Hate crime and prejudice-based behaviours: Understanding how prejudice can harm
The Allport Scale represents Gordon Allport’s work measuring the manifestation of prejudice in society. The scale contains 5 stages of prejudice, ranked by the increasing harm they produce.
Stereotypes and bias are a cause and a consequence of hate and inequality, where they reinforce a power imbalance between different groups by limiting opportunities and allowing discrimination. This inequality creates a foundation for the perpetuation of more stereotypes and bias. To interrupt this cycle, we have to explore our own bias and create a culture where stereotypes are challenged.
On the Allport scale, we can see that stereotypes, stigma, and derogatory language (such as hate speech) make up the bottom layer of the pyramid, providing a foundation for increasingly harmful behaviours that contribute to societal violence. To prevent this progression, we have to start by challenging the lower level, everyday prejudiced-based behaviours consistently.
A range of educational resources are available to support education on the dangers of unchecked hatred and prejudice.
Beyond Srebrenica, a charity dedicated to education about the Bosnian genocide, have an education pack that contains material for lessons linked to the Curriculum for Excellence, as well as a range of multimedia resources that can support classroom learning, including:
The charity has partnered with Collingwood Learning and co-run a play for S4-S6 students, ‘Inseparable’, set in the modern day and focusing on how intolerance and hatred places three young people on different sides of a devastating conflict, and emphasises the role of creating a better society for all.
The play has follow-up workshops for learners and is funded by the Gordon Cook Foundation to allow Scottish schools to access it for free. Since its inception in 2023, 4,472 young people have taken part.
Beyond Srebrenica also run conferences in schools, often in partnership with survivors and in 2025 have launched a national competition to mark the 30th anniversary of the genocide. Winners will win a fully funded delegation to Bosnia as part of a Beyond Srebrenica schools' delegation.
The Holocaust Educational Trust are also funded for the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz’ programme, to allow schools to provide learning experiences for children and young people that focus on the history and impact on society, including seminars and a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The Vision Schools Scotland Programme supports primary and secondary teachers in their teaching of the Holocaust and in addressing antisemitism, through its professional learning programme, online resources and award process. This is supported by Scottish Government funding of £36,352 per year.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust have produced Scottish specific educational research. These resources offer teachers and students three life stories of Holocaust and genocide survivors, Henry Wuga, Marianne Grant, Sabina Kadic-Mackenzie, all of whom made their homes in Scotland.
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust | Henry Wuga MBE: Reflections for Burns Night
