Social learning theory and hate crimes targeting sexual orientation

Sociological Theories

Perpetrators of hate crimes target their victims based on their perceived membership of particular social groups. These groups can be based on religion, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation and gender identity. Hate crimes are not basically about hate .The case provided is about three brothers who were accused of attacking and beating a gay man. This particular hate crime is based on the sexual orientation of the man. There are various theories from different disciplines that can be used to explain hate crimes like the one these three brothers were accused of. One such theory is the social learning theory. Social learning theory suggests that criminal behavior is modeled from others. It suggests that criminal behavior is learnt through observation of the actions of other people at the cognitive level. The theory suggests that the attitude that a person has towards the 'out-group's can be influenced by various factors such as media, other peoples ideology and the fear of diversity (Kimpan, 2012).

Fear of diversity

The social learning theory explains that those who commit hate crimes are often people who fear diversity. This means that the perpetrators of hate crimes are comfortable with the way things are and any change in the perceived normal state of being can result to them turning into crime. The perpetrators of hate crimes therefore commit these crimes since they are in protest of what is going on. In the case of these three brothers they are people who do not have liking for homosexual behavior. This means that they do not like any diversity from what they accept as normal behavior. Therefore their dislike for homosexual behavior is what triggered them to attack this gay man. They did so in protest since they do not support or accept the behavior in nay way. This means that they attacked the man simply because he was practicing something that they do not accept (Ellias,. & Hall, 2009).Their dislike for this type of diversity was probably influence by the overall social environment. Maybe gay relationships are not accepted in the particular place they live. This might be the reason for their behavior and probably many other people act in a similar way towards the gay fraternity.

Motivation from other people ideology

The idea of gay relationships is quite new to many people. Often people influence others into having the same views and theirs. Probably, the three brothers did not have any problem with the gay people. But with time they learned from others not to like the behavior. Through social learning they got to have a new perception of gay relationships. Maybe it was just one brother among the three who had these particular views. He then went ahead and changed the minds of these other two.

Punishment and rehabilitation

Hate crimes are a very serious problem in the society. The other form of rehabilitation for the perpetrators of hate crimes is counseling. They should undergo a counseling session; during the session they should be made to accept the people whom the out groups. They should be guided on accepting diversity presented to them in any way. The legislation that is in place pertaining to hate crime is very straight forward and a combination of retribution and deterrence. This legislation is often with little certainty of being effective. This means that stern measures should be taken to prevent the reoccurrence of these crimes. The criminal justice system should ensure that they deal with the problem swiftly and in the most effective way possible (FBI, 2013). The criminal justice system should punish the perpetrators of the crime by making them stay with the particular group of people they committed the crime against. This will ensure that they will learn to accept them the way they are. This means that they will learn to live with them and accept the particular thing they do not like about them. This will ensure that after the rehabilitation process they will ensure that they do not commit hate crimes to people of the same group.