Social Learning and Social Control in the Off and Online Pathways to Hate and Extremist Violence

• NCJ Number: 256024
• Author(s): Gary LaFree
• Date Published: April 2019
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2015-ZA-BX-0004
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored

Annotation

This is the Final Progress Report on three data analyses: 1) a large-N analysis of extremist hate offenders and other political extremists from the Extremists Crime Database (ECDB) and the Profiles of Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) data; 2) a set of original case studies on individuals either connected to hate crime or politically motivated extremism; and 3) the social media experiences of just over 25 offenders who had engaged in violent and non-violent activities in hate groups and just over 25 offenders who had engaged in either violent or non-violent activities in extremist political groups.

Abstract

After reviewing the methodology and analytical contributions of each data analysis, conclusions are presented. By linking ECDB and PIRUS data, that analysis identified some key concerns related to the linked data. The 38 detailed case studies focused on indoctrination or radicalization processes of criminal extremists selected from ECDB and PIRUS. The study of online and off-line behavior of perpetrators identified similarities and differences in the use of social media by extremists, terrorist perpetrators, and individuals who engaged in hate crimes. Conclusions from the PIRIUS and ECDB analysis enable direct comparisons of political extremists with hate-crime perpetrators.  Results of the case studies show that both the hate and extremists offenders had multiple interactions with law enforcement. This finding suggests that law enforcement has an opportunity to intervene before acts of politically motivated violence escalate and additional acts are committed. The analysis of social media use by 52 selected individuals from the PRIUS and ECDB databases suggests that patterns of social media use vary across ideological groups and may reflect the general use of these platforms within the larger U.S. population. A listing of 9 research products