Community conversations as a strategy to prevent hate crime: facilitators’ reflections

Zempi, I ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1719-8573, Trickett, L ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4948-4088, Krulisova, K ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8065-188X and Hamilton, P ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4518-4360, 2025. Community conversations as a strategy to prevent hate crime: facilitators’ reflections. International Review of Victimology. ISSN 0269-7580 (Forthcoming)

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Abstract

Hate crimes damage social cohesion and undermine the security of societies. Persistent high levels of hate crime demand new and effective pathways for change. The aim of this article is to consider the value of ‘community conversations’ for preventing hate crime at the level of local communities, based on the perceptions and experiences of facilitators. Drawing on the evaluation of the ‘Citizens at the Heart’ project, this article discusses community conversations, its core components and effectiveness, and highlights the promise of this approach for tackling hate crime at its root: prejudice. Drawing on interviews and focus groups with the facilitators of community conversations, the findings show that community conversations can be a valuable instrument for challenging prejudiced views and behaviours, through bringing local people together and the protective impact of creating counter-narratives. Intergroup Contact Theory posits that through meaningful, collaborative interactions between members from different social identity groups, prejudice can be reduced. It will be concluded that by using community-based approaches, we can deal with bias and prejudice more proactively, before it escalates to more serious forms of hate. However, a longitudinal evaluation, which also draws on community conversations attendees’ perceptions, would be necessary to capture the long-term effectiveness of this approach.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Review of Victimology
Creators:	Zempi, I., Trickett, L., Krulisova, K. and Hamilton, P.
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Date:	23 April 2025
ISSN:	0269-7580
Identifiers:	Number Type 2430573 Other
Rights:	Accepted for publication in International Review of Victimology. Reuse is restricted to non-commercial and no derivative uses.
Divisions:	Schools > Nottingham Law School Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	06 May 2025 08:03
Last Modified:	06 May 2025 08:03
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53518

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