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Recruiters also pass out business cards embossed with the Western Hammerskins‘ logo and
the recruiter‘s name and telephone number. The group‘s higher educational level may
explain the sophistication of its recruitment techniques.
Skinhead groups subdivide into two categories: criminally motivated and hate motivated.
Criminally motivated skinhead groups spend most of their time engaged in for-profit
criminal activities, such as drug sales and burglaries. Incidental to their criminal activity,
they commit hate crimes. The San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods (SVP) in California was a
criminally motivated skinhead group. SVP members primarily sold methamphetamines and
committed residential burglaries. Periodically, SVP members attacked minorities with
weapons and, on one occasion, placed packages resembling bombs near an apartment
complex where African-Americans lived. Members intended for the fake bombs to frighten
current residents to relocate and to discourage other African-American families from moving
into the complex.
Conversely, hate-motivated skinhead groups dedicate the majority of their time to hate
crimes.6 Incidental to hate crimes, these hard- core skinheads commit petty thefts or sell
small amounts of narcotics to support daily needs, such as food, cigarettes, and alcohol and
other drugs. The Nazi Low Riders (NLR) skinhead group located in Lancaster, California,
exemplifies a hate-motivated skinhead group. At one time, NLR members spent their time
prowling the streets of Lancaster looking for minorities to attack. The NLR matured to the
point where their members routinely beat and stabbed minorities, and, in one instance,
murdered an African-American.
Haters cannot stop hating without exposing their personal insecurities. For example, at the
onset of the FBI investigation, FBI authorities told hard-core members of the NLR that they
would arrest them if their hate violence continued yet, the hate violence persisted. The FBI
similarly warned the members of the SVP who, however, stopped or were more surreptitious
concerning criminal activities, and their hate violence ceased. The reaction of the SVP
members comported with general criminal deterrence literature.7 The reaction of the NLR
members did not, however, because hate, not criminal acts, was their primary motive.
Interviews of both criminally motivated and hate-motivated skinheads may explain this
phenomenon. Criminally motivated skinheads identified themselves as criminals first and
haters second. They also expressed a degree of personal security in their status as
criminals. The criminally motivated skinheads possess a certain sense of self-worth hence,
they have fewer insecurities. However, this was not the case with hate-motivated
skinheads. The explanation by one 15-year-old NLR member typified the thought process of
hate-motivated skinheads. He said, in effect, ―I dropped out of school in the eighth grade,
but I stopped learning midway through the sixth grade. I covered my body with hate
tattoos. I couldn‘t get a good job if I wanted to. No one would hire me. Once, I tried to get
a job at a fast food restaurant, but the manager refused to hire me because the restaurant
served multiracial customers. If I quit being a skinhead, I have nothing. I am nothing. I
have no choice but to be a skinhead. I expect to die a young, violent death.‖
Skinheads converge, get drunk, take drugs, and, at some point, spontaneously seek out
hate targets to attack. They conduct little, if any, planning before committing hate crimes.
One hate-motivated skinhead put it best when he stated, ―We don‘t look for trouble but
somehow trouble always finds us, and we‘re ready to deal with it when it comes.‖
The Hate Model
Several academic authorities on hate crimes in America identified three types of bias crime
offenders: the thrill seeker, the reactive offender, and the hard-core offender.8 They
described the reactive offender as one ―who grounds his attack on a perceived
transgression, such as an insult, interracial dating, or a neighborhood integration.‖9 The

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authors‘ model incorporates the thrill seeker and the hard-core offender, but redefines the
concept of the reactive offender. This phenomenon can be described as secondary
justification skinheads routinely use this technique to instigate attacks. For example, a
group of skinheads encounter a mixed-race couple and shout racial slurs. If the couple
reacts in a manner other than a submissive one, the skinheads perceive that behavior as an
act of aggression. The skinheads later tell the police they merely defended themselves
against aggressors. The skinheads, of course, leave out the fact that they acted as the
instigators. Secondary justification is difficult to detect because skinheads can interpret a
simple glance as aggressive behavior.
Secondary justification also exists on a larger scale. When a community reacts to a hate
crime, skinheads perceive that reaction as aggressive, which reinforces the notion that
skinheads must defend themselves against a common enemy. Secondary justification places
the skinheads in a victim status and rationalizes continued violence. To further illustrate this
principle, a skinhead, with a swastika tattooed on his cheek, walked into a jewelry store to
buy a ring for his girlfriend. The skinhead became incensed when the Jewish clerk treated
him poorly. The skinhead later commented that if Jews treated him with more respect he
would not hate them so much. The skinhead clearly saw himself as a victim, although he
openly displayed a provocative symbol of hate on his face.
Empirical observations show that hate groups go through seven stages in the hate process.
Haters, if unimpeded, pass through these seven successive stages without skipping a stage.
In the first four stages, haters vocalize their beliefs. In the last three stages, haters act on
their beliefs. A transition period exists between vocalization and acting out. In this transition
period, violence separates hard-core haters from rhetorical haters.
Stage 1: The Haters Gather
Irrational haters seldom hate alone.10 They feel compelled, almost driven, to entreat others
to hate as they do. Peer validation bolsters a sense of self-worth and, at the same time,
prevents introspection, which reveals personal insecurities.11 Further, individuals otherwise
ineffective become empowered when they join groups, which also provide anonymity and
diminished accountability.
Stage 2: The Hate Group Defines Itself
Hate groups form identities through symbols, rituals, and mythologies, which enhance the
members‘ status and, at the same time, degrade the object of their hate. For example,
skinhead groups may adopt the swastika, the iron cross, the Confederate flag, and other
supremacist symbols. Group-specific symbols or clothing often differentiate hate groups.
Group rituals, such as hand signals and secret greetings, further fortify members. Hate
groups, especially skinhead groups, usually incorporate some form of self-sacrifice, which
allows haters to willingly jeopardize their well-being for the greater good of the cause.
Giving one‘s life to a cause provides the ultimate sense of value and worth to life.12
Skinheads often see themselves as soldiers in a race war.
Stage 3: The Hate Group Disparages the Target
Hate is the glue that binds haters to one another and to a common cause.13 By verbally
debasing the object of their hate, haters enhance their self-image, as well as their group
status. In skinhead groups, racist song lyrics and hate literature provide an environment
wherein hate flourishes. In fact, researchers have found that the life span of aggressive
impulses increases with ideation.14 In other words, the more often a person thinks about
aggression, the greater the chance for aggressive behavior to occur. Thus, after constant
verbal denigration, haters progress to the next more acrimonious stage.