Bias Crime and Victimization Among Latinx Adults: Formal and Informal Help Seeking

Abstract

Latinx adults have become increasingly vulnerable to bias motivated victimization. The impact of such incidents on Latinx communities is severely understudied, particularly concerning whether or not victims will seek help as a result of such events. Evidence within other victimization contexts demonstrate Latinx populations may be less likely to seek formal help from police, medical providers, and other formal authorities, relying instead on informal support networks such as family and friends. The current study sought to understand formal and informal help-seeking behavior among Latinx adults who experienced bias motivated victimization. The Understanding and Measuring Bias Victimization against Latinos study obtained rates of bias victimization and subsequent help-seeking behavior among Latinx adults who reported experiencing bias victimization (n = 315, 34.6% of full sample of 910). Those who experience bias victimization seek formal help at much lower rates than informal forms of support. Logistic regression analyses controlling the type of victimization demonstrated that participants who experienced a victimization constituting a hate crime were more likely to seek formal help compared to experiencing non-criminal bias events. Implications include addressing barriers to Latinx bias victims seeking forms of help, in addition to understanding the potential polyvictimization histories that predict why Latinx adults may decide to seek help.

Examining Avoidance, Victimization Risk, and Perceptions of Community Safety in Latinx Communities

“…Eighty percent of interviewees discussed the police, and rarely was the discussion positive. Florinda explained that social media and news accounts of police violence create fear of the police: “You know cause the Facebook, they show the videos of law enforcement doing bad things to the Mexican community, the black community, you know, how do, how do they want us to respect and feel safe, you know, you can’t even call them.” These sentiments demonstrate a distrust and fear of the police that can decrease the likelihood of community members reporting crimes, in line with previous research which has shown lower levels of formal reporting among Latinx individuals who have experienced bias victimization (Lockwood et al, 2022).…”

A Contemporary Review of Hate Crime Legislation in the United States

“…The combination of the prevalence of hate crime in the United States (FBI, n.d.; Kena & Thompson, 2021), inconsistent reporting (Lantz et al, 2019; Lockwood et al, 2022), and variation between states in what is covered by hate crime laws all point to the importance of studying hate crime legislation. States across the country have consistently changed aspects of their hate crime legislation, including recent substantial changes by Utah in 2019 and Georgia in 2020, making it difficult to follow for those not proximally involved with their amendment and enforcement.…”

Ingroup Empathy, Help, and Blame After Anti-LGBT+ Hate Crime

“…As trust and confidence in formal support organizations (e.g., criminal justice agencies) remain relatively low due to historical and ongoing marginalization ( Feddes & Jonas, 2020 ; Walters, Paterson, Brown, et al, 2020 ), many victims of hate crime look to their “ingroup” communities for help and support ( Haynes et al, 2023 ; Lockwood et al, 2022 ). Within LGBT+ communities, emerging evidence suggests that hate crime victims are generally met with considerable empathy ( Paterson et al, 2019b ).…”