TY - GEN A1 - Wachs, Sebastian A1 - Wettstein, Alexander A1 - Bilz, Ludwig A1 - Krause, Norman A1 - Ballaschk, Cindy A1 - Kansok-Dusche, Julia A1 - Wright, Michelle F. T1 - Playing by the Rules? An Investigation of the Relationship Between Social Norms and Adolescents’ Hate Speech Perpetration in Schools T2 - Journal of Interpersonal Violence N2 - Hate speech is often discussed and investigated as an online phenomenon, while hate speech among adolescents in the real world (e.g., in schools) has rarely been researched. Consequently, not much is known about potential interpersonal correlates and theoretical frameworks that might help us better understand why adolescents engage in hate speech in offline environments. To add to the literature, this study investigates hate speech perpetration among young people by utilizing the Social Cognitive Theory; more specifically, the association between witnessing and perpetrating hate speech in schools, and whether this relation is weakened or strengthened by anti-hate speech injunctive norms and deviant peer pressure. The sample consists of 1719 young people (45.1% boys, 53.6% girls, 1.3% gender diverse) between 11 and 18 years old (Mage = 13.96; SD = .98) from 22 schools in Switzerland. Self-report questionnaires were administered to measure hate speech involvement and adolescents’ perception of social norms