Award Date

5-2009

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice

Department

Criminal Justice

First Committee Member

Jane Florence Gauthier, Chair

Second Committee Member

Terance D. Miethe

Third Committee Member

Richard McCorkle

Graduate Faculty Representative

Robert Futrell

Number of Pages

55

Abstract

With the number of hate groups increasing 54 percent since 2000, it is important to understand what is triggering these groups to form in geographical areas. The current study examined whether structural characteristics predicted the number of hate groups within a state. Using hate group listings from the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Report and U. S. Census data from 2000, this study explored a state's racial and ethnic heterogeneity, economic disadvantage, and regional location to explain hate group existence within that state. Employing correlations, Chi-Square analyses, multiple and logistic regressions, and a conjunctive analysis, this study found that a state's diversity does not predict the number of hate groups. Economic disadvantage moderately predicts the existence of hate groups, while a state's regional location strongly predicted the number of hate groups within that state. The conjunctive analysis, however, showed that these effects are highly contextual. Limitations and recommendations are discussed.

Keywords

Demography--Social aspects; Hate groups; Social stratification; White supremacy movements

Disciplines

Behavioral Economics | Communication | Psychology | Sociology

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Comments

Signatures have been redacted for privacy and security measures.

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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