Matching Items (2)
Description
White women are and have historically been an integral part of White supremacy. Yet their role in the movement remains understudied, especially as it pertains to deradicalization. As such, in the current investigation I focused on women’s roles and experiences in White supremacist deradicalization. My dissertation comprised two studies: Study One, which explored the experiences of women who left White supremacist groups and became anti-hate activists, and Study Two, which sought to understand the experiences of women who facilitated the disengagement and deradicalization of White supremacists. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as a methodological framework, I identified significant themes from the experiences of women who left their hate groups and became anti-hate activists, as well as from the experiences of women who facilitated hate group exit. I found that for women who left their hate groups and became anti-hate activists, hate group exit was a gendered experience, psychological transformations were common, and loving and supportive connections facilitated the exit process. For women who facilitated hate group exit, they identified love and compassion as driving forces while also feeling emotionally burdened due to lack of external support. These findings can help guide the development of preventative and rehabilitative interventions as well as further integrate women into White supremacist prevention and deradicalization interventionist roles.
ContributorsLiguori, Jackson Beach (Author) / Spanierman, Lisa B. (Thesis advisor) / Capielo Rosario, Cristalís (Committee member) / Warner, Cheryl B. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Although the topic of hate group radicalization processes has received significant attention in recent years, less research has been dedicated to hate group exit processes. This gap is concerning because the number of hate groups and violent hate crimes in the United States has increased dramatically over the last decade (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2020). Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with nine former white supremacists, this study explores how and why former ex-white supremacists leave their hate groups, and why some choose to then speak out against their former racist ideologies. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as a methodological framework, I identified eleven themes related to the process of leaving one’s hate group and becoming an anti-hate activist. These themes are organized into three categories consistent with the research questions: (a) participants’ exit experiences (e.g., exit-precipitating interactions with members of marginalized communities), (b) participants’ post-exit experiences (e.g., navigating personal danger and threats to safety), and (c) participants’ experiences of becoming anti-hate activists (e.g., developing an activist identity). These findings may be used to guide the development of clinical interventions for supporting hate group members confronting pre- and post-exit consequences.
ContributorsLiguori, Jackson (Author) / Spanierman, Lisa B (Thesis advisor) / Warner, Cheryl B (Committee member) / Feagin, Joe R (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021