Development, patterns and causes of violence against foreigners in Germany: Social and biographical characteristics of perpetrators and the process of escalation

The Persecution of Gypsies in Europe

“…In his study of perpetrators in the early 1990s, Willems found that 38% of those arrested for antiforeigner violence in the early 1990s were identified as skinheads (Willems, 1995). Heitmeyer and Müller (1995) found that 46% of their interviewees who were involved in antiforeigner violence thought of themselves as skinheads.…”

“…This is not the place for an analysis of the causes and appeals of youthful xenophobia, but some useful starting points are Bergmann (1998) ;Boehnke, Hagan, and Hefler (1998) ;Hagan, Merkens, and Boehnke (1995); Oesterreich (1998);Watts (1997Watts ( , 1999; Watts and Zinnecker (1998);and Willems (1995). For a closer look at the role of young females on the right, see Mushaben (1996).…”

“…But, what do we know of the "skinhead" contribution to the broader culture of aggressive xenophobia? To put the numbers in perspective, Willems (1995) found that in addition to the 38% who were identifiable with skinhead culture in some way, about 25% of the perpetrators were associated with right-wing extremist groups. Another 19% were members of informal groups or cliques with no specific ideological identification (most of the remaining perpetrators not accounted for in the above categories had prior records and were classified as "criminal," though this category no doubt overlaps the others).…”

Dreams and disillusionment: engagement in and disengagement from militant extremist groups

“…Thus, the types described here, partly based on the typologies of Willems [23] (refined by Bjørgo [2]) and Nesser [17] should not be considered as static profiles but rather as positions which individuals to various extents may move towards or away from within processes of radicalisation or deradicalisation -although some of their individual traits and qualities may tie them more firmly to some positions than to others.…”

“…A German study by Helmut Willems [22,23] classified perpetrators of xenophobic violence into four main varieties: ‗Right-wing activists', ‗Ethnocentric youths', ‗Criminal youths', and ‗Fellow-travellers'. These were characterised by different profiles in terms of political/ideological motivation, organisational affiliation, socio-economic background, education, criminal records, and the use of violence.…”