Xenophobia and violence in Germany 1990 to 2000

This article presents findings on the following themes: the spread of xenophobic attitudes in Europe; the change of xenophobic attitudes over time in Germany; xenophobic, rightwing extremist and anti‐Semitic crime in the 1990s; biographical backgrounds of xenophobic suspects; level of education and the fear of unemployment; the family risk factor — the lack of reliable and adequate nonviolent care; the saliency of prejudices and the readiness to carry out violent acts; the coincidence of economic fear and immigration. The findings lead to following conclusions: (1) Problems in family socialization can generate stronger prejudices and propensity to violence. (2) There is a cultural factor: the cognitive dissonance caused by the settlement of strangers is higher in smaller towns and villages than in urban areas. (3) More important, however, is the factor of disappointed economic aspirations, especially in East Germany. Xenophobic attitudes cumulate among groups who, because of their low qualifications, fear competition with immigrants for jobs, housing and welfare benefits and perceive government aid to the latter as ‘'unjust preferential treatment.’’