Litvak, S., Kivivuori, J., Kaakinen, M. (2023), ‘Religion and Hate Crime Victimisation: A Representative Study of Young People in Finland’, International Criminology, Vol. 3, pp. 12–25

Country

Finland

Title

Litvak, S., Kivivuori, J., Kaakinen, M. (2023), ‘Religion and Hate Crime Victimisation: A Representative Study of Young People in Finland’, International Criminology, Vol. 3, pp. 12–25

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Year

2023

Publication type

Research evidence/report

Geographical coverage

National

Area/location of interest

Not applicable - national level

Type of Institution

Academic/research institution

Institution

Finland, Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki

Thematic focus

Hate crime

Groups

General population

Key findings

The article studies experiences of hate crime among Finnish children in the age group of 15-16 years and in three groups defined by religion: Christians, Muslims, and non-religious youth. The study is based on data from a larger survey among school children. The authors find that in their sample of respondents (n=5,482), 11% reported that they had experienced hate crime in their lifetime. Muslims had the highest overall lifetime rate of hate crime victimisation (41%, compared to 17% for non-religious and 9% for Christians). Of all Muslim hate crime victims, 58% were aggressed against by an adult and the victim-perceived motive was most often religion (23%).

Methodology (Qualitative/Quantitative and exact type used, questionnaires etc)

The research article draws on the Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study (FSRD-2020), which is an anonymous survey targeting 15–16-year-old school children. The FSRD-2020 data were collected in January-May 2020 using online response during regular school hours under teacher supervision. The survey examines whether the respondents have committed specific illegal acts or have fallen victim of such acts in their lifetime and in the 12 months preceding the survey. It covers 17 illegal acts and 11 victim experiences. The research articles focuses on one question in the survey, concerning experienced hate crime victimisation.

Sample details and representativeness

The Finnish Self-Report Delinquency Study (FSRD-2020) is a survey targeting Finnish 15-16-year-old children, with a nationally representative cluster sample of 74 schools. The random sampling process was conducted by Statistics Finland. The FSRD-2020 dataset includes 5,674 respondents. The response rate is 78 %. Half (50 %) of the respondents were female, 48 % were male, and 2 % reported another gender. The majority of the respondents were born in Finland (96 %) and their mother tongue was Finnish (89 %). In the research article, the sample consists of 5,482 responses.

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