NCJ Number
191649
Journal
Communal/Plural:Journal of Transnational & Cross-Cultural Studies Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: 2001 Pages: 161-181
Date Published
2001
Length
21 pages
Annotation
In order to explore the relationship between violence, racism, and hate crime, this paper discussed the nature of street fights involving ethnic minority youth. It attempted to demonstrate how one particular paradox of marginalization could serve to fuel racist political attacks on ethnic minority groups in Australia and the contributions by young people to the process.
Abstract
This paper discusses the findings of a recent study of "ethnic youth gangs" in Melbourne, Australia and present the relevance of these findings in the discussion of hate crime. Within the discussions, two main types of group conflict are addressed, street fights and school fights. They include verbal and physical assaults, and are associated with racism. The paper explores the nature and reasons for street fights and put the discussions within the context of resurgent interest in hate crime and the potential consequences of street conflict. On the surface, the stories of street conflict appear to approximate the common definitions of hate crime. While racism was implicated in the nature of street violence, the main variable was that of power. Fights among groups of relatively powerless sections of the community were less a matter of hate crime than social dislocation and marginality. However, street violence tend to reinforce the stereotypes and social divisions in which racial and hate crime feeds. References