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White Boys to Terrorist Men: Target Recruitment of Nazi Skinheads

NCJ Number
195976
Journal
American Behavioral Scientist Volume: 44 Issue: 6 Dated: February 2001 Pages: 982-1000
Author(s)
Randy Blazak
Date Published
February 2001
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article explores how hate groups, specifically racist skinheads, target specific youth populations for recruitment.
Abstract
The author draws a distinction between hate crimes and hate group activity. Although reported hate crimes are apparently declining, there is evidence that hate group activity is increasing. This includes hate group consolidation, the increase in hate Internet web sites, and more sophisticated recruitment of youth. Skinheads have been affiliated with hate groups in America for more than 15 years. Their roots as a subculture go back to the mid-1960's, when they emerged in London as a working-class response to the "hippie" phenomenon. Skinheads first appeared in America as a reactionary element of the American punk rock scene, but it was not until the mid-1980's that they began to be recruited by more established racist groups. As groups such as the Klan, the White Aryan Resistance, and the New Order (a Nazi group) increased their recruitment of skinheads, skinhead violence also increased. Hundreds of acts of violence and destruction in the late 1980's were attributed to skinhead groups. This article reports on a study that collected data to support the theory that culturally strained youth end up in skinhead groups. A 7-year ethnographic study (Blazak, 1995) found that members of skinhead groups had experienced threats to their economic status (usually, their parents had experienced downward mobility), racial status, gender status, and heterosexual status. Data on the recruiting goals of the skinheads were retrieved more through guided conversations and anecdotal experiences. The ethnographic study was conducted from 1987 to 1995. Of the 65 intensively interviewed skinheads, approximately half acknowledged being involved in some form of recruitment activities. Usually, these involved getting flyers into high schools or rock clubs. The flyers contained contact addresses or phone numbers for those who were interested. An informal youth network was also used to find out about specific individuals who might be easily recruited. Recruitment targeted normless youth populations because of their desire for structure, a subcultural solution to their anomie, and their need for consistent models of authority and masculinity. They were easily manipulated and brought into right-wing hate groups. In discussing prevention strategies, this article considers ways to reduce cultural anomie among youth. 26 references