Ideologically inspired hate crimes: societal narratives and police officers’ unconscious cognitive biases

This study aims to enhance national and international academic and policy understandings of the existence of unconscious cognitive biases in the creation of stereotypes that permeate all areas of society, including the criminal justice system, regarding ideologically inspired hate crimes, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We study the Portuguese criminal justice system context focusing on data collected through Focus Groups and through the application of the Implicit Association Test (IAT). This study points to best practices that can be adopted by the criminal justice system, both nationally and internationally, to counter ideologically inspired hate crimes and strengthen societal resilience.