From Lynching to Gay Bashing: The Elusive Connection Between Economic Conditions and Hate Crime

• Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology 1998-07, Vol.75 (1), p.82-92
• Main Authors: Green, Donald P, Glaser, Jack, Rich, Andrew
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; African Americans - psychology; Aggression - psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Crime - psychology; Economic Conditions; Economic Factors; Economy; Female; Frustration; Hate; Hate crimes; Homophobia; Homosexuality - psychology; Human; Humans; Ingroup Outgroup; Lynching; Male; Medical sciences; Minority Groups; Motivation; New York City, New York; Prejudice; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Racism; Social Behavior; Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency; Social psychology; Socioeconomic Factors; Southern States; United States; United States of America; Violence; Violence - psychology
• ISSN: 0022-3514; 1939-1315
• DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.82

Trends in bigoted violence are often explained by reference to frustrations arising from macroeconomic downturns. Historical and recent time-series studies have turned up significant links between economic conditions and lynchings of Blacks in the pre-Depression South (e.g., Hepworth & West, 1988 ; Hovland & Sears, 1940 ). However, replicating the time-series analyses of lynching, extending them through the Great Depression, and applying similar techniques to contemporary data fail to provide robust evidence of a link between economic performance and intolerant behavior directed against minorities. The authors speculate that the predictive force of macroeconomic fluctuation is undermined by the rapid rate of decay in the frustration-bred aggressive impulse and the absence of prominent political actors affixing economic blame on target groups.