The Psychology of Crime

On the different dimensions of criminal behavior and understanding the mind of the criminal

Criminals have distinct psychological features and are either exceptionally calm and composed or overtly aggressive and temperamental. Some criminals are extraordinarily intelligent whereas many criminals are of average and low intelligence. However criminal behavior is not caused by aggression alone as there are several other factors that add to criminal behavior. Biologists have tried to provide a genetic explanation of criminal tendencies suggesting that crime may run in the family or hardcore criminals have chromosomal/genetic aberrations. The change in the levels of neuro-chemicals in the body can lead to criminal behavior as some neuro-chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin are directly associated with aggression and psychopathic behavior.

However the main and direct cause of criminal behavior in individuals would be family/ immediate environment and schools / social groups, personality, and moral development.

This is explained with the help of social-personal-moral dimensions of criminal behavior.

Social (Family/Environment) - Aggressive and criminal behavior is largely shaped by society and social groups, by friends, family and other people. Children who are encouraged to behave aggressively towards other people and also towards their parents can grow up to become criminals in later life. If parents and friends encourage aggressive behaviour or if a child always gets his way by shouting and crying, he will in most cases grow up to become a criminal. Extreme control or too much freedom given to a child can cause severe harm to the proper social and moral development of the child. The immediate social environment and the culture in which children are brought up are responsible for the development of criminal behavior so if a child associates with other people who engage in criminal offenses or if he has a violent and aggressive family environment, criminal behavior is again likely. Sometimes children learn to take drugs or alcohol or carry weapons as they try to follow certain group behaviors and this is the foundation of crimes. Disorganized societies and environment as in case of broken homes, disruptive family environment, war zones, conflict torn areas are highly susceptible to crime and criminal activities. The social group or friends introduce the children to either the good things of life such as arts, knowledge and culture or to the negative side of life such as drugs, crime and alcohol and this is the process of social learning. Finally it is the individual who chooses which direction of life s/he will take and this decision largely depends on individual personality.

Personal (Personality/ Dispositions) - Personality disorders have been found to be closely associated with criminal behavior and the criminal is often a psychopath or an antisocial given to mental instability, irritability or extreme aggression and argumentativeness. Some psychopaths are soft spoken and apparently charming and non-aggressive yet are capable of performing the most heinous crimes. Some personality patterns are more vulnerable to criminal behavior than some others. All these people have one thing in common, through their criminal behavior they try to escape reality and vent their frustrations by performing antisocial acts. The escape route is through the crimes and all criminals suffer from an avoidant/escapist personality pattern as they kill or steal because for a few moments they escape reality and its consequences and live in a hazy unreal world comprising only of their unconscious desires and thoughts. Performing a criminal act is like performing a play on a stage and when engaging in a crime, criminals are in a different mental state altogether, which is not exactly normal. As excessive alcohol also induces this mental 'haze', crime rates are often high in alcoholic conditions. Suicide is also a sort of crime although suicide happens when this mental confusion in one's life is prolonged and is often associated with mental illnesses and depression. Manic hyper aroused conditions lead to crimes towards others and depression often leads to crime towards self.

Moral (Conformity/ Rationality) - Moral development of individuals is closely related to conforming to certain norms and standards of society, and control of antisocial or negative behavior is absolutely necessary in preventing delinquent behavior. However the stages of moral development should be understood to delineate the positive or negative impact of non conformity. After compete moral development, individuals may choose to not conform to social standards and try to move beyond norms. This is not always negative and would be associated with novelty and creativity. However when moral development is hindered at an early stage of life when children ignore moral values and ethics of society for their own selfish pursuits and there is a complete lack of external control, the moral development is truncated and lead to criminal behavior in later life. A restraining factor in crime is rational thinking and if individuals can rationalize, reflect and understand the seriousness of crimes, they would be deterred from engaging in crimes and would thus in turn aid their own moral and personal development. According to psychoanalysis we all have criminal/aggressive tendencies but a criminal is the one who directs the basic urges of aggression towards other people and the external world. Moral development of children would be dependent on several factors and according to psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg the first stage of moral reasoning is of obedience and avoiding punishment, the second stage is keeping up to expectations of family members and the final stage is moving beyond social conventions. Criminals are people who have incomplete moral development as their behavior may by motivated by a desire to break the law and challenge obedience and punishment, and this is largely different from mature nonconformity that is at times constructive. A criminal is thus recognized by his destructive and negative personality.

