white supremacist behavior: toward an integrated social psychological model

The literature conceptually exploring the deviant behavior of white suprema cists is somewhat limited. Those contributions that do exist tend to be mor e disciplinary specific, anchored in sociological, psychological, or crimin ological research. One approach to organizing the extant literature comes f rom social psychology. This domain allows for considerably more disciplinar y cross-fertilization. The present study examines the behavior of white sup remacists utilizing a social psychological model. The model emphasizes the intrapsychic, the interpersonal, and the situational dynamics at work in th e daily practices of white supremacists. In order to assess how these prism s operate, four thematic categories, essential to the organization of white supremacists, are systematically investigated. These categories include th e role of power, identity, sexuality, and the definition of the situation. We contend that our social psychological approach represents something of a n integrated model for understanding the deviant attitudes, thought process es, and ritualized activities of white supremacists. We conclude by suggest ing that the proposed interpretive schema may have utility in other, simila r areas of social scientific inquiry.