degree of victim trauma.

Ask participants to divide into small groups to complete Handout B1, based
on the victim portrayed in the video.

After they have completed the checklist, reconvene all participants to the
larger group. Ask participants from three different groups to report to the
larger group on one type of victim injury: 

o physical
o emotional, or
o financial

Record their answers on a flipchart.

Explain that, as the assessment checklist shows, some aspects of victim harm
are felt immediately. Others are felt later, as a result of resuming daily life at
home, in the community, and at work, and negotiating the medical, legal,
insurance, social service, and/or criminal justice systems. 

Use Transparency B1, "Secondary Injury."

Secondary injury is the victim's perceived rejection by and lack of expected
support from the community.

o Victim trauma may be exacerbated by the insensitivity of others. This is
known as "secondary injury." 

o Most crime victims experience some type of secondary injury as they
attempt to deal with the systems that provide physical or mental health care,
process insurance claims to recover losses, or adjudicate offenders.

o Bias crime victims may experience more severe secondary injury because
professionals who work within the system that serves the victim tend to have
the same prejudices and biases as the rest of society. 

o As a result of personal bias and prejudice, professionals--like other
individuals--may minimize the impact of the crime on the individual.

o Bias crime victims frequently feel betrayed and hopeless when they confront
institutional prejudice.

o Secondary injury can also occur as victims of bias crime interact with family,
friends, and acquaintances, as well as the clergy, the media, and others.

Ask participants for examples of secondary injury to the victim portrayed in
the video. Record their answers on a flipchart.

III. Presentation: Unique Features of Bias Crimes and Their Impact on Bias
Crime Victims (15 minutes)


Use Transparency B2, "Unique Features of Bias Crime," to describe key
points. Explain that, in addition to the primary and secondary injuries that
victims face, there are unique features of bias crime that are important to
understand.

Unique Features of Bias Crime[2]

o Bias crime is more likely to be seriously injurious or lethal than any other
assaultive crime.

o Bias crime, in part motivated by fear, often escalates when the members of
the dominant culture think they are under attack; for example, a number of
Arab-Americans were harassed or even physically assaulted during the
1991 Gulf War.

o Bias crimes are usually perpetrated in groups. Group-instigated crime has
a significant impact on the victim for several reasons:

--There is a diffusion of responsibility among offenders.

--Crimes committed by groups tend to be especially vicious, which can
exacerbate the physical and emotional trauma to the victim.

o A large number of bias crimes seem to be aimed at individuals who are not
only members of an identified group but also perceived as infringing on
another group's "territory." Northeastern Professor Jack McDevitt analyzed
452 cases of bias crime that occurred in Boston from 1983 to 1987 and
found that 57 percent of the crimes were attacks on persons walking, driving
through, or working in a neighborhood, or on families moving into the
area.[3]

Similar to all crime victims, bias crime victims often suffer from shock,
disbelief, and denial. Their emotional turmoil is comprised of rage, terror,
confusion, frustration, blame, and grief. These emotional reactions are
compounded because the victims are chosen due to a characteristic of their
identity. Bias crime victims may experience especially acute effects of
primary and secondary victimization. The particular effects of primary
victimization, resulting from the impact of the crime itself, are reviewed
below.


Use Transparency B3, "Bias Crime: Victim Impact," and describe the key
points.

Bias Crime: Victim Impact

o Victims of bias crime are attacked for being "different," for being
misunderstood, and for being hated. Because the basis for their attack is
their identity, they may suffer a deep personal crisis.

o Victims of bias crime are targeted due to a core, immutable characteristic
of their identity. This may lead to a feeling of increased vulnerability
because they are attacked for something that they cannot change.

o Trauma may be compounded because of the nature of the attack and its
root in hatred or prejudice. It is very difficult for a bias crime victim to
resolve that the crime was motivated by hatred as opposed to another
motive, such as an economic one. Research shows that people who are
physically or psychologically attacked for reasons of prejudice suffer more
than people who are victims of similar attacks not motivated by
prejudice.[4,5]

o If their membership in a target group is readily visible, victims of bias
crimes may feel particularly vulnerable to a repeat attack. This heightened
sense of vulnerability may result in the feeling of hopelessness. They may
become afraid to associate with other members of the group that has been
targeted or may fear seeking needed services, believing that these actions
increase their vulnerability.