From this we move to the discussion on what exactly goes on in the mind of a criminal and what are the motivations that drive people to criminal activity. Some of the reasons for which people engage in crime would be jealousy/envy, frustration, necessity (for example: extreme poverty), mental disorder (delusion), social disorganization, personal failures, social groups, family environment, influence of drugs/alcohol or neurochemical imbalance. Individual circumstances are as important as the other general factors along social, personal and moral dimensions and criminal behavior could be more impulse / act oriented or planning /mind oriented. The 'impulse oriented' crime acts are impulsive and happen spontaneously when for example, a man kills another in a fit of rage. The 'planning oriented' criminal could be a psychopath or a normal person although the common aspect would be their ability to plan the criminal act as a venture.

Unbelievable that it may sound, a moment of crime is a moment of indifference as the criminal does not concentrate on his own feelings but on the act itself. Thus a criminal can become detached in the moment of crime. In fact this is the strength and the weakness of the criminal, as detachment makes crime easy as the criminal divorces himself from the crime to prevent feelings of guilt and this same ability to get detached could be utilized positively, to develop detachment from the material aspects of life. Criminals if rehabilitated and properly trained can be great sources of strength for the society as all criminals are also capable of devotion, determination and detachment and could be successful religious leaders, social / humanitarian workers and counselors.

Reflections in Psychology - Part I - by Saberi Roy (2009)
http://www.lulu.com/content/5865445

The Roles And Duties Of The Crime Analyst In The Criminal Justice Field

A crime analyst is as important to the criminal justice field as the police officers who make the arrest. This profession is one of the most interesting and intriguing fields of study that is available. If you think you would be interested in becoming one, read on to find out just how exciting and fulfilling this position can be.

This analyzer of crimes performs many roles and duties. In this article, I will discuss those roles and duties. In no order of importance, they are:

1. The crime analyst is available for law enforcement to detect patterns in crimes so they can be linked with other crimes of the same pattern. This may tell law enforcement officers that this particular crime is being committed by the same person. In addition to detecting patterns, they may be able to see a trend that will stop this offender from committing other crimes.

2. Crime analysts use another research tool in searching for known offenders when faced with crimes of a certain nature, such as child molesters. Every long term criminal has certain aspects that are attributed to the crimes he or she commits. This is called the modus operandi.

When a crime is committed using a certain modus operandi, the first person the analyst will look at is the criminal who uses this method. This will allow police officers to question this person as to their whereabouts when the crime they are investigating was committed.

3. The analyst also investigates and distributes information they may uncover about trends in crimes. This allows police officers to use their resources to come up with solutions to certain problems. When the analyst and the police officers work together, the apprehension of criminals is much more likely.

4. In addition to searching for criminals, the crime analyst will generate reports for the police agency on how well their system is working. How many man hours the department is using, an analysis of all the complaints communicated to police officers is analyzed and prepared as a report for the appropriate agency.

5. Generating reports on how the police activity will rise or fall with the future is another job that crime analysts perform. This enables law enforcement agencies to prepare for the future. If the prediction is that crime will rise, then the agency must look into hiring more police officers.

6. Community surveys on certain matters have to be analyzed and reports filed with the appropriate department. The police department on a whole depends on the analyst to detect and predict a host of information to help them do their job.

As you can see, the crime analyst performs a lot of roles and duties when it comes to crime prevention, apprehension, and implementation. The position is one of the most interesting in the criminal justice field. There are many more responsibilities that are undertaken by crime analyst. It is difficult for me to cover them all in this short article.

If you think this is the profession for you, check out internet websites that cover the profession in more detail. This will help you gain a full understanding of the profession.

Note: You are free to reprint or republish this article. The only condition is that the links should be clickable.

Copywrite Kenneth Echie. Kenneth writes for Criminal Justice Schools. Get free scholarship report and learn to become a Crime Analyst by visiting.

Affiliated website:
Make Extra Income

Crime in Brazil Is Not As Bad As the Statistics Indicate

Brazil does not have a death penalty. Brazil has a liberal juvenile justice system that seems far too lenient on youthful offenders. These factors have contributed to the high level of crime in Brazil.

