Citation

Gill P, Corner E. Criminol. Public Policy 2013; 12(1): 93-101.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, American Society of Criminology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1745-9133.12015

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Far-right-inspired violence in the United States is on the rise (Perliger, 2013), and there is a growing realization within policy circles of the increasing threat from so-called "lone wolf" terrorists of different ideological hues (Simon, 2013). A more in-depth understanding of individual offenders and their behaviors (both antecedent and offense-commission) is therefore of great importance not only to the academic literature but also for practitioners tasked with countering the problem. The need for such research is also driven by the fact that a preponderance of studies have focused on violent Islamist organizations for more than a decade. Given the nature of the threat presented by al-Qaeda, this is understandable, but a side effect is that our understanding of the nature of far-right-inspired homicide lags behind our understanding of the behaviors associated with analogous movements. Recognizing these features of the existing literature and the current security environment, Gruenewald, Chermak, and Freilich (2013, this issue) provide an empirical assessment of the behavioral underpinnings of far-right-inspired homicide offenders and compare group-based offenders with lone offenders. Gruenewald et al. (2013) test 23 hypotheses, each of which is derived from a careful examination of the existing literature. Using inferential statistics, they find several significant differences between lone and group offenders. For example, the bivariate analysis suggests that compared with group offenders, far-right lone offenders are statistically more likely to be unmarried, have experience of the military, live alone, use firearms, select government targets, kill more people, and die in the commission of their offense. The multivariate analysis also suggests that age and mental illness also significantly distinguish lone offenders from group offenders (e.g., lone offenders are typically older and more likely to have a history of mental illness). For the remainder of this essay, we consider the salient issues in the available relevant literature in relation to Gruenewald et al.'s (2013) study by identifying and discussing specific and actionable next policy and research steps, as well as this study's potential impact on the current state of knowledge.

Language: en