Critical events in the life trajectories of domestic extremist white supremacist groups: A case study analysis of four violent organizations (original) (raw)

2009, Criminology Public Policy

This study examines the evolution of four domestic far-right racist organizations: Aryan Nations, National Alliance, Public Enemy Number 1 (PEN1), and Oklahoma Constitutional Militia (OCM). Information about the groups was compiled through opensource documents, including scholarly, government, watch-group, and media accounts. We compared the changes that occurred in these organizations and found that they were influenced by contextual and organizational variables. We focused primarily on the rise of the groups. Three organizations experienced growth and longevity because they (1) had able leadership that set forth a clear ideological message and goals, (2) undertook concrete actions to advance their ideology and goals as well as had the finances necessary for this, (3) took advantage of political opportunities, and (4) were internally cohesive. Conversely, this research was supported by the u.s. department of Homeland security through the national consortium for the study of terrorism and responses to terrorism (stArt) grant n00140510629. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect views of the u.s. department of Homeland security. earlier versions of this article were presented at the 2008 American Association for the Advancement of sciences meeting in Boston and the 2008 department of Homeland security university network research and education summit in Washington, dc. the authors thank gary laFree, Jessica stern, and four anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier draft. direct correspondence to Joshua d.