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Hate-motivated and targeted violence are increasing concerns in our communities. At the Trauma and Community Resilience Center, we believe that understanding and preventing such violence is a central part of creating a just, equitable society. Recognizing that hate and violence can be manifestations of suffering, we take a public health approach to understanding and addressing risk and protective factors, including underlying grievances and maladaptive psychological factors. The Multidisciplinary Violence Prevention (MVP) Core of the TCRC conducts research and develops interventions, programs, and tools related to primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Our Primary Prevention portfolio works to identify and address risk and protective factors for hate-motivated and targeted violence in the general population, while our Secondary and Tertiary programming focuses on individuals either demonstrating signs of risk for, or who are reintegrating into society after having engaged in, violence. Our work is community-based, multidisciplinary, and takes a socioecological and trauma-informed approach. Our commitment to social justice, equity, and human rights stands at the heart of this work.

Key terms

While many types of violence are all too common in our society, the TCRC focuses on specific forms of violence:

  • Targeted violence refers to violence that is against a specific target based on ideology or grievances. Targeted violence can include acts of terrorism but is a much broader term that includes mass shootings, school shootings, and violence directed at public figures or individuals targeted due to their identities. It does not include domestic violence or gang violence, but can include violence based on grievances or feelings of hate.
  • Hate crimes and hate-motivated violence describe crimes for which at least part of the motivation is related to bias against a particular social group, such as race, sexual orientation, gender, or religion. Hate crimes are designed to create fear among a whole group of people. Hate-motivated violence is a subtype of hate crimes that includes violent crimes motivated by bias.
  • Extremist violence or terrorism refers to violence that stems specifically from ideological, religious, or political goals, and is often fueled by extremist movements, such as the violent far right, anti-government, or religious-inspired extremism.