o Bias crime victims' grief can be more intense than other reactions, arising in
part because victims lose their sense of community or feel betrayed by the
American system.

o Victims of bias crimes who are minorities may feel the crime has been
diminished because of societal stereotyping, prejudice, or institutional
indifference.

o As a result of the victimization, bias crime victims may respond by more
strongly identifying with their group--or, conversely, by attempting to
disassociate themselves or deny a significant aspect of their identity.

o Assumptions about life and worldview may be shattered. For bias crime
victims who are members of a minority culture, this may be particularly
devastating because their worldview may have been very different from the
dominant culture's worldview.

Bias crime affects more than the individual victims. Use Transparency B4,
"Bias Crime: Community Impact," to discuss the effects of bias crime on the
community.

Bias Crime: Community Impact

o When individuals are targets of hate because of their race, religion,
national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation, their
victimization is projected outward to all members of their community.

o Other members of the same group feel victimized, and members of other
commonly targeted groups are reminded of their vulnerability to similar
attacks. All members of the targeted group suffer injury and intimidation.

o Places of worship are often targeted by bias crime offenders; these
attacks on sacred spiritual symbols, which may harm victims more than
other acts of vandalism, also harm other members of the community.

o Hate crimes are highly likely to exacerbate racial or other intergroup
tensions. They may create civil disturbances, even riots, and result in
retaliatory hate crimes.

Use Transparency B5, "The Ripple Effect of Bias Crime," to discuss the
chain-reaction of impact that can ensue from a single hate crime.

The Ripple Effect of Bias Crime

The effects of hate crimes are far-reaching. As message crimes, hate crimes
affect society on many levels and in many different ways, creating a chain
reaction that ultimately serves as fertile ground for further prejudice, social
unrest, hate crime, and fear. Possible effects of hate crimes are as follows:

o The immediate victims suffer serious physical injury, psychological
trauma, and/or financial loss.

o The specific group that has been targeted receives a message that all of its
members are potentially at risk.

o Other groups commonly targeted for hate crimes receive a frightening
reminder of their potential victimization by individuals who view them as
"different."

o The community in which the crime occurred suffers the stigma of hatred
as well as a potential increase in intergroup tensions and escalation of hate
activity.

o The social order--in the affected community and beyond--is disrupted,
often resulting in civil unrest, retaliatory violence, and copycat incidents.

o The civil rights of all individuals are at risk, especially if hate crimes are
not properly and swiftly addressed.

IV. Victim Presentation and Discussion (20 minutes)

It is most compelling if a victim of bias crime is recruited for the training to
make a presentation about his or her personal experience as a victim of bias
crime (see "Planning for Individual Sessions" in the "Guide to Using This
Curriculum" for more information on recruiting a victim to present).
The presentation should include the following:

o The victim's personal experience as a victim

o The impact of the bias crime on the victim

o The response of the criminal justice system to the victim

o The response of other professionals, institutions, and friends and family
members to the victim

o The victim's recommendations, if any, to improve the response to bias
crime victimization

After the presentation, ask participants if they have any questions or
reactions. After a brief time for questions, thank the victim for his or her
willingness to present.

If it is not possible to recruit a victim to make a presentation, use any of the
following videos, which include victim interviews.

o "The Truth About Hate: Teen Files Series"
March 1999
AIMS Multimedia Orders
9710 DeSoto Avenue
Chatsworth, CA 91311
(800) 367-2467, ext. 349
http://www.aims-multimedia.com/Public 
Performance licensed video: $142.45
Private Home Use licensed video: $29.95

o "Hate Crimes: Training for Police Officers" 
November 25, 1990 
Anti-Defamation League 
Materials Library
22-D Hollywood Avenue
Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423
(800) 343-5540 
Video segment: 12 minutes

o "Roy Smith's America"
March 3, 1998
20/20
ABC Network
(800) CALL-ABC

After viewing the victim segment(s), discuss the video. After a few minutes
of discussion, ask for volunteers to answer the following questions:

o What types of victim trauma were involved?

o What unique aspects of victimization were involved?

o What changes, if any, would you make in response to the victim?

o What was the impact of the crime on the community?

