This synthesis paper compares and contrasts the data and findings from National Institute of Justice–sponsored research projects on violent extremism, mass shootings, and bias crimes. NIJ’s funding for research has provided important opportunities to advance understanding of topics related to crime and justice within the United States. This comparison focuses both on the content of the data and on the creation and coverage of the data, examining findings from four research projects: the Profiles of Individual Radicalization in the United States (PIRUS) database of 2,226 individuals who demonstrated at least 1 of 5 extremist or radicalized behaviors; the Bias Incidents and Actors Study (BIAS) database of 966 adults arrested or indicted for bias crimes; the National Hate Crime Investigation Study (NHCIS) database of 1,230 hate crime cases; and the Violence Project dataset of 172 mass shootings. This synthesis first reviews the creation of each dataset and the types of information collected to better understand their generalizability and the ability to make comparisons across separate datasets. There are significant differences in the size, time span, and information of the four datasets, which limits the comparisons that can be made and necessitates caution in drawing strong conclusions from such comparisons. The datasets suggest some similarities in the individuals who commit bias crimes and mass shootings and display violent extremist behavior. The datasets also suggest some differences in the individuals who commit each type of offense or behavior. The comparison of individuals across categories also highlighted differences among individuals who committed the same type of offense. Comparing these datasets highlights their potential and their limitations, suggesting paths forward for future research. These projects not only contribute to the current understanding of these types of offenses and behaviors but also allow future research and programming to be conducted more effectively.

Comparing Individuals Who Engage in Violent Extremism and Similar Acts: What Research Sponsored by the National Institute of Justice Tells Us

The database analyzed is named “The Bias Incidents and Actors Study” (BIAS). BIAS includes data on offenders who perpetrated violent and nonviolent crimes motivated by bias based on 1) race, ethnicity, or ancestry; 2) religion; 3) sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity; 4) disability; or 5) age. BIAS has just over 80 variable fields that cover the characteristics of an offender. The variables include demographic traits, education and employment histories, criminal records, peer associations, and hate-group affiliations. BIAS also contains details on the nature of the offenders’ crimes, such as whether they were violent or nonviolent, spontaneous or premeditated, perpetrated alone or with groups, or while under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Based on BIAS data analysis, this report focuses discussion on four conclusions: 1) there is considerable diversity in the behaviors, experiences, and characteristics of hate-crime offenders in the United States; 2) offender characteristics vary significantly, depending on the nature of their prejudicial views; 3) there are a number of factors that distinguish violent hate-crime offenders from those who commit less severe crimes; and 4) common offender typologies often do not capture the complexity of the motivations for committing hate crimes. The overall conclusion of this analysis of BIAS data is that the tools, policies, and programs implemented to monitor and rehabilitate hate crime offenders must be flexible and address risks that vary in a heterogenous population. 8 tables, 2 figures, and 70 references

A Pathway Approach to the Study of Bias Crime Offenders

The study relied on a dataset of 689 violent and 277 nonviolent bias-crime offenders who committed crimes based on a victim’s 1) race, ethnicity, and nationality; 2) religion; 3) sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity; 4) age; or 5) disability. The persons in the database were randomly selected from a pool of potential subjects reviewed for inclusion criteria and minimum information requirement. Hate-crime charges or hate-crime sentencing enhancements were not required for individuals to be included in the database. The dataset was coded from open-source materials based on 100 variable fields with information on hate-crime events; victim characteristics; and offender motivations, demographics, and personal histories. Data analysis determined that bias toward individuals based on their race, ethnicity, or nationality was the prevalent (n-171) motivation of offenders in the dataset. This was followed in prevalence by bias based on religion (n-235) and sexual orientation and gender identity (n-171). From 2014 through 2018, there was an increase in the number of offenders with these motivations. The bias-crime offenders were diverse in their demographic and background characteristics; however, regardless of the target and motivation for their hate crime, offenders had significantly higher than average rates for the general population of low educational attainment, poor work performance, mental illness, substance abuse, and criminal histories. The majority (70.7 percent) of violent offenders targeted victims based on race, ethnicity, or nationality. 1 table and 3 figures

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Comparing Individuals Who Engage in Violent Extremism and Similar Acts: What Research Sponsored by the National Institute of Justice Tells Us

A Pathway Approach to the Study of Bias Crime Offenders

Motivations and Characteristics of Hate Crime Offenders