There is a considerable amount of freedom in Brazil. Freedom, as opposed to totalitarian police states, has its price in increased criminal opportunities for the criminal element of society. Illegal drug activity has increased in recent years in Brazil. There are gang wars, and turf battles over the drug territories, and some innocent bystanders are killed in some of the battles. Fortunately the majority of these drug related crimes are contained in the poorer sections of the largest cities in Brazil. If you are not dealing drugs, and not spending time in the high crime inner cities in Brazil, then you are in much less danger of becoming the victim of a crime that you would be in any place in the USA.

Actual Crime Rates in Brazil compared to the USA and Japan

An analysis was done using INTERPOL data for Brazil. For purpose of comparison, data were drawn for the seven offenses used to compute the United States FBI's index of crime. Index offenses include murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. The combined total of these offenses constitutes the Index used for trend calculation purposes. Brazil will be compared with Japan (country with a low crime rate) and USA (country with a high crime rate). The following figures are per 100,000 population.

Offense: Rape, the rate in 2001 was 8.50 for Brazil, compared with 1.78 for Japan and 31.77 for USA.

Offense: Aggravated assault, the rate in 2001 was 0.61 for Brazil, 23.78 for Japan, and 318.55 for USA.

Offense: Larceny for 2001 was 309.91 for Brazil, 1401.26 for Japan, and 2484.64 for USA.

Offense: Motor vehicle theft in 2001 was 88.51 for Brazil, compared with 44.28 for Japan and 430.64 for USA.

The rate for all index offenses combined was 927.41 for Brazil, compared with 1709.88 for Japan and 4160.51 for USA.

Source: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/rwinslow/samerica/brazil.html

A Comparative Criminology Tour of the World

Dr. Robert Winslow

rwinslow@mail.sdsu.edu

San Diego State University

Japan is considered one of the safest countries on earth, with a very low crime rate, however Japan has almost twice as much crime overall as Brazil. The USA has over 400% more overall crime than Brazil. However, these statistics are skewed and misleading. Brazil's crime is much localized, almost exclusively limited to the large inner cities. The crime rate in the rest of Brazil is comparable to the crime rate in Vatican City. In the rural areas of Brazil, hitchhiking is still common with very few criminal incidents. Even crimes against property are almost unheard of outside the large cities in Brazil. Outside of the inner cities, Brazil is pretty much the safest place on earth, with an outlandishly low crime rate. By comparison the USA is far more dangerous than Brazil.

There is one other exception to this low crime rate in Brazil. The popular tourist attractions and beaches do have some criminals taking advantage of tourists. These crimes tend to be pick-pocketing, purse snatching, camera snatching, and similar crimes. Even Vatican City has such pick-pockets working the tourists there too. This is an unfortunate fact of life worldwide in every tourist hotspot on earth. Savoy tourists can usually avoid being victimized by these petty criminals.

Do not flash expensive items such as camcorders, cameras, and notebook computers. The red light districts (AMOR à ZONA) should be avoided. The slums (favelas) are high crime areas. ATM machines tend to attract robbers. Thieves work the beaches looking for purses and wallets lying near sunbathers. They grab the purse or wallet and run. Solution: Do not leave your purse or wallet in view. Dress down. Try to look native. Do not stand out.

A word of warning about the Brazilian petty criminals and their methods.

Petty thieves commonly work the public transportation system looking for tourists. They ride the public transportation system (mostly busses) looking to identify a target, usually with a purse or expensive camera in easy view. They will wait until the bus is stopping and opening the doors, then they grab the item and jump off the bus. Lately they have been grabbing whole backpacks, when the tourist is so foolish as to take off his/her backpack on the bus. Solution: Be especially careful on the busses in Brazil. Do not take off your backpack. Do not make it easy for the thieves to grab your valuables and run. Fortunately it is incredibly rare for these petty criminals to become violent. They almost always run away no matter if they are successful or not in the purse snatching attempt. They run not because they are afraid of the tourist, but because they are afraid of a mob or the police catching them. However, you should NOT chase a purse snatcher. They are often armed. The inner city criminals in Brazil are especially afraid of the cops. The police in Brazil are almost as trigger happy as cops in the USA. Fortunately they seem to know the difference between tourists and the street criminals.

In summary, you are far more likely to have your wallet or purse stolen in any city in the USA than in even the tourist areas of Brazil. If you stay away from the inner cities and especially the favelas and if you do not deal drugs or buy illegal drugs you will be far safer in Brazil than in the USA, Canada, or even Japan. There is no need to be afraid of crime in Brazil. Come on, live a little. The sky is not falling down, and Brazil is not so dangerous if you just use common sense.

