Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education

Advisor

Jared Bucker

Committee Member

Marcelo Castro

Committee Member

Brenda Deans

Keywords

criminal justice, discrimination, hate crimes

Abstract

Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Jews: The Anti-Semitism Phenomenon in the 21st Century. Jonathon Zemke, 2018: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. The purpose of this study is to compare the perceptions and opinions of Jewish and non-Jewish adult in Virginia Beach, Virginia regarding Jewish hate crimes, discrimination, the safety of the Jewish population, and general beliefs about the Jewish faith. The study set out to provide an evaluation of opinions regarding hate crimes, discrimination, personal safety, and anti-Semitic propensities among the Jewish population (n=77, 45.29%) compared to the non-Jewish respondents (n=93, 54.71%) examined in the sample. A cross-sectional independent sample t-test revealed that of the non-Jewish groups agreed that discrimination (5.89%), hate crimes (8.23%), and threats to Jewish safety (6.47%) exist. The measures ranged from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The results showed that there is a significant difference in perception and opinion between the Jewish population and the non-Jewish population regarding hate crimes, discrimination, and personal safety. These findings are in line with a larger body of research on anti-Semitism used by the ADL and with FBI crime statistics. More studies are recommended to increase awareness of this sensitive topic and expand to other regions of the United States while increasing sample population in order to gain an even more in-depth understanding of the problem.

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