Perpetrators’ perspective of the psychological factors contributing to racially-motivated hate crimes in South Africa

Abstract

This study set out to explore and understand racially-motivated hate crimes from the psychological and emotional standpoint of the individual who perpetrated them. The focus on the perpetrator was essential given that most research conducted on hate crimes have honed in on the elements concerning the victims. By virtue of its focus, the study offered a perpetrator’s perspective, providing a more holistic understanding of hate crimes in South Africa. Such information could be used to develop violence interventions in order to help prevent future hate crimes. A qualitative research design was used and constructionist grounded theory employed as the research tool. The sample consisted of five individuals currently imprisoned in the Eastern Cape. Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews and journal entries. Supportive data was obtained from official prison documents. The findings from this study guided the formulation of the frustration deconstruction theory (FDT), the theory generated in this study. FDT indicates that the link between historically and socially constructed negative racial cognition and emotion may find expression through violence, which can be labelled as hate crimes. Interventions aimed at deconstructing the motives that underpin hate can result in positive behaviour. The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of the nuances that define and characterise the perpetrators of racially-motivated hate crimes in the South African context. The research is a valuable contribution to the field of hate crimes as it provides evidence of the psychological and emotional underpinning of hate crimes