Introduction

Specifically, liberal media representations were more likely to attribute this murder to the political climate and emphasize situational attributions as compared to the conservative media representations, which were more likely to represent homosexuality as a condition to be "healed" or "converted." [...]these researchers found that attributions mediate the relationship between political viewpoint and attitudes toward stricter hate crime legislation as well as sympathy toward the gay community. The authors' data and theoretical arguments emphasize the social conditions or milieu that allow hate crimes to occur. [...]in this issue, we extend this primary research on hate crimes-that rightfully focuses on the victims and their perpetrators-by examining the effect of hate crimes on nonvictims of the targeted race and on people's perceptions of hate crime victimization. [...]the importance of and controversy surrounding policy implications of hate crime legislation are presented. How do we reconcile the real unintended consequences of hate crime policy enactment with the need for a proper legislative response? Because other factors, such as social conditions and power inequities, are often the crux of perpetrators' motives, what broader based societal changes or other responses are required to prevent and eventually eliminate hate crimes?