People appear more racist and homophobic when they have been drinking, researchers have found.
Hate crimes are more likely to be carried out when people are drunk, with the alcohol acting as an ‘igniter’ to expressing prejudice, a new study suggests.
Out of 124 people, 18.5 per cent considered themselves to have been attacked by people motivated by prejudice and that alcohol intoxication accounted for 90 per cent of these attacks.
Hate crimes are more likely to be carried out when people are drunk, with the alcohol acting as an ‘igniter’ to expressing prejudice, a new study suggests (stock image)
Researchers interviewed people attending accident and emergency with injuries from violence in three multicultural British cities.
Professor Jonathan Shepherd, director of the Cardiff University Crime and Security Research Institute, said: ‘A striking aspect of the study was the discovery that most attacks weren’t fuelled by hate alone; alcohol appeared to act as an igniter.
‘Our findings suggest that tackling alcohol abuse is not only important in regards to the health of individuals but also to the health of our society.
‘Additionally, we have learned that emergency room violence surveys can act as a community tension sensor and early warning system.’
The survey by Cardiff University was carried out in Cardiff, Blackburn and Leicester.
These cities were chosen because all three are home to multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious populations.
Of the 23 people who claimed the attack on them was motivated by prejudice, seven said they thought their appearance was the motive.
Five suggested it was because of racial tensions within the communities they lived, the study found.
Out of 124 people, 18.5 per cent considered themselves to have been attacked by people motivated by prejudice. Pictured is a pro Nazi rally in the German town of Ansbach
Three people mentioned their place of residence and eight cases were attributed to the race, religion or sexual orientation of the victims.
All 23 attacks took place away from the victims’ homes.
Many of them viewed limiting alcohol consumption as a good strategy to reduce the risk of attacks.
Research released earlier this year also found people who smoke cannabis are more likely to commit violent crimes.
The study by five researchers from institutes based in Montreal, Canada, examined the lives of 1,136 men and women who were patients at psychiatric hospitals in Missouri, Pittsburgh and Massachusetts.
It warned those who smoke the drug regularly run an increased risk of using violence against others.
The project is the first to demonstrate that cannabis is not only linked with violent crime but is the cause.