Why They Join | Southern Poverty Law Center

Many people have asked why I focus on such negative stories. The simple answer, whether political in nature or religious, the dangers of these ideologies need to exposed. In my case I focus on the harm caused by religion and lately how religion is influencing our politics. A more complex answer. I am trying to understand what drives people to these ideologies and their willingness to maltreat another human being.

While this article focuses on the more "hardcore" extremism (the white power movement) the term "radical-right" is used in the discussion. That is where my interest is, more succinctly, why do people vote against their own best interests by following some of these movements.
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On common themes in their personal histories,,,
It’s pretty diverse but if I had to nail it down I would say one of the most common background characteristics is some kind of family disruption, whether that be divorce or parental abandonment, a parent becoming incarcerated, or substance abuse by one or both of the parents,,,

,,,people from a wide cross section of socioeconomic backgrounds become involved. I think this is really important not only in terms of challenging a pretty pervasive stereotype but also recognizing that these types of groups have a much wider recruitment potential than is often recognized.

In terms of personality, I wouldn’t say there is one type of personality, but I would say there are certain characteristics of thinking that make a person more prone or susceptible,,,

At the most fundamental level that’s what most of these movements are all really based on — oversimplifying a highly complicated world — and that’s a powerful thing to offer people, especially those who feel lost or are looking for some easy answers.

On violence,,,
Well, some people were already violent before they ever became involved in extremism,,,

But becoming immersed in a world of extremism definitely encourages additional violence. Violence is a central part of the culture — it’s all over the music, part of their ideology, and they talk about violence on a regular basis,,,
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Fortunately — and this is true for all extremists — there is far more violent talk than there is violent crime,,,

On ideology,,,
,,,Over time, ideology becomes more important as the person becomes more familiar with the ideas. But it’s not necessarily a smooth process where each member becomes a full convert to the same extent,,,

Conspiratorial thinking,,,
,,,we need to be mindful that conspiracy theories have a long history with a broad spectrum of influence. Conspiracy theories are certainly not the sole province of a few “wild-eyed wackos.”,,,




Why They Join | Southern Poverty Law Center