Prejudicial crime and the recording system for politically motivated crime

Prejudicial crime sub-project

Prejudice crime, also known as prejudice-motivated crime or hate crime, is characterized by the existence of a criminal act with prejudice-based motivation on the part of the perpetrator. This motivation is directed against certain victim characteristics such as nationality, religion, sexual identity or social status. Prejudice crime has an impact on the individual victim and the entire victim group. In Germany, bias crime is recorded by the Criminal Police Reporting Service for Cases of Politically Motivated Crime (KPMD-PMK). Crimes are assigned to the overarching topic of “hate crime”. Nationwide, the hate crime registered here rose by 9,70% from 10,501 cases (in 2021) to 11,520 cases (in 2022) (Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Home Affairs, 2023). Looking specifically at Saxony, there has been a more significant increase. For example, registered hate crime in 2022 (861 cases) rose by 29.67% compared to the previous year (2021: 664 cases; Saxony Police, 2023).

Studies point to the devastating effects of prejudice-motivated crime for those directly affected. For example, results show that victims of bias-motivated crimes have a significantly higher sense of insecurity, an increased fear of crime, reduced interpersonal trust, reduced reporting behavior and less trust in political and state institutions than victims of comparable crimes without a motive of prejudice or than people without victim experience (e.g. Bender & Weber, 2023; Church & Coester, 2021; Dreißigacker, 2018; Groß et al., 2018; Landeskriminalamt Niedersachsen, 2018). Experts emphasize that bias crime is not only aimed at those directly affected, but also implies approval or encouragement from like-minded people. Furthermore, these crimes[KW1] send an intimidating message of rejection to the entire victim group, thus influencing the social fabric of democratic states and emphasizing the political and societal relevance of such acts (e.g. Coester, 2008; Perry, 2014).

Due to the continuously rising numbers of bias crimes, their negative impact on the victims themselves and their relevance to society as a whole due to their message character, the planned project will conduct interdisciplinary research into the phenomenon of bias crime and its effect on various groups in society. With the help of surveys and experimental studies, processes of collective victimization and solidarity processes will be investigated. The aim is to answer questions such as: What effect does bias crime have on those not directly involved? How does bias crime affect social norms? What processes lead to the victimization of the entire victim group? Under what circumstances do people show solidarity with the victim and the victim group?

Sub-project: The recording system for politically motivated crime

In the Free State of Saxony, a total of 1,904 crimes were classified as politically motivated crime – right-wing (PMK-Right) in 2022. Compared to other federal states, Saxony has “particularly high PMK figures” (Free State of Saxony, 2023, p. 269) and is “more confronted with this form of crime compared to most other federal states” (Free State of Saxony, 2023, p. 269). In Saxony, the “frequency figure for PMK in 2021 is 118.2 crimes per 1,000,000 inhabitants (…) and is therefore 1.8 times higher than the national average [66.2]” (Free State of Saxony, 2023, p. 270). Despite the decline in PMK offenses, it is clear that the threat of becoming a victim of a PMK offense is omnipresent. The victim advice center RAA Saxony found that in 2022 “205 right-wing motivated attacks (…) [were counted] in which at least 314 people were directly affected” (RAA Saxony, 2023). In Saxony as a whole, there is a spatial concentration of right-wing PMK offenses, particularly around Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz (RAA Saxony, 2023). However, there has also been an increase in right-wing motivated attacks in other districts, so that RAA Saxony speaks of a so-called “violent right-wing spatialization” (RAA Saxony, 2023). Despite the above-mentioned decline, the potential number of right-wing extremists increased between 2014 (2,500) and 2022 (4,350) (Landesamt für Verfassungsschutz, 2022, p. 34).

For years, civil society has been criticizing the fact that a large number of acts of violence are not recognized as politically right-wing, even though the circumstances of the crime indicate this. Past studies (e.g. Quent et al., 2018) show that victims of right-wing violence often do not feel taken seriously by the police, for example, and have the impression that the judicial authorities are not interested in clarifying the political motives behind the crime. After the primary victimization caused directly by the crime, secondary victimization can occur as a result of misreactions by the social environment and/or formal social control bodies. Those affected feel as if they have been victimized once again. Therefore, this sub-project, in cooperation with the victim counseling center “Support” Chemnitz of RAA Sachsen e.V., will deal with the experiences and perceptions of people in Saxony who are affected by right-wing violence. In particular, a look will be taken at primary and secondary victimization processes.

The supposedly too rare recognition of a right-wing political motive in criminal offences is particularly noticeable in the large discrepancy between figures on right-wing homicides from state authorities and from independent organizations and journalists. The Tagesspiegel (Kleffner et al., 2020), the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (n.d.) and researchers (e.g. Dierbach, 2016; Lang, 2014; Singer, 2004; Sandvoß, 2008) draw particular attention to the discrepancies between official figures and the existence of (not yet) recognized old cases from previous years that require reassessment. In the so-called “Jansen List”, Die Zeit & Der Tagesspiegel speak of 187 victims of right-wing violence in the period from 1990 to 2020 (Kleffner et al., 2020). The so-called victims’ archive of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation estimates 219 homicides related to right-wing violence and 16 suspected cases for the same period (Amadeu Antonio Foundation, n.d.). Official figures from the security authorities, on the other hand, speak of 113 cases classified as right-wing PMK (Amadeu Antonio Foundation, n.d.). In the Free State of Saxony, there are 19 cases of right-wing violence for the period from 1990 to 2018: 12 of these are recognized by the state. Seven cases, on the other hand, have not yet been recognized and classified as victims of right-wing violence (Amadeu Antonio Foundation, n.d.) and therefore require a scientific review and, if necessary, re-categorization.

For this reason, this sub-project of the ZKFS will examine the police reporting system PMK-Rechts (subject area catalog PMK-Rechts) for possible deficits and optimization potential. The aim of this sub-project is to develop an application- and practice-oriented catalog of topics for the work of the police. To achieve this, expert interviews will be conducted with officers and public prosecutors and expert workshops will be held with officers from the BKA (federal-state group TFK PMK-Rechts) and academics, among others.

Furthermore, the overarching topic of “hate crime” and the area of “unattributable” should be examined in more detail and optimized for police forces in terms of application. An evident definition system can ultimately contribute to an improved assessment of politically right-wing violent crimes, especially for the police and judicial system, as well as give the victims and their relatives the necessary recognition and thus ideally protect them from further victimization experiences. This sub-project is based on the recommendation made by the NSU Committee of Inquiry in 2013, in which politicians called for a necessary “fundamental revision of the ‘thematic field catalog PMK’ – with the involvement of expert knowledge from academia and civil society” (Deutscher Bundestag, 2013, p. 861). In addition, old cases of homicides involving right-wing political violence in Saxony are to be reviewed from a legal perspective. The applicability of a definition system developed by the RAA Saxony for the classification of homicides should also be examined.

Project partners: Victim counseling center “Support” of RAA Saxony

Associated partners:

Saxony State Office of Criminal Investigation – Central contact point for victims of (right-wing) extremist threats (ZASTEX),

Chemnitz Police Headquarters,

Prof. Dr. Marc Coester, Chair of Criminology, Faculty 5: Police and Security Management. Berlin School of Economics and Law

Prof. Dr. Walter Georg Fuchs, Chair of Criminology, FB. 5 Police & Security Management. Berlin School of Economics and Law

Prof. Dr. Eva Groß, University at the Hamburg Police Academy, Chair of Criminology/Sociology

Prof. Dr. Mathias Kauff, Professor of Social Psychology. Medical School Hamburg

Project management: Dr. Kristin Weber and Rowenia Bender