Date of Award
8-8-2014
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Sociology, MA
First Advisor
Thomas Ratliff
Committee Members
Doris Chu; Veena Kulkarni
Call Number
LD 251 .A566t 2014 M35
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine factors that may influence Sovereign Citizen Movement (SCM) activity in the United States from 2000 through 2010. Data is collected from all English language newspapers on the LexisNexis database, and incidents were coded and mapped spatially using ArcMap, a geographical mapping software. Using a state level analysis (N=51), incident frequencies are examined using OLS regression analysis of socioeconomic information, percent minority, African American and Hispanic, population, murder rate, percent manufacturing employment, and state hate group frequencies . The study found two significant indicators of SCM incidents, hate groups and percentage minority group population threshold. As the number of hate groups in a state increase so does the number of SCM incidents. A minority group threshold was also found in relation to SCM incident--when the minority population is between six and twenty-five percent there is an increase in the number of SCM incidents when compared to areas where minority groups are between X and Y percent of the population. This study did not find any other variables significant, contrary to current information on this movement and members motivations for involvement.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Middleton, Jessica Leann, "The Sovereign Citizen Movement: Strain, Conflict, and the American Dream" (2014). Student Theses and Dissertations. 774.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/774
