Hate Crime Among Juveniles in Austria: Survey Results From the ISRD-4 Study

Hate crime refers to criminal offenses that are motivated by the rejection of a victim on the basis of a perceived or actual affiliation with certain identity groups. In Austria, particular vulnerable groups are listed under the offense of incitement (§238 StGB): Hate crimes are crimes against members of a church or religious community or another group of persons defined by the criteria race, skin color, nationality, decent or ethnic origin, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation or a particular world view. Official statistics show that the proportion of juveniles in hate crime is significantly higher than their proportion in total crime. This article presents findings on hate crime and discrimination from the Austrian survey of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD). The survey was conducted in 2022 in public schools of all school types among students in Grades 8, 9, 10, and 11 and was aimed at young people aged 14 to 17. The analysis reveals personal characteristics, attitudes, and lifestyles of offenders and victims and shows the most important targets of victimization, including physical appearance, xenophobia, racism, and homophobia. Hate crimes are experienced as personal violence and as hate speech on social media and they are closely linked to experiences of discrimination. Life-time victimization rates of hate crimes of approximately 25% show that collective identities have become major targets in conflicts among young people in late modern multicultural societies.