Thesis (M.A. in sociology)--Washington State University, August 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-41).

According to the hate group watchdog organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups in the United States rose 54 percent since 2000 (SPLC 2009 a & b). Literature on organized white supremacist groups suggests that women have become increasingly more important to such groups for a variety of reasons, many of which are not always agreed upon by and within said groups. In addition, it is believed by many in the hate monitoring world that the World Wide Web has become progressively more dynamic as a medium of recruitment, as a tool of communication among members, and as a means to propagate the hateful messages espoused by members of these groups. Thus, this research will marry two essential ideas: (1) that women are being sought out and targeted for recruitment by organized white supremacist groups and (2) that the World Wide Web acts as a dynamic tool that aids said groups in accomplishing their goals of recruitment.

This research examines the relationship between race and exposure to online hate material. The utilization of websites, weblogs, newsgroups, online games, radio broadcasts, online newsletters and a myriad of other online platforms has proliferated race-based hate groups in the US (Shafer 2002). According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the number of hate groups has been on the rise since the 1990s and continues to gain momentum with the advent of social media (Potok 2017). Exposure to separatist ideologies has propelled these radical rightwing groups into the mainstream by way of social media platforms, as they are "the most active producers of online hate material" (Costello, Hawdon, Ratliff, and Grantham 2016: pg. 313). That dissemination of radical rightwing ideologies, such as white supremacy, racial purity and racial solidarity, exists is not enough in understanding what individuals are exposed to race-based hate ideologies in online platforms. Exposure is the key to understanding the growth of these race-based hate groups and ways of countering the efforts to disseminate radical rightwing ideologies due to its relationship to hate group emergence and persistence. More so, understanding how these groups target individuals and recruit through social networking sites can provide insight into exposure. Exposure to hate material aids groups in recruiting new members and victimizing potential targets. In the same manner, exposure to hate material is victimization of those who are exposed. In a sample collected by Costello et al. (2016a), of those exposed to hate material online nearly half centered on race. Thus, it is tantamount that research be conducted examining the role that race plays in determining who is exposed to hate material online, and how individuals react to hate material based on race. This dissertation will examine the importance of exposure to hate. Specifically, this dissertation will analyze survey data gathered from the Online Extremism Survey using logistic regression analysis and linear regression to understand exposure to hate material online and routine activity theory. / Ph. D.

COINTELPRO was a formidable and extremely controversial counterintelligence program conducted by the FBI from 1956 to 1971. Its exposure showcased the covert methods in which the FBI targeted US citizens it identified as threats to the internal and domestic security of the United States. Since the program's end, the FBI continues to explore and identify the current and potential threats to the United States. However, what exactly does this program say about the FBI at the time of its inception and what does it say about how it had classified threats? And what could it tell us about how it classifies threats today? This study examines how the FBI treated two identified targets of COINTELPRO, "black extremists" and "white hate groups", and whether the differences found between the treatment of the two targets as threats was a result of internal or external institutional factors. In conducting such study, I seek to determine if the factors that influence the Bureau's threat classification may have either been internal, a result of the Directors' influence or the influence of the organization's structure, culture, and/or function, or external, a result of the President's or Congress' influence. I hypothesize that the differing treatment of these targets, where "black extremists" were identified and prioritized as more of a threat than "white hate groups", was a result of internal institutional factors within the Bureau. Within this study, I examine reports and memos from the FBI database, the Vault, from 1968, to best determine which hypothesis is more accurate. / Master of Arts / COINTELPRO was a domestic counterintelligence conducted by the FBI from 1956 to 1971 that targeted American citizens deemed to be a threat to the internal security of the U.S. that were engaging in, in what the Bureau identified as, subversive activity. This program was controversial as it targeted American citizens using covert methods without the knowledge of the President, Congress, and the American public. Since the program's end, the FBI continues to identify and address domestic threats facing the United States today. However, what can this program tell us about how the FBI identified and classified threats during this time? And what can this tell us about how it addresses threats today? This study seeks to understand how the FBI treated two groups within COINTELPRO, "black extremists" and "white hate groups" and what factors may have influenced the treatment of these targets. In conducting such study, I seek to determine if the factors that influence the Bureau's threat classification may have either been internal, a result of the Directors' influence or the influence of the organization's structure, culture, and/or function, or external, a result of the President's or Congress' influence. I propose these two hypotheses and suggest that it is more likely that internal factors shaped the Bureau's threat classification and differing treatment of these groups. Within this study, I examine reports and memos from the FBI database, the Vault, from 1968 to determine which hypothesis is more accurate.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Joan Morris. Includes bibliographical references (p. 49-54).

