Full Description
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.
Contents
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
