The Criminological Dimensions of the Crimes Caused by Stigma and Hatred during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Social stigmatization is one of the major consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the crimes caused by stigma and hate increased all over the world, which targeted the identity and the personality of the infected people and East Asian communities and intensified insecurity in societies. This article explains the factors and analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the increase in hate crimes with a criminological approach.

The present study is a review and narrative research with a descriptive-analytical approach, which has been conducted using the relevant authentic resources and articles as well as some criminological theories in order to analyze the issue.

Ethical Considerations: 

In this research, ethical study aspects including the authenticity of texts, honesty and trustworthiness have been observed.

Hate crimes are the unlawful acts committed with the motive of hating the identity characteristics of the victim, such as ethnicity, race, nationality, religion and gender. Moreover, being violent, being committed in public places and causing extensive damage to victims are among the features of these crimes. Factors such as stigmatization, moral panics, pre-judgment and hateful attitudes played important roles in the increase of hate crimes during the Covid-19 pandemic around the world. Furthermore, the process of social stigmatization of the people infected with coronavirus and some Asians is also rooted in these prejudgments, ultimately leading to hate crimes.

Besides intensifying the punishment for such crimes, if necessary; removing hatred through strengthening cohesion among different groups and communities; raising awareness and modifying dominant discourses, with the help of the media and the Internet, can be effective in reducing the hate crimes caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.