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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsResearch: Romney's anti-gay assault fits typical pattern
http://forensicpsychologist.blogspot.com/2012/05/research-romneys-anti-gay-assault-fits.htmlOuted for physical and verbal abuse of gay classmates during high school, U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney is trivializing the incidents as "pranks" and "dumb things," and claiming not to know the boy he assaulted was gay.
To me, his response came as no surprise. This is precisely what most gay-bashers think and say, according to my groundbreaking research on the motivations of perpetrators.
In the first empirical research into prevalence rates of and motivations for antigay harassment
and violence by noncriminal young adults, I found antigay behaviors like Romney's to be alarmingly commonplace. One in 10 young adults in the politically liberal San Francisco Bay Area admitted to physical violence or threats against presumed homosexuals, and another 24 percent acknowledged name-calling. The percentages were even higher among young men. The frequency of self-acknowledged antigay behaviors among a general population sample was consistent with victim studies in which large proportions of lesbians and gay men report sexuality-related victimization.
Like Mitt Romney, most gay-bashers with whom I conducted followup interviews insisted that they were not motivated by hatred of homosexuals. This despite the fact that many of their assaults fell within legal definitions of a hate crime. Many, like Romney, were instead acting as self-appointed enforcers of gender norms for male and female behavior.
To me, his response came as no surprise. This is precisely what most gay-bashers think and say, according to my groundbreaking research on the motivations of perpetrators.
In the first empirical research into prevalence rates of and motivations for antigay harassment
and violence by noncriminal young adults, I found antigay behaviors like Romney's to be alarmingly commonplace. One in 10 young adults in the politically liberal San Francisco Bay Area admitted to physical violence or threats against presumed homosexuals, and another 24 percent acknowledged name-calling. The percentages were even higher among young men. The frequency of self-acknowledged antigay behaviors among a general population sample was consistent with victim studies in which large proportions of lesbians and gay men report sexuality-related victimization.
Like Mitt Romney, most gay-bashers with whom I conducted followup interviews insisted that they were not motivated by hatred of homosexuals. This despite the fact that many of their assaults fell within legal definitions of a hate crime. Many, like Romney, were instead acting as self-appointed enforcers of gender norms for male and female behavior.
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Research: Romney's anti-gay assault fits typical pattern (Original Post)
Jackpine Radical
May 2012
OP
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)1. Richie Rich can get away with that bullshit.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)2. Makes ya wonder what else he got away with over the years.
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)3. At least a mountain of stepped on little people.
Life Long Dem
(8,582 posts)4. Gender norms
Because he saw his hair as gay.
Flatulo
(5,005 posts)5. In plain English - he's a real mean guy. nt
Skelly
(238 posts)6. Key word is 'pattern'
Long story deleted, most of us made some stupid decisions in high school. It is not necessarily what I would hold a person accountable for IF his/her life since then proves a maturing. In Mittens case, the pattern prevails.