The author, Arthur Wyss is a resident of Beijing, China. He specializes in immigration assistance for those who wish to live in Brazil. He also operates Brazil Land Sales, which primarily sells land in the State of Tocantins, Brazil. He is the former President of Adventure Spa Cruise. His website is: http://www.brazil-land-sales.com/index.htm

Crime and the Media - Where is the Truth?

The media and crime have an interesting relationship. These days, it's hard to turn on the news without hearing about some crime happening somewhere. In fact, there are even reporters assigned to cover certain courts or police departments to report on the latest crimes. It is well known that the publicity surrounding certain crimes or court cases can even spur a rash of "copycat crimes." In addition to crimes that are reported on in the news and in the paper, there are also plenty of TV shows about crimes. From the TV show "COPS" to the investigative drama series "CSI," it's clear that crime makes for entertaining TV. Do we actually love violence? If the media is any indication, we do!

If you watch the news, you've probably noticed that crimes are happening everywhere, in every city. Sensational headlines make for good TV and sell thousands of newspapers, but is so much coverage of crimes on TV serving to desensitize us to the truth, so that we no longer question why crimes are occurring all around us and have come to believe that it's just part of normal daily life?

Is the violence on TV just harmless entertainment? That question remains controversial. Some psychologists even think that such shows are playing a role in increasing violence in the real world. Not only are there copycat crimes influenced by what is shown, but more and more people are watching violence and crime on TV and become to think of it as normal and commonplace. There are currently many studies being done on whether exposure to media violence, whether it's the nightly news or a violent video game, can increase aggression and violence in young people.

Whether you watch the nightly news show, or sit down to watch a crime-scene drama, you aren't getting a realistic picture of how crimes occur. All too often, these shows highlight what's been done to catch the bad guy. If all of your knowledge of crime comes from the media, you might believe that perpetrators of every crime are quickly caught using high-tech DNA testing and other technologies, but this is far from the case. In fact, if you are attacked on the street and there are no leads, there is a good possibility that the perpetrator will never be caught. That's something that no TV show will ever tell you. Never do you see the stress and anxiety faced by the victims of these crimes for months, years, and even a lifetime following a violent crime.

No matter its exact effect, it is doubtless that crime in the media affects our mindset. Consider the college student carrying pepper spray after listening to a news clip about a recent rash of crime on campus, or the housewife who avoids shopping alone at night because of a recent string of carjackings. This response is certainly understandable. The media constantly publicizes the "bad" news of the day, making it seems as if crime is on the rise across the board. Whether this is true or not, it certainly serves as a powerful reminder that crime does exist, and that we must be prepared for it, lest we become the next victim mourned on the local news.

Resist Attack has a full range of handcuffs both for families and security forces. Also check for current specials on hinged handcuffs

Lessons for Life: Corporate Crime; What Happened to those Boy Scouts?

Some of the most talented people in our society are in trouble with the law. Some are serving time in federal and state prisons. Some are waiting to be sentenced for crimes of which they have been convicted in courts of law.

From my experience, those who succeed temporally in life started from a spiritual base. They were raised in good homes and benefited from neighborhood, church, and school leaders. Many were Little Leaguers and good Boy Scouts. Now they are in trouble and their families are humiliated.

What went wrong?

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

I extracted and shortened the following from [http://www.criminaldefenseassociates.com/crimes/whitecollar]

In the wake of the Enron/Arthur Anderson scandal, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, mandated the separation of auditing and consulting businesses in an attempt to restore public confidence in the investment market.

“The Act created a number of new Federal crimes (i.e., document destruction and tampering, securities fraud, certification of false financial statements, and attempt and conspiracy), many of which apply to both public and private companies, their directors, officers, and employees.

“The Sarbanes-Oxley Act also significantly enhances penalties applicable to a host of existing white collar crimes.

“A number of Federal agencies including the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the Secret Service, U.S. Customs, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, participate in the enforcement of Federal white collar crime legislation.

“In addition, most states employ their own agencies to enforce white collar crime laws at the State level.”

All Corporate Crimes are Not Prosecuted

At http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/deferredreport.htm is posted the report: Crime Without Conviction: The Rise of Deferred and Non Prosecution Agreements and I quote:

“This report finds that prosecutors have entered into twice as many non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements with major American corporations in the last four years (23 agreements between 2002 to 2005) than they have in the previous ten years (11 agreements between 1992 to 2001)…And it raises the question – are these companies too big to indict, to big to convict?”