Few figures in the history of the Americas are surrounded with more colorful lore and acclamation than the Cuban politician, teacher, patriot, and poet Jose Marti. Among Marti's literary contributions, his Ismaelillo, a collection of fifteen poems published in 1882, claims prominence as both Marti's first book of poems and as a seminal Latin American text. Celebrated for its sincere communication of paternal love and lauded as the genesis of Hispanic literary modernism, Ismaelillo captures the longing of an exiled father separated from his son and homeland. Its language is at once evocative of classical Spanish literature and innovative, incorporating allusions to Golden Age drama while introducing neologisms and oneiric imagery that were daring for Marti's time. Despite the significance of Ismaelillo in Latin American literature, no complete English translation of the work has yet been published. The foremost aim of this thesis project, then, is to fill this lack. The English translation seeks to reflect Marti's meaning, rhythm, and additional phonological effects such as alliteration, rhyme, and anaphora. It balances primary concerns of fidelity to the original text with concerns of accessibility and satisfaction for a contemporary English audience. To reveal further the meaning of Marti's Ismaelillo, annotations and a critical introduction explore the text's historical and literary contexts.

The purpose of this dissertation is to employ simulation modeling to test theories of group formation as they pertain to hate groups: groups whose hate ideology may or may not condone violent criminal behavior. As of 2010, there were 1002 hate groups known to be active in the United States. Previous examinations of hate groups have assumed formation. This dissertation uses simulation modeling to test Hamm's (2004) criminological theory of collective hate and Weber's (1947) socio-political theory of charismatic leadership. Simulation modeling is designed to create a computer simulation that simplifies people and their interactions to mimic a real world event or phenomena. Three different experiments were tested using five models of hate group formation. These experiments test the importance of personal and societal levels of hate in group formation and the influence of charismatic leadership. These experiments also tested hypotheses regarding the number of groups that form, the speed of formation and group size. Data to test these hypotheses was collected from fifteen thousand model iterations. All three models successfully generated hate groups. Hate groups were generated at all levels of societal hate. An in-depth understanding of how hate groups form may assist in slowing the proliferation of these groups and decreasing their appeal. / Criminal Justice

I explore the relationships between hate group activity, community factors, and the likelihood of hate crime occurrence within a county area. I integrate considerations raised by Routine Activity and Social Control theorists as well as current hate crime literature to frame my concept of the hate manager, an agent of social control that utilizes hate crimes as a means of enacting extralegal self-help for hate groups. I explore the relationship between hate managers and hate crime by testing a model relating hate group activity and hate crime occurrences by location. Next, I correlate hate crime occurrences with hate group activity at the county level for the state of Virginia using public data. I find that a hate group's presence holds greater predictive power than nearly any other factor for hate crime likelihood. My findings illustrate the nature of hate crime as a means of social control; whereby hate groups act as a parochial order and maintain hierarchical relations between offenders and victims through means of disciplinary crimes. I conclude by outlining suggestions for future research into the role of the hate manager. / Master of Science / In my thesis, I ask the question of how hate groups methodically encourage where hate crimes occur. I do this by creating the concept of the hate manager. Hate managers are figures which influence would-be criminals into their illegal acts. They do this by stoking the fears necessary for them to act outside legal boundaries in reaction to some feeling of threat, an act known as self-help. Hate crimes, I argue, are a form of self-help where the feeling of threat is directed towards individuals belonging to some marginalized group. By looking at data collected by various agencies in the state of Virginia, I discover that the presence of a hate group in a county is a stronger predictor for such acts than any other factor for hate crime likelihood. By doing so, I demonstrate that hate crimes are a form of social control. That is, I argue that hate groups maintain a sense of order or ranking by means of illegal and disciplinary self-help in the form of hate crimes. I conclude my thesis by outlining suggestions for future exploration of the hate manager’s role.