Achieving Masculinity Through Violence: An Examination of Anti-Homeless Bias Homicides

• In Event: Theories of Offending: Considering Strain, Masculinity, Self-Esteem and Public Violence

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which strain and masculinity theories offer explanations for why and how some offenders commit fatal attacks against homeless persons. It is proposed that some male offenders that lack legitimate means to achieve masculinity may resort to violence as an alternative way of accomplishing masculinity. Due to several issues with official bias crime data, the current study utilizes open-source data on anti-homeless homicides from the U.S. Extremist Crime Database (ECDB). Drawing from Agnew’s storyline analysis, this study qualitatively examines the circumstances in which offenders select and interact with their victims. From the storylines, categories of anti-homeless homicide based on modes of victim selection are established and representative case studies are selected to explore the varied nature of homicide circumstances. Applying masculinity and strain theory to this form of homicide advances our understanding of how and why some offenders resort to violence against homeless persons in order to exert masculinity.

Author

• Kayla Allison-Gruenewald, Indiana University