The survey on the perception of hate crime, the penal system and sex work (HaSteX for short) is a representative survey of over 3,000 people in Germany. The study was conducted in August 2024. In addition to psychological, sociological and ideological variables, the following three main topics were examined:

Focus on hate crime: Hate crime, also known as bias crime, poses a serious threat not only to the marginalized groups affected, but also to democratic society as a whole (Coester, 2008; Perry, 2014). A united societal rejection of bias crime is therefore of central importance. However, a study conducted in Germany shows that a considerable proportion of 14-19% of the population even approves of bias crime (Dancygier, 2023). Against this background, the analysis of the HaSteX data aims to better understand social attitudes towards bias crime. The focus is on investigating the connections between the perception and evaluation of bias crime and various psychological and ideological variables.

Focus on the penal system: In the German-speaking world, there is little to no research looking at public perceptions of prisons as physical and social places, although research in the US and UK has found that these perceptions are intertwined with media reports and political discourses (Martin & Myers, 2005; Mason 2006). Similarly, the measurement of public support for different types of punitive measures is a key element of criminology that remains relatively under-researched in Germany (Maruna & King, 2009). While measures of punitiveness have often been used in criminological and psychological studies, these have typically used an abstract concept of punitiveness that is removed from the realities or stereotypical views of the actual justice system (Dollinger, 2011).

Focus on sex work: Sex work in Germany, although legal and regulated, continues to be affected by stigma and criminalization, especially in public and political debates (Brink et al., 2023). In view of the multi-layered and complex nature of this phenomenon and the lack of representative data in Germany, it is relevant to record social attitudes towards sex work and to investigate relationships with sociological, psychological and criminological variables (Steffan et al., 2023).

Project management: Rowenia Bender, Dr. Aaron Bielejewski, Anika Radewald, Dr. Kristin Weber