Community conversations as a strategy to prevent hate crime: facilitators' reflections
Hate crimes damage social cohesion and undermine the security of societies. Persistent high levels of hate crime demand new and effective pathways for change. The aim of this article is to consider the value of ‘community conversations’ for preventing hate crime at the level of local communities, ba...
| VerfasserInnen: | ; ; ; |
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| Medienart: | Elektronisch Aufsatz |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Veröffentlicht: |
2025
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| In: |
International review of victimology
Jahr: 2025, Band: 00, Seiten: 1-22 |
| Online-Zugang: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Verfügbarkeit prüfen: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Zusammenfassung: | Hate crimes damage social cohesion and undermine the security of societies. Persistent high levels of hate crime demand new and effective pathways for change. The aim of this article is to consider the value of ‘community conversations’ for preventing hate crime at the level of local communities, based on the perceptions and experiences of facilitators. Drawing on the evaluation of the ‘Citizens at the Heart’ project, this article discusses community conversations and their core components and effectiveness, and highlights the promise of this approach for tackling hate crime at its root: prejudice. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with the facilitators of community conversations, the findings show that community conversations can be a valuable instrument for challenging prejudiced views and behaviour, through bringing local people together and the protective impact of creating counter-narratives. Intergroup Contact Theory posits that through meaningful, collaborative interactions between members from different social identity groups, prejudice can be reduced. It will be concluded that by using community-based approaches, we can deal with bias and prejudice more proactively, before it escalates to more serious forms of hate. However, a longitudinal evaluation, which also draws on community conversations attendees’ perceptions, would be necessary to capture the long-term effectiveness of this approach. |
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| Beschreibung: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 19-22 |
| ISSN: | 2047-9433 |
| DOI: | 10.1177/02697580251340991 |
