The first criminological analysis of hate crime violence which relies on both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
American Skinheads is the first criminological analysis of organized hate crime violence. Mark Hamm presents historical specificity for a modern theory of hate crime, then rigorously tests the theory with interview data derived from skinheads who have committed an array of violent acts against persons because of their race, religion, or sexual preference--people who are members of the classic outgroups of American society.
Part One traces the roots of the Skinhead Nation through the Beats, Mods, Hippies, and Punks in London, and then examines the rise of the Neo-Nazi Skinheads in the United States, including a look at Neo-Nazi offshoots (Romantic Violence, The Aryan Youth Movement), recruiters (Tom Metzger), and recruitment tools (W.A.R. Magazine and Hotline, electronic mail, Race and Reason), and appearances on the Oprah Winfrey and Geraldo Rivera shows. In Part Two, Hamm discusses the accepted sociological perspectives on terrorist youth subcultures (not gangs), then presents findings of his own study of 36 skinheads, including social and economic characteristics, psychological profiles, the role of skinhead girls, use of drugs and weapons, satanism, and neo-fascism. Part Three assesses the future for American Neo-Nazism and recommends steps for preventing skinhead terrorism.
Foreword by William J. Chambliss
Idiots With Ideology
The Neo-Nazi Skinheads of North America
A History of the Skinhead Nation
From Haight Ashbury to Plymouth Rock: The Rise of the American Neo-Nazi Skinheads
The Internal Structure of a Terrorist Youth Subculture
Inside the Skinhead Subculture
Sociological Perspectives on Terrorist Youth Subcultures
Entering the Skinhead Subculture
Terrorism, Rebellion, and Style
Terrorism and Racist Media Images
The Social Organization of Terrorist Youth Subcultures
Anti-Feminism and the Orthodoxy of Domestic Terrorism
Beer, Bonding, and the Ceremony of Berserking
Chaos in the Soul: Nazi Occultism and the Morality of Vengeance
Conclusions and Recommendations
The Criminology and Control of Domestic Terrorism
References
Index
Reviews
The book is well written; Hamm also makes judicious use of explanatory line diagrams. Good references, adequate index. Recommended. General; advanced undergraduate; graduate; faculty; professional.—Choice
Endorsements
This outstanding book helps us to understand the social and psychological dynamics that have led to the development of the skinheads in particular and of social movements based on hatred in general....Mark Hamm's fine work is social science at its best....The book will serve not only to educate us, our students, and the public, it may well encourage other sociologists to leave the cloistered halls of their universities and discover what is happening in the real world.—From the foreword by William J. Chambliss, Past President American Society of Criminology and the Society for the Study of Social Problems
