Intervening in the lives of people who embrace White supremacy with Dr. Pete Simi

Psychcast

Pete Simi, PhD, joins host Lorenzo Norris, MD, to discuss some of the factors that lead people to join hate groups, and strategies that have enabled some to leave the life of extremism behind.

Dr. Simi, associate professor of sociology at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., has studied extremist groups and violence for more than 20 years. His research has received external funding from the National Institute of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the Harry F. Guggenheim Foundation.

Dr. Norris is associate dean of student affairs and administration at George Washington University, Washington. Dr. Norris has no disclosures.

Take-home points

• Dr. Simi discusses how many of the White supremacists he studied live mundane, ordinary lives organized around extremist, violent beliefs. These individuals may be socialized in early life through exposure to beliefs consistent with White supremacy, such as racist ideas, slurs, and jokes, but they are not usually raised within a White supremacist family.
• The biggest challenge of leaving White supremacy is finding a new overarching identity, which ultimately requires redefining one’s emotional habits when it comes to engaging with society. White supremacist programming not only includes hateful beliefs but an emotional orientation that influences how an individual interprets the world around them.
• White supremacist violence and terrorism have long been a U.S. problem, and Dr. Simi said his awareness of the problem grew after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. Dr. Simi hopes that, through research and initiatives, the United States will address the root causes of White supremacist beliefs rather than focus on specific groups.

Summary

• Dr. Simi first started studying White supremacists by evaluating their engagement on early Internet forums. Eventually, he made contact with a group that allowed him to observe their daily lives, including staying in their homes and attending collective events, such as music festivals. More recently, he has been evaluating and researching individuals who leave the White supremacist movement.
• As with many individuals who find solace in extremist groups, the childhood and adolescence of those who become White supremacists usually contain adverse childhood experiences and instability, such as physical and emotional abuse, and substance use in the home. These events cultivate vulnerability to White supremacy, because these adolescents and young adults are searching for a stabilizing force.
• In the Internet age, it’s much easier for vulnerable individuals to have chance encounters with extremist groups and beliefs, and even brief exposures are an opportunity for some to be recruited into White supremacist groups. A selling point of White supremacy is the sense of “fellowship” and “family,” which is attractive for individuals who feel disillusioned and isolated from society at large.
• In Dr. Simi’s research, half of his sample participants of White supremacists reported mental health diagnoses and similarly high rates of suicidal ideation. Mental illness is not an excuse for the behaviors and beliefs, but an example of another vulnerability that makes these individuals susceptible to strong support groups that often hold extremist beliefs.

References

Simi P et al. Am Sociol Rev. 2017 Aug 29. doi: 10.1177/00031224177282719.

Bubolz BF and Simi P. Am Behav Sci. 2019. doi: 10.1177/0002764219831746.

Simi P et al. J Res Crime Delinquency. 2016. doi: 10.1177/002242781567312.

Windisch S et al. Terrorism Polit Violence. 2020. doi: 10.1080/09546553.2020.1767604.

Ask a researcher: Pete Simi. What domestic groups pose the largest threats? University of Nebraska, Omaha. 2021 Jan 14. National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center. A U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence.

McDonald-Gibson C. ‘Right now, people are pretty fragile.’ How coronavirus creates the perfect breeding ground for online extremism. Time. 2020 Mar 26.

Garcia-Navarro L. Masculinity and U.S. extremism: What makes young men vulnerable to toxic ideologies. NPR. 2019 Jan 27.

Life After Hate. Larry King Now. 2019 Jan 23.

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Show notes by Jacqueline Posada, MD, associate producer of the Psychcast; assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at George Washington University, Washington; and staff physician at George Washington Medical Faculty Associates, also in Washington. Dr. Posada has no conflicts of interest.

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