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Social Capital, Religion, W al‐ M art, and Hate Groups in A merica *
Author(s) -
Goetz Stephan J.,
Rupasingha Anil,
Loveridge Scott
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
social science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1540-6237
pISSN - 0038-4941
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00854.x
Subject(s) - social capital , socioeconomic status , capital (architecture) , set (abstract data type) , social psychology , sociology , demographic economics , group (periodic table) , psychology , demography , economics , chemistry , social science , geography , computer science , population , archaeology , programming language , organic chemistry
Objective The recent surge in hate group activity is a concern to many citizens and policymakers. We examine the roles of socioeconomic factors measured at the county level that are hypothesized to account for the presence of such groups, including social capital and religious affiliations. Methods We estimate a P oisson regression model using counts of hate groups provided by the S outhern P overty L aw C enter for each of the over 3,000 U.S. counties. Our regressors include a wider set of variables than has been considered in previous studies, such as J efferson and P ryor (1999). Results Our approach produces a better statistical fit than that in J efferson and P ryor's paper, and the additional regressors contribute significantly to our understanding of hate groups. Conclusion Both social capital stocks and religious affiliation exert an independent and statistically significant influence on the number of hate groups, as does the presence of W al‐ M art stores, holding other factors constant.