What role should policy
makers play in helping lower hate crimes?
What are the aggressors’
mental states that could lead up to hateful behavior? How does one’s psychological condition impact
the onset of hateful acts?
How can
the general population influence the spread of a holistic outlook regarding the
political and religious preference, sexuality, and other personal conditions of
individuals?
An intense emotion that has had significant involvement
in many historical pitfalls is hatred. Hateful thoughts and behavior often
result from various societal or personal biases, psychological distress, or family
influences. Essentially, one role that society members can play in preventing
themselves from spreading misconceptions and prejudice is to surpass the
limitations imposed by hating other individuals (Sullivan 7). Although critics
may disagree with communal involvement, one must not forget that individuals
can also play an active role in overcoming hate. In the author’s discussion of
the historical influence of hate, the reader reflects the author’s notion that making
generalizations is a common aspect of existence (Sullivan 1). However, this
should not be an excuse for legitimizing hateful behavior. For example,
minority groups that are victimized for their cultural origin, such as the
Jewish people during the Nazi era or sixteenth century African American slaves,
should not be ignored. In these circumstances, society members and policy
makers must take an active role in ensuring that such groups are treated with
equality and fairness as set forth in the Constitution. Next, a vast field of
research today is the role that the mind can play on hateful crimes.
Contributions made by the government and other private donors are essential to
supporting these efforts as many are gruesome acts and can have detrimental
effects on affected societies. The fear that can be created in targeted
communities can have long-lasting effects and sheds light on the need for a
collaborative effort concerning these issues. Sullivan discusses an example of
the psychological influences on hatred when mentioning the obsessive dispositions
that the Hutu regime had in murdering minority groups (Sullivan 3). The Hutu
group romanticized the danger that the Tutsis imposed. This example of the
Hutu’s behavior is characteristic of how distasteful thoughts of a group of
people can influence their hostility towards another group. An individual’s
family culture may also impact one’s preference in social matters. For
instance, many Muslim families believe that heterosexuality should be the only
viable option for mankind. The result of this impractical and narrow-sighted
vision is that young homosexual minorities feel pressured to follow their
family or cultural wishes in conforming to the norm. These youth often benefit
from societal support to join them in overcoming prejudice and this can
certainly improve their overall quality of life. Ultimately, the general
population needs to approach hate and associated consequences in an eclectic
manner to protect the common good of society.
Works cited:
No comments:
Post a Comment