Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2006, Page 46
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
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
