Professional Issues

Before reviewing common clinical issues, one might encounter when working with victims of hate crimes, there are some professional issues I want to highlight. As can be seen in the section above, an empathic victim-centred perspective on hate crimes focuses on the individual experience of the victim as well as their culture’s history. As such, we also need to engage in self-reflection on how victims might perceive us as helpers. This means that our specific characteristics can have an even more heightened impact on victims if we, in any way, resemble the perpetrator of the hate crime. Workers who work as part of a team may want to discuss these issues to decide who might be best able to make a connection with the identified victim.

Another issue that can be important in working with victims of hate crimes is that of consent (Chahal, 2017). In our work with victims of hate crimes, we want to ensure that we are coming from a place of collaboration and empowerment by supporting the victims in their healing journey and decisions about what might happen. This means that support workers should be cautious against imposing their own biases on certain key decisions around reporting the hate crime, dealings with the police and courts, or other more supportive/case management/treatment issues that might arise.

Informed consent is essential as part of the healing journey, especially for those who feel victimized due to their personal or group characteristics. Full and informed consent is achieved through an open and honest discussion of the potential risks and benefits victims are facing in whatever choices they make about what to do about their victimization. Ignoring full and informed consent could serve to enhance victims’ feelings of helplessness in the face of power differences. Many victims of hate crimes are also members of groups that are often not accustomed to having power in our society, so may distrust people in authority, especially as they may have dealt with institutionalized discrimination. This marginalization is why the perpetrator targeted them. Dealing with prejudice and discrimination are issues that many people in these groups face daily and that daily barrage of exclusion has an effect (Gutiérrez, 2022; Helms, Nicolas, & Green, 2010; Perry, 2008). This daily reality will act as a lens that hate crime victims use to understand your work, the criminal justice system, the police, victim services as an agency, and when asking for help.

Finally, this is difficult work. Especially the elements that require you to honestly look at your personal biases and the biases you encountered when growing up. Workers are encouraged to follow the self-care strategies outlined in the original manual, such as assessing your resources, use of supervision, boundary setting, building a balanced life, professional development, and personal therapy. Two related issues that might be important to think about when working with victims of hate crimes are your personal biases and your level of openness and acceptance.

Personal Biases

We must be very clear and frank on understanding our own personal biases about the victims’ culture and their cultural values (Dunbar, 2001). Each of us has a particular cultural experience that needs to be acknowledged and respected, thus, supports should attend to the broader cultural context of the group from which the victim appears to originate, as well as their personal experience. This is central to building trust in the working relationship (Teyber, 2006). Support workers may want to seek consultation with supervisors, co-workers, or persons well acquainted with the victims’ culture regarding any biases (Cheng, 2004), recognizing that those with whom we consult can also have biases. Further, support workers need to be cautious that in trying to be fair that they do not treat all clients the same. So-called “culture blindness,” that is, not seeing the world as clients see it, and trying to treat everyone the same can cause support workers to be culturally insensitive (Truscott & Crook, 2004).

Furthermore, it is useful to reflect on how systemic racism may affect your day-to-day work without you realizing it because you are part of the system. For example, requiring state-issued identification to receive services could be triggering since those in power may use official means such as identification to deny services or to impose other demands on the person (e.g., referral to social services if identified as having trauma-related symptoms). These concerns may block some victims from accessing help, especially if victims have a trauma history about how they have been treated by those who are supposed to protect them (e. g., police, healthcare, social service).

In my experience, it is when I am most confident that I am not biased that I need to work hardest to identify how I might be misguided, relying on consultation and supervision in conjunction with self-study. Being defensive in the face of questions or being confident in your good intent is different from frank self-examination.Footnote 3 This self-examination should also include exploring any prejudicial views you might have been exposed to when growing up or in the general culture. It is noteworthy that some views that might have been acceptable years or decades ago are now considered offensive (Herek, 2015). Even positive biases about a group, called the Model Minority Myth (Yao, 2022), is a part of a prejudicial culture that treats individuals as if they are generic and interchangeable and ignores individual differences. An example of a common myth is that all Asians are hardworking and good students, and Yao (2022) notes examples in the media where Asians were seen as over-represented in Canadian universities, a claim that might incite prejudice and hate. Your approach should fit the experiences and strengths of each client and approach the work with humility. Part of dealing with personal bias is also facing areas of subtle bias.

Openness and Acceptance

In working with victims of hate and hate crimes, support workers need to assess their comfort with victims, their lived experience, and potential biases about their culture. Dunbar (2001) points out that you should assess your own skills and knowledge in working with a member of the group in question. Are there differences between your worldview and that of your clients? How might these differences affect your work? Are there other issues that might interfere with the work you do together? Teyber (2006) points out that many of those from marginalized groups will often not expect to be heard or understood because of their experiences of prejudice, discrimination, and systemic racism. Workers can build trust and a good working relationship by acknowledging this challenge.

As Hansen et al. (2018) advise, we need to provide an environment that is reflective of:

These issues are important because many victims of hate crimes will be watchful of any potential bias on the part of those helping them. Of note, we can often show subtle cultural bias in seemingly innocent ways that may cause problems in the professional relationship (Truscott & Crook, 2004). For example, office decorations, reading material, and personal items may be welcoming to some but distancing to others. Although this is not to advocate creating a sterile support environment, it is helpful to be aware of the messages we send victims when they come seeking help.