Ethnoviolence
Ethnoviolence refers to acts motivated by prejudice against individuals based on their ethnic group, sexual orientation, or religion, with the intent to cause psychological or physical harm. This form of violence can manifest in various ways, including verbal abuse, harassment, property damage, and physical assault. Victims often experience more significant psychological distress compared to those affected by other types of crime. The impact of ethnoviolence can extend beyond immediate victims, fostering fear and distrust within the wider community. Often interchangeably used with the term "hate crime," ethnoviolence encompasses a range of offenses that target individuals due to their identity. In response to rising incidents of such violence, legislation like the Hate Crime Statistics Act and the Hate Crime Sentencing Enhancement Act was enacted in the United States, aimed at improving the tracking and sentencing of these crimes. Reports indicate a troubling increase in hate crimes over the years, with the FBI recording over 11,000 incidents in 2023. Scholars suggest that while ethnic identity may lead to conflict, policies that recognize and respect differences without imposing hierarchies could mitigate ethnoviolence and promote social cohesion.
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Subject Terms
Ethnoviolence
Ethnoviolence, as defined by sociologists Fred Pincus and Howard Ehrlich, has several characteristics, including motivation by prejudice and intent to impart psychological or physical damage to others because they are members of an ethnic group (that is, a group defined on the basis of race, nationality/national origin) or because of sexual orientation or religion. The forms that ethnoviolence takes include verbal abuse (such as racial slurs), harassment, property damage, and assault. Victims of ethnoviolence report greater psychological harm than do victims of similar crimes that are not ethnicity-based. Moreover, the effects of ethnoviolence may spread to other, nonvictimized group members, causing fear, distrust, or anger. Another phrase often used interchangeably or associated with ethnoviolence is hate crime.
Many communities now track “hate crimes,” a process hampered by greater nonreporting rates for ethnoviolence than for other, similar crimes. In 1990, the federal government passed the Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) of 1990 (amended in 2009), which instituted the collection of hate crime statistics nationally. In 1994, the Hate Crime Sentencing Enhancement Act was passed as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The act defined hate crimes and provided sentencing guidelines for such crimes. Both acts were responses to rising rates of ethnoviolence in the United States. In fact, one national organization reported a 24 percent rise in a single year, 1992. At that time, 7,466 hate crimes were reported. Throughout the twenty-first century, the numbers continued to rise. In 2023, 11,862 hate crimes were reported, the highest number ever recorded by the FBI. Some analysts attributed this rise to escalating prejudicial views, engendered by competition for dwindling resources, political manipulation or advances in telecommunications (such as the Internet) that allow unprecedented dissemination of prejudiced views. Others ascribed the growth to an overall increase in societal violence.
Anthropologist Thomas Eriksen suggests that ethnicity need not breed ethnoviolence, but states that policies seeking unity through “color-blindness” are prone to failure—the stresses of transcending ethnic identity prove too great. However, policies that view ethnicity as difference without hierarchy show promise, allowing the benefits of ethnic identity while blunting intergroup fear, exclusion, and violence.
Bibliography
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