Group identity, empathy and shared suffering: Understanding the ‘community’ impacts of anti-LGBT and Islamophobic hate crimes
| Author | Jenny L Paterson,Liz McDonnell,Mark A Walters,Rupert Brown |
| DOI | 10.1177/0269758019833284 |
| Published date | 01 May 2020 |
| Date | 01 May 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Group identity, empathy
and shared suffering:
Understanding the
‘community’ impacts
of anti-LGBT and
Islamophobic hate crimes
Mark A Walters
University of Sussex, UK
Jenny L Paterson
University of Sussex, UK
Liz McDonnell
University of Sussex, UK
Rupert Brown
University of Sussex, UK
Abstract
This article examines the indirect impacts of hate crimes on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
and Muslim communities in the United Kingdom. Based on 34 qualitative interviews, we explore
both the perceived meaning of ‘community’ in the context of targeted victimization and the
emotional and behavioural effects that anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and Islamophobic
hate crimes have on other members of the victim’s group. Building on previous quantitative data
undertaken as part of a larger programme of research, this study helps to explain how and why hate
crimes have significant indirect consequences on two distinct but commonly targeted commu-
nities. The focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and Muslim communities allowed us to
draw out similarities and commonalities across different groups, further enhancing the under-
standing of the impacts of hate crime. In particular, the article highlights how for many lesbian, gay,
Corresponding author:
Mark A Walters, Politics and Sociology, School of Law, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QE, UK.
Email: Mark.Walters@sussex.ac.uk
International Review of Victimology
2020, Vol. 26(2) 143–162
ªThe Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/0269758019833284
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bisexual and transgender and Muslim people feelings of anger and anxiety about hate crimes were
linked to enhanced levels of empathy towards those that they share a group identity with. These
empathic bonds often gave rise to a sense of ‘shared suffering’, with participants frequently feeling
connected to group members worldwide through their common experiences of hate and pre-
judice. Although group identity was important to many participants’ sense of belonging to lesbian,
gay, bisexual and transgender or Muslim communities, it was clear that the most profound impacts
of hate crime were experienced when incidents occurred within someone’s local area. This
highlighted the importance of location as a key variable in understanding both the meaning of
‘community’ and the indirect impacts of hate crime.
Keywords
Hate crime, community, group identity, intergroup emotions, empathy
Introduction
There have been significant increases in the number of recorded hate crimes in both Europe and the
USA over the past two years (Southern Poverty Law Centre, 2016; Home Office, 2018). The huge
spikes in recorded incidents have attracted extensive media and social media coverage. Techno-
logical advancements in the ways in which ‘news’ is now delivered mean that awareness of hate
crimes can spread well beyond the local communities where they occur. Such is the reach of some
new media platforms that what occurs in one community can be seen, heard and felt in commu-
nities on every corner of the globe within minutes. The devastating attack in Orlando is a case in
point. The news of the targeted killing of 49 people and injuring of 50 others at a lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender (LGBT) venue in Florida spread internationally within hours. An out-
pouring of emotion and, in turn, community activism was witnessed as LGBT and non-LGBT
allies converged to make a stand against what some labelled an act of ‘homophobic terrorism’
(Schweppe and Walters, 2016). Within just 24 hours, vigils were being held globally involving
thousands of people demonstrating in the streets of London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Bangkok and
many cities beyond (Taylor, 2016).
The terrorizing effects of hate crime are often used by policy makers and legislators to justify
the treatment of hate-motivated offences as a distinct type of offending that requires a specific
legislative response. Yet little is known, empirically at least, about the exact nature and extent to
which hate crimes indirectly impact targeted communities. Perry and Alvi (2012: 70) point out that
If we are to continue to insist that one of the primary reasons for differentiating bias-motivated crime
from its non-bias-motivated counterpart is the effect on the broader community, we need to firmly
establish this dynamic.
It is on this dynamic that this article focuses. Connecting previously analysed quantitative data
(Paterson et al., 2018a; 2018b; 2019; Walters et al., 2017) with 34 in-depth qualitative interviews,
we examine how indirect experiences of hate crimes can impact upon two commonly targeted
groups: LGBT people and Muslim people. Our combined analyses reveal a more nuanced under-
standing of how hate incidents affect entire identity groups, whi le additionally building upon
contemporary conceptions as to the ways that ‘community’ is defined and experienced by LGBT
and Muslim people in the context of targeted violence.
144 International Review of Victimology 26(2)
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