Handout B1

Assessment of Victims' Physical, Emotional, and Financial Injuries

Physical

o What is the degree of victim injury?

o What is the severity and impact of the injury?

o Will the injury create a long-term disability?


o Has the crime aggravated a previously existing physical or medical
condition?

o Is the injury a visible one? Will there be permanent scarring or
disfigurement?

Emotional

o Has the lack of a physical injury resulted in other people discounting the
seriousness of the incident?

o What previous life experiences with victimization, oppression, or
discrimination, if any, have a bearing on the recent victimization?

o What emotions are being experienced?

o Does the victim fear revictimization?

o Is emotional stress interfering with basic life activities, such as eating,
sleeping, and ability to concentrate on the task at hand?

o What are the unique vulnerabilities of this victim? What degree of social
support exists?

o What bearing does the offender's motivation have on the victim's
emotional reaction?

o What factors relating to the commission of the crime exacerbate the
victim emotional reaction, such as the degree of degradation the victim
experienced and the degree that this victimization affects all members of this
class or community?

Financial

o What is the degree of financial loss?

o Has the crime interrupted the victim's ability to earn income? Is this
jeopardizing the victim's financial security?

o Has the victim had expenses relating to child care, transportation, or other
costs associated with the crime?

o Does the victim have insurance that covers the loss or injury?

o Does the loss or damage of property pose immediate hardship, such as
the need to find alternate housing or transportation?

Transparency B1

SECONDARY INJURY

Secondary injury is the victim's perceived rejection by and lack of expected
support from the community.

Transparency B2

UNIQUE FEATURES OF BIAS CRIME

o More likely to be seriously injurious or lethal than other assaultive crimes

o Often escalates when members of dominant culture think they are under
attack

o Usually perpetrated in groups, which may 

--diffuse offenders' responsibility

--exacerbate trauma to victim 

--exacerbate the viciousness of the attack

o Aimed at individuals perceived as infringing on another group's "territory"

Transparency B3

BIAS CRIME: VICTIM IMPACT

o Because the basis for the attack is their identity, victims may experience a
deep personal crisis.

o Stress and feelings of vulnerability may be heightened or prolonged
because the victims have been attacked for something they cannot change.

o Trauma may be compounded because hate crime victims experience
violence and hatred.


o Victims of bias crime may feel particularly vulnerable to a repeat attack.
They may become afraid to associate with other members of a group that
has been targeted or fail to seek needed services.

o Victims' grief may in part stem from losing their sense of community or
feeling betrayed by society.

o Victims may feel the crime has been diminished because of societal
stereo-typing, prejudice, or institutional indifference.

o Victims may respond by identifying more strongly with their group.
or
They may reject the aspect of themselves that was the target for their attack.

o Assumptions about life and worldview may be shattered.

Transparency B4

BIAS CRIME: COMMUNITY IMPACT

o Victimization of individuals because of race, religion, sexual orientation,
etc. is projected outward to all members of that community.

o Members of other commonly targeted groups are reminded of their
vulnerability.

o Attacks on places of worship and their spiritual symbols may harm
victims and the community more than other acts of vandalism.

o Hate crimes are highly likely to exacerbate intergroup tensions. They may
create civil disturbances, even riots, and result in retaliatory attacks.

Transparency B5

THE RIPPLE EFFECT OF BIAS CRIME

Victim
Targeted group
All targeted groups
Community
Social order
Civil rights of all individuals


The chart for The Ripple Effect of Bias Crime is not included in this ASCII
plain-text file. To view this document in its entirety, download the Adobe
Acrobat graphic file available from this Web site or order a print copy from
Office for Victims of Crime Resource Center at 800-627-6872.

References

1 Bard, M. and Sangrey, D. (1986). The crime victim's book.
Brunner/Mazel.

2 Young, M.A., NOVA (1993). Victim assistance: Frontiers and
fundamentals. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

3 McDevitt, J. and Levin, J. (1993). Hate crimes: The rising tide of bigotry
and bloodshed. New York: Plenum Publishers.

4 Hutson, H. R., Anglin D., Stratton, G., Moore, J. Hate crime violence
and its emergency department management. Ann Emerg Med (June 1997).
29:786-791.

5 The Prejudice Institute (1997). Factsheet on ethnoviolence. Baltimore:
The Prejudice Institute.