Violence and Hate Crimes
Violence comes in different forms such as domestic, societal and individual aggression. Thus, individual must be trained through education and other forums how to deal with these vices. Violence at its simplest form distresses family associates because they are part of the target audience of crime. To a greater measure, the society suffers the drawbacks and impacts of household and collective hostility. This brings in insecurity, inequality and injustice. Therefore the population ought to find ways of solving these issues before they get out of hand. An intercultural approach is needed to see the end of extreme actions that bring suffering to members of a community. Therefore, this paper provides an intervention to hate crime and violence through intercultural praxis, education and socially responsible actions. Social crimes or violence involves people from different cultures and their diversity lead to emergence of superiority and inferiority (In Sorrells & In Sekimoto, 2015). Abhorrence’s are carried out by individuals due to their dislike for other. The perception held by one community against the other accelerates this process hence widens rivalry. Cultural groups branded as inferior are looked down upon by superior cultures hence creates rivalry. In order to end this social education, intercultural praxis and social responsibilities will help unravel the stalemate. Thus, the essay will focus on the intervention mechanism to end detestation offenses and hostility.
In this section, we focus on the historical ideas, concepts and theories that explain the origin of social violence as well as hate crime. There are many factors that contribute to social hitches. Some of them emanate from historical injustices while other comes from social interaction. There are several theories that try to explain the method through which peace can be restored in warring or rivalry communities.
Standpoint Theory
This theory concentrates on the influence of social groups we interact with on our daily lives. The behavior of an individual is shaped through these interactions. Groups are subjected to influence and development of ideologies. In situations where an ideology adopted by one group goes against the others then the community is deemed to experience strives. Some groups adopt extreme ideologies that threaten security of community members. To avoid extreme teachings and conformity to negative ideologies, government should ensure that its population accesses the necessary education (Morewitz, 2010). One thing that accelerates ignorance among group is illiteracy. Therefore, education is a tool that can assist people deal with the situation. At this point, the concept of ethnocentrism emerges. This brings in an element of superiority where the dominant group controls the behaviors and action of inferior groups (NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Political Violence, Organized Crimes, Terrorism and Youth, Ulusoy, & North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 2012).
Critical Theory
This theory intends to evaluate and criticize the social set up at the same time advocating for change. It deals with the society and destines to change the narrative that groups within the community ascribe to. Social communication is an ingredient to the formation of a responsive society. This goes hand in hand with the social structures established and outlined in the society. This infers that the community should be more concerned about the structures formed by diverse groups (Perry, Levin, Iganski, Blazak, & Lawrence, 2009).
Some of the concepts that emanate from the discussion include Ethnocentrism and intercultural praxis. Ethnocentrism is a negative behavior that intends to demoralize the social set-up by treating communities differently. Numerous factors attributes to this situation. They include ethnicity, racism and discrimination. The fruit of these actions is hatred and increased insecurity in the country because members constantly engage in social stifles (Jackson, 2015). Intercultural praxis on the other hand talks about the steps undertaken by communities/individuals in promoting peace and cohesion among members.
Intervention Plan for Intercultural Social Justice
This document proposes a number of interventions and measures to be implemented to oversee the restoration of social justice. First, we focus on education. It is the most powerful tool that any society could implement to change the way people think and act towards other. Education changes the following. First, it opens up an individual mind and facilitates decision making. Individual will question and evaluate group decisions hence follow a certain direction. This means that an individual is not obliged to do what the group proposes rather adopt individual decisions (Bruce, 2009). Children brought up in a hostile environment tend to behave and act with hostility. This insinuates that the process applied in bringing up the sibling affects their perception and reaction towards others. To educate the society, a set of plans should be adopted to help members make formidable decisions and relate well with others. First, basic education should be free for everyone so that communities learn the basic social values (Moodian, 2009). There are numerous issues that need to be addressed through education (Williams, Roberts, & McIntosh, 2011). This is because education prepares individual for the future and facilitates interaction among members. Different communities will tolerate each other only if they understand the value of cohesion and peace. To input values to the communities or social groups, the government or authority has to find ways to lobby society to embrace education. For those members beyond the school age, enrolment into adult learning will help improve their understanding of social justice (Wood & University of Mississippi, 2011). Thus, community members will respect one another as they engage at various forums. No person will see or view the other as an inferior being based on racial or cultural affiliation.
The second value that education inculcates is social cohesion. This is where equality is created across communities by the fact that education brings people together (Collier, 2014). This means that education is incognizant of social and cultural ideologies that intend to divide people into religion, racial and cultural lines. It infers that the endeavor focuses on bringing up an all round community that is aware of social differences between cultures. Government should also strive to have mixed schools where student from diverse cultures study together. They will share a lot and be able to learn other cultures (In Simmons, 2013). Eventually, they will get familiar with diverse teachings hence able to tolerate and accommodate their peers. Lastly, education changes the perception that people holds against others. It therefore creates a leveled ground for cultures. I therefore propose that government introduces programs that teach the need and values of social cohesion to the population be it for the general curriculum or special education.
The second strategy is to have new laws and regulation that protect cultures in the world. Minor groups in the community often fall victims to the dominant or major groups that seems to marginalize them based on cultural features. The features that define one culture from the other should never be used to marginalize or discriminate against people. However, the perception and any other ideologies that people come up with is conceived in the minds through the system provided or intercultural praxis. To manage intercultural conflicts and violence, the following steps will be necessary (Darity, 2008). First, analyze the conflicting values of both groups before involving them in a brainstorming session to discusses and establish a leveled ground where they can settle their differences. Second, community programs such as competition and games need to be improvised to bring people together. These programs can be implemented at different levels in the social setup. Corporation and government departments should incorporate these programs into their busy schedule. The coming together of different cultures results to social cohesion and cooperation in matter of nation building. Therefore, the population will have little time left to think about their differences.
In conclusion, there is no single strategy that can be applied to solve social problems that involve violence and hate crime. The factors that forces community to act the way they conduct themselves; are profoundly entrenched in their culture. Thus, to change their perception and way of thinking; the nation has to come up with a comprehensive formula that includes all aspect of culture. This means that a multifaceted formula will be applied across regions. One of these formulas is to improve the state of education and introduce new programs. These programs offer knowledge that is socially oriented and covers all areas that may attribute or lead to conflict.
References
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Darity, W. A. (2008). International encyclopedia of the social sciences. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA.
In Simmons, E. (2013). Indigenous earth: Praxis and transformation. Penticton, BC: Theytus Books.
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Morewitz, S. J. (2010). Hate Crimes. Death Threats and Violence, 23(3), 102-118. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-76663-8_10
NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Political Violence, Organized Crimes, Terrorism and Youth, Ulusoy, M. D., & North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (2012). Political violence, organized crimes, terrorism, and youth. Amsterdam: IOS Press.
Perry, B., Levin, B., Iganski, P., Blazak, R., & Lawrence, F. M. (2009). Hate crimes. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers.
Williams, L., Roberts, R. A., & McIntosh, A. (2011). Radical human ecolog