NCJ Number
205980
Journal
International Review of Victimology Volume: 10 Issue: 3 Dated: 2004 Pages: 261-280
Editor(s)
David Miers
Date Published
2004
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article examines the extent to which changes in the law of Scotland regarding racist crimes are likely to be effective in dealing with racist victimization.
Abstract
Racist victimization has become a key area for government policy in many countries. In 1998, two new offenses were adopted into Scotland’s criminal law under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998: racially aggravated harassment and racially aggravated conduct. This legislation was designed to safeguard victims by deterring racist conduct and giving criminal justice agencies a central role in effective intervention. However, critics of these new offenses stated that they were unnecessary since Scotland’s minority ethnic communities and the majority population lived in harmony and they were unworkable because they could not be enforced without undermining fundamental aspects of criminal law. This article addresses these criticisms and considers them from the standpoint of minority ethnic victims of racist crime and of agencies representing them. It addresses three specific issues: (1) it questions the perception that racist victimization is an unusual occurrence and not a key social problem; (2) it examines the statistics on racist crime and notes the difficulties in estimating real rates of racist victimization; and (3) it considers the efficacy of the new offenses in dealing with racist crime. The main focus is on the impact of the offense provisions for victims. The article is derived from the findings of a research project commissioned by the Scottish Executive to evaluate the use of the new offenses. The fieldwork was carried out between 2000 and 2001. References