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Exploring the Gender Quandary of Bias Crimes: A Content Analysis of Legislative Histories and Media Reports of the Development and Enforcement of Bias Crime Legislation in New Jersey
Unformatted Document Text:  ASC Proposal 2007 Exploring the Gender Quandary of Bias Crimes: A Content Analysis of Legislative Histories and Media Reports of the Development and Enforcement of Bias Crime Legislation in New Jersey By Jessica P Hodge Although the pervasiveness of violence against women is not a new phenomenon, it has only recently become recognized as a national problem deserving of further attention on the federal and state levels. However, what is considered an appropriate response to gender- motivated violence remains divisive in both academic literature and in federal and state policies, and the inclusion of bias crime legislation within this debate is still relatively new. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to further explore the gender quandary within bias crime legislation. Through content analyses of legislative records and media reports, this research examines the process in which the gender category was included within New Jersey’s bias crime legislation, and subsequently, how the category has been framed within the media since the passage of the law. As such, this research is important as it not only adds empirical research to the literature on bias crimes, it also informs hate crime policy on the state and federal levels. Much of the debate within the discourse of hate crime legislation is whether gender should also be included as a protected group. Opponents to the inclusion of gender offer many reasons for why gender should remain excluded from hate crime legislation. One such reason is that gender does not fit within the “typical” bias crime model. Because female victims often know their attackers, opponents argue that since the victim is not interchangeable (i.e. selected merely because of their group identity), the crimes do not fit within the hate crime rationale (Jacobs & Potter, 1998, p. 72). Other reasons for the exclusion of gender include the fact that there are already laws that specifically address violence against women (e.g. domestic violence laws); and that because of the prevalence of violence against women, if included in hate crime laws, the importance of other status categories would diminish (McPhail, 2003, p. 269). 1

Authors: Hodge-Kamin, Jessica.
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ASC Proposal 2007
Exploring the Gender Quandary of Bias Crimes: A Content Analysis of Legislative Histories and
Media Reports of the Development and Enforcement of Bias Crime Legislation in New Jersey
By Jessica P Hodge
Although the pervasiveness of violence against women is not a new phenomenon, it has
only recently become recognized as a national problem deserving of further attention on the
federal and state levels. However, what is considered an appropriate response to gender-
motivated violence remains divisive in both academic literature and in federal and state policies,
and the inclusion of bias crime legislation within this debate is still relatively new. Therefore, the
purpose of this study is to further explore the gender quandary within bias crime legislation.
Through content analyses of legislative records and media reports, this research examines the
process in which the gender category was included within New Jersey’s bias crime legislation,
and subsequently, how the category has been framed within the media since the passage of the
law. As such, this research is important as it not only adds empirical research to the literature on
bias crimes, it also informs hate crime policy on the state and federal levels.
Much of the debate within the discourse of hate crime legislation is whether gender
should also be included as a protected group. Opponents to the inclusion of gender offer many
reasons for why gender should remain excluded from hate crime legislation. One such reason is
that gender does not fit within the “typical” bias crime model. Because female victims often
know their attackers, opponents argue that since the victim is not interchangeable (i.e. selected
merely because of their group identity), the crimes do not fit within the hate crime rationale
(Jacobs & Potter, 1998, p. 72). Other reasons for the exclusion of gender include the fact that
there are already laws that specifically address violence against women (e.g. domestic violence
laws); and that because of the prevalence of violence against women, if included in hate crime
laws, the importance of other status categories would diminish (McPhail, 2003, p. 269).
1


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