Carla Arranaga, JD, is the Deputy in Charge of the LA County District Attorney's Office, Hate Crimes Division, and was the key speaker at the workshop. Hate Crimes are defined by the Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act as "a crime that manifests evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity" (sexual orientation was finally included in the list of categories only after long Congressional floor debate and strong opposition from Senator Jesse Helms, R-North Carolina). In her remarks at the workshop, Arranaga offered a unique perspective on how the clinical presentation of the hate crime victim meets the legal issues -- where the therapist meets the lawyer. The crisis of victimization is defined as "a sudden, arbitrary, unpredictable event that is threatening to the self and produces a disruption in the emotions and behaviors of the threatened person", and is characterized by reactions such as anger, paranoia, humiliation, inferiority, superiority, helplessness, depression, revenge, and resentment, among others. The types of trauma experienced can include physical, financial (loss of wages or loss of property), and psychological."

Arranaga explained how hate crimes affect people, highlighting that hate/bias crime affects an entire community. Usually, the community is embarrassed, can become polarized, spirit is diminished tensions are increased, and law enforcement is at more risk. The impact of hate crimes is unique in that there may be additional fear because victims were chosen as a target for a specific purpose. Terror may be exacerbated because society may be slow to respond to a bias crime (particularly in even less gay-friendly conservative communities), and grief may be more intense because victims may lose their sense of community or feel betrayed by the American justice system. Victims may experience a deep personal crisis because the basis for their attack is their identity -- not merely to steal some-one's belongings; hatred is less easy to explain or forgive than a crime motivated by economics. This can cause the victim to feel stress and vulnerability that is heightened or prolonged, and can cause the victim to reject the aspect of themselves that was the target of the their attack. The victim's assumptions about the world (as a safe, normal place) may be shattered. Victims of bias crimes may feel vulnerable to repeat attack (similar to hypervigilance seen in PTSD).

Fortunately, federal and state statutes protect individuals from bias crimes and provide a basis for prosecution. However, political influences affect which categories are considered protected. While many states have hate crimes laws which introduce some sentence enhancement for categories such as religion or race, not all states include sexual orientation in their list of protected categories. Opponents of hate crimes legislation usually claim "special rights" by groups or infringement on free speech, but American law is plentiful with technical sentence enhancements for "special circumstances" that increase the severity, impact, and subsequent punishment of a crime.

According to Arranaga, the reasons hate crimes occur can include local economic stress (layoffs, unemployment, poverty), pervasive stereotypes that are exacerbated by citizens not objecting when even casual bias jokes or comments are told in their presence, racial divisions, the higher visibility of gay men (which threatens the antigay forces), lack of social preparedness for demographic changes in a community, and antipathy toward immigrants. Factors which help reduce these elements can include diversity awareness and appreciation programs that need to be introduced early in a child's development to counter common societal biases. In the words of Oscar Hammerstein II, classic Broadway lyricist, "you have to be carefully taught to hate and fear."

The types of people committing these crimes fall generally into five conceptual categories. These include Thrill Seekers, who go outside of their home area to another neighborhood populated largely by their target group (such as "gay" neighborhoods like West Hollywood or Silverlake), who are motivated by excess energy, boredom, and a sense of superiority that is stoked by common jokes, family "traditions," biased teachers, religious leaders, and media portrayals against certain groups. These can include the roving bands of late adolescent/early 20's men often involved in antigay hate crimes. Another group is the Reactive group; people motivated by a perceived threat to their racial superiority due to the increased visibility of another racial group in a community. The Fear of the Unknown group, which acts out hostility in fear of a perceived threat of jobs by an immigrant group or other group. Another are those who fight against a group because they are see themselves as Mission Offenders, people who "fight for a cause" such as white supremacy, which are particularly dangerous because of fanatical devotion. They consider it an "honor" to be arrested and have access to organization information via the Internet or organized rallies. This can also include males who"protect against crimes against the gender" of malehood by attacking gay men or male-to-female transgendered persons, "enforcing" the roles of manhood against "offenders" who threaten or alter preconceived gender stereotypes.

All of this can be helpful in helping a clinician assist a victim of hate crime to fight back on many different levels, from the psychological to the financial, and to aid empowerment and decrease victimization and its related symptoms. One of the most important factors in this is the community of providers being aware that these services exist so that they may make appropriate referrals in the judicial system, if necessary. This process was reviewed by Kevin "Kip" Lowe, Ph.D, Assistant Deputy Director for the California Youth Authority, to seek "restorative justice", a process reviewed at the workshop, in which the victim can force an offender to make amends in a meaningful way. This could include financial restitution and personal indebtedness to the victim. Processing the trauma with a therapist can reduce PTSD or acute stress symptoms either in individual or group treatment to promote healing and recovery.

Through the various governmental programs, victims can receive reimbursement for medical expenses, hospital bills, loss of wages or support, job retraining and rehabilitation expenses up to $46,000. They can also receive funeral/burial expense reimbursement up to $5,000 and legal fees for applications up to $500. These payments can include the victim, family members, or dependents of the victim. Applications may be obtained from the Victim Center, State Board of Control, PO Box 3036, Sacramento, CA 95812-3036. Other resources include the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center's Antiviolence Project at 323-993-7400 and the California Federal Victim/Witness Coordinators office, which for LA, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, and San Luis Obispo counties is: Debbie Deem, US Attorney's Office, Central District, 312 N. Spring Street, Room 1312, Los Angeles, CA 90012; 213-894-6786 or 888-228-0315.

Other services such as crisis intervention counseling, court escort services, property return, restraining order assistance, emergency financial assistance and emergency legal assistance referrals are available from the Los Angeles County Victim-Witness Assistance Program at 213-974-7499 or 800-773-7574.

The City of Los Angeles also has a Victim Assistance Program through the office of the City Attorney, Central Office, Maria Elena Reyes Building, 312 S. Hill Street, second Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013, 213-485-6976.

Fortunately, there are ways for a victim to fight back through a variety of local, state, and federal programs. A victim should always report a hate crime so that law enforcement and politicians can be aware of the problem and direct resources (money, police, time, educational campaigns, victim services) accordingly. Also, the victim can participate with law enforcement and the client presentation. Politically, as more victims of hate crimes and their advocates hold offenders and the community at large accountable for these crimes, by reporting, documenting, prosecuting, and educating about the unique nature of bias crime, the more effective resources can be developed and devoted to fostering a climate where these crimes can be reduced.

Pride is Power.

-- Ken Howard, LCSW is on the Board of Directors of LAGPA and is in private practice in Beverly Hills. He also works for LA County Dept. of Mental Health, where he has worked with numerous victims of hate crimes along sexual orientation, gender, and racial lines. He was the victim of a mild hate crime in Silverlake in spring 1998 (motorists throwing eggs outside a well known gay bar). His subsequent experience reporting the crime to an unsympathetic Los Angeles Police Department officer led to a significant investigation of the LAPD's sensitivity and response to hate crime reports.