What Do Social Movements Have to Do with It? Reporting Anti-Gay Hate Crime

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 16. Movement Outcomes

Abstract

How do we explain social movement success at various stages of the policy process? While extant social movement research tends to focus on the factors affecting policy passage—such as organizational capacity, resources, and the presence of political opportunities—we examine whether the same theoretical framework can be applied to the implementation of those policies. Specifically, we analyze state-level data between 1995 and 2008 to explore whether and how various social movement factors have influenced variation in the reporting of anti-gay hate crimes in the United States. Our results reveal that the number of social movement organizations associated with gay rights facilitates hate crime reporting, which is especially true when political instability is present at the state-level. Our findings reinforce the notion that hate crime reporting can be considered an extension of social movement success.

Authors

• Heather L. Scheuerman, James Madison University

• Christie L. Parris, Oberlin College

• Alison Faupel

• Regina E. Werum, University of Nebraska-Lincoln