Subcultures & within-group hate crime

Minority groups are the most common victims of hate crimes; if this were a case of an English person attacking a member of the Amish community because of their minority status, there would be no question about whether or not it was a hate crime. But when the attacks happen within the subculture, we must examine the meaning of group membership. Is membership in a subculture, especially a minority subculture, decided by the members of that community or by the dominant group? Which is it?
The answer is, it’s both. Part of the definition of “minority” is involuntary membership. At the same time, there’s nothing that says there can’t be subcultures within subcultures. This happens in nearly every subculture – within the subculture of college students, there are as many subcultures as there are colleges and universities; within the subculture of Christians there are numerous subcultures ranging from Eastern Orthodox to Evangelical.
Why, then, couldn’t there be subcultures within the Amish subculture? In fact, this is the key point of this case. Samuel Mullet is the leader of a breakaway Amish sect and the hate crimes in this case were carried out in response to religious differences between Mullet’s followers and the more mainstream Amish community. In this particular instance, the differences between those nested subcultures manifested in extreme form. In the end, it turns out that it is possible to hate your own, especially when you don’t see the other members of your subcultural group as “your own”."By Sarah Ford" Subcultures & Within-Group Hate Crimes - Sociology In Focus
*Subcultures & Within-Group Hate Crimes - Sociology In Focus
----Subculture
inter-subculture conflict . inter-national conflict . inter-generational conflict , social strife , status competition
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