Citation

Treadwell J, Garland J. Br. J. Criminol. 2011; 51(4): 621-634.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/bjc/azr027

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article, we use three case studies, undertaken with young, white, working-class men involved in the English Defence League, to examine how they construct a specific form of violent masculinity. We argue that these accounts demonstrate that violence is socio-structurally generated but also individually psychologically justified, because these young men turn experiences of acute inequality and disenchantment into inner psychological scripts that justify their own 'heroic' status when involved in violent confrontation. We suggest that these feelings of disadvantage and marginalization prompt resentment and anger in young males who feel their voices are not being heard. This disenchantment manifests itself through externalized hostility, resentment and fury directed at the scapegoat for their ills: the Islamic 'other'.