The Microdynamics of Hate Violence

Abstract

By examining the link between attitudes and actions by perpetrators of hate violence and interpretation of hate violence by its victims, this article demonstrates how interpretive analytic strategies can illuminate aspects of the microdynamics of hate crime violence that are difficult to understand with variable-centered analysis. Data on the relationship between perpetrator motive and actions are from semistructured interviews of female rank-and-file members of organized racist groups in the modern United States. Data on victim interpretations are from ethnographic case studies of victims and victim communities in various settings across the United States. Interpretive analyses of these data suggest new implications for formulating effective responses to hate violence.