Watching Hate -- Social Instability as a Factor for the Presence of Hate Groups in US Counties (thesis)

Abstract

Hate groups in the United States form a pressing problem and have been examined in quantitative economic and sociological research. In this paper, I analyze predictors of hate groups, particularly age-adjusted mortality as a proxy for deaths of despair. Case and Deaton noted that, via deaths of despair (deaths through alcohol, drugs, or suicide), age-adjusted mortality for white Americans has increased in recent years. This variable could serve as a proxy for social disruption in communities. This disruption may, in turn, factor into the fear that theoretically drives these hate groups. Using a long-term analysis of the Southern Poverty Law Center's list of hate groups in their "Hate Map," this study tests new variables not examined in prior literature, as well as tests the robustness of prior results. This study finds that while increased deaths are correlated with the presence of a hate group in a county, they are negatively correlated with the number of hate groups in a given county. These results, in combination with other findings and the work of other scholars, suggest that hate groups are a product of both social disruption and social cohesion.