See also http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0728-15.htm

Top Corporate Criminals

At http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/top100.html are listed the top 100 corporate criminals of the 1990s. I quote:

“The 100 corporate criminals fell into 14 categories of crime: Environmental (38), antitrust (20), fraud (13), campaign finance (7), food and drug (6), financial crimes (4), false statements (3), illegal exports (3), illegal boycott (1), worker death (1), bribery (1), obstruction of justice (1) public corruption (1), and tax evasion (1).”

Without going into details, the above report states that corporate crime damages far exceed that of street crimes both in cost to the public and in deaths.

The list comes in two versions. The Brief List simply states the corporation and the crime. The Annotated List gives more details. You will find some of our finest corporations on these lists.

Dumping: The Corporate Crime of the Century

We read this at http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1979/11/dowie.html

“News: It's called dumping:

“When the U.S. government forces a dangerous drug, pesticide or other product off the domestic market, the manufacturer then sells that same product–frequently with the direct support of the State Department–throughout the rest of the world.”

In an associated article at http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/1979/11/where.html Where Are They Now? we read:

"News: What ever happened to those dumped products–and their dumpers? Eighteen years later, the MoJo Wire investigates."

The bottom line is that the restrictions placed by our government to protect our people do not apply to other peoples of the world.

It’s okay if a person dies from faulty drugs or medical machinery in Podunktoo.

Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness: Exodus 20:16

As Martha Steward will testify, bearing false witness to our government is a major crime. She spent five months in the slammer because of that law.

Bearing false witness to the public is a crime that our government is exempt from. That is a law we need to fix. Public officials should be held accountable for what they say.

I think that Martha should have been fined $1000.00 and required to spend two weeks in public service sweeping the streets of Manhattan and passing out cookies to vagrants in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Her silly lies were just a miner crime in my opinion.

News Flash: Corporate Crimes are People Crimes

Corporate crimes are performed by people, the employees of the corporation. Often they are not intentional.

Joe Blow opens Valve Number 609 and closes Valve 906 instead of the opposite.

Ten zillion tons of gung then flows into Little Bear Creek killing the fish, the frogs, and twelve butterflies.

The Corporation is fined and the corporation must clean up the mess to boot.

Other crimes, especially those involving money, are intentional. Corporate Fat Cats full of greed want to pad their retirement funds.

These same Fat Cats were once good citizens who grew up in good homes, went to good Universities (where some say they learned how to cheat), and were Pillars of the Community. Now they are jailbirds or disgraced.

Help for Those Corporate Biggies Not Now in Trouble but May Soon Be

There is a rule once used by some in our country. It is Honesty is the Best Policy.

Have that framed and put on your wall.

Another one is Integrity is Doing the Right Thing when No One is Looking.

Frame that too.

For light reading go to http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-503a.html and read the Scout Oath and Law.

If you were not a Boy Scout, go there and read it anyway. It can’t hurt.

copyright©John T. Jones, Ph.D.

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com), a retired college professor and business executive, Former editor of an international engineering magazine. To learn more about Wealthy Affiliate University go to his info site. If you desire a flagpole to Fly Old Glory, go to the business site.

More info: http://www.InternetBusinessToolCenter.com

Business web site: http://www.AAAFlagpoles.com

How To Report A Crime

What should you do if you see a crime in progress? What if you're the victim of a crime? Although those in the United States are not legally obligated to report a crime, you should consider it your duty to do so. After all, wouldn't you want someone else to do the same for you?

If you are witness to a crime, either violent or otherwise, you can and should report the crime to authorities. There are a variety of ways that you can report crimes, including via phone or in person. If you witness a violent crime in action you should call the police immediately and report the nature and location of the crime so that they can respond quickly. In most cases, it's wiser to call the police immediately rather than trying to get in the middle of a violent confrontation.

To report a crime by phone, you should call either 911 or the non-emergency hotline in your area, depending on the situation. Most cities have non-emergency hotlines set up in order to field minor crimes such as vandalism, or reporting a crime after the fact. Contact the police via the non-emergency number will not interfere with 911 operators who may be fielding more pressing calls.

If the crime is violent in nature, or still in progress, you should contact the police by dialing 911 for the emergency line. Do not be afraid to call them - after all, the emergency dispatchers are there to help you. Even if you think you have the situation under control, call them. Be prepared to provide as many details as possible, including your name, a contact number, and your location, as specifically as you can. The police will show up as quickly as possible, which can vary depending on the nature and severity of the emergency.

What if you want to report a crime or suspicious situation that's not an emergency? For example, you've recently spotted graffiti on a fence, you think one of the neighbors might be involved in selling drugs, or there's a car parked on your street that hasn't moved in weeks. For these types of situations, you may want to contact the local police department in order to talk to an officer on duty and/or a detective. You'll want to use your discretion when deciding what method to use in order to report to the authorities. It's a good idea to have both the emergency and non-emergency numbers posted in your home and programmed into your cell phone, so that you don't have to look them up in a time of need.

If you decide that you would like to report a crime anonymously, there may be a crime hotline in your area. Companies like Crime Stoppers and other independent groups may offer their services so that your report can remain reasonably anonymous, if this is a concern to you.

Regardless of how you contact the authorities, you should expect the process to include:

1) Stating the nature of the crime.

2) Providing the location of the crime.

3) Providing a description of suspects

4) Explaining where you were located when you witnessed the crime.

If police decide to investigate the crime further, or need a witness to verify the nature of the crime, you may be asked to provide an official statement or testify in court. Again, the nature of the crime will influence the amount of interaction you will need to have with the police following the report.

Resist Attack has a every brand of stun gun for the ultimate personal protection. Also check our expandable baton specials.

What is a Hate Crime

Our society is truly a melting pot of various people with different ideas, religions, cultures, races and many unique attributes that makes for a very dynamic society. Some believe that this very diversity is what makes the U.S. great, some believe the opposite. What is true is that this diversity creates many challenges and often great conflict. As result over time laws have been enacted to discourage unreasonable behaviors. California has enacted not only anti discrimination laws, but also hate crime laws. Other others states have done likewise.

During the last few years there has also been a very strong anti immigrant sentiment that often leads to not only discrimination against individuals because of their perceived ethnicity or nationality, but often the strong anti-immigrant sentiment leads to crimes perpetrated against these individuals. These types of crimes are considered to be of a greater magnitude and the punishment is much more severe than punishment for other crimes. Essentially a crime becomes more severe when the victim is a member of protected class. These types of crimes are classified as hate crimes.

A hate crime is defined as a criminal act that is committed because of the perpetrators perceived characteristics in the victim, when the perceived characteristics are from one of the following categories: (1) disability, (2) gender, (3) nationality, (4) race or ethnicity, (5) religion, (6) sexual orientation or association with any person or group that any one of these characteristics. It is also a hate crime when the act involves damaging property or using force or threats of violence to interfere with someone else's rights because of the perceived characteristics. It does not matter if the victim actually has the perceived characteristics or not. After 911 for example anyone that dressed in an unusual manner was a target for acts of violence. This included not only Arabs, but also Indians and just about anyone that wears religious attire commonly associated with Muslims. An act of violence perpetrated against someone that is a Muslim is not a hate crime in itself, but perpetrating a crime against a Muslim on the grounds that the person is a Muslim would be a hate crime.

Hate crimes include physical assault, attempted physical assault, and the threat of assault. Crimes motivated by the bias towards a member of the protected class are also considered hate crimes.

Threatening violence and including specific terms that identify the person as a member of the protected class would be sufficient to constitute a hate crime.

The civil penalty for hate crimes may be as much as $25,000 in addition to other personal injury remedies. The perpetrator of a hate crime can be jailed and fined. If the crime is a felony the judge has the discretion to add an additional 2 year sentence to the jail term. The court also has the power to order restitution for actual damages and losses including medical bills.

The victim does not have to let the acts escalate to the point of actual physical harm and has the right to request a restraining order, once there have been threats of injury or property damage that is motivated by the perpetrators bias. The victim does not have to be a member of the protected class for the crime to occur. The perpetrator only has to perceive that the victim is a member of the protected class. If the perpetrator yells slurs of homosexuality to the victim because the perpetrator perceives the victim to be homosexual, but in fact the victim is not homosexual the crime has taken place.

Attorney Arnold Hernandez represents primarily consumers, small businesses, and victims of personal injury. Visit attorney Arnold Hernandez' website for valuable information.

Attorney, San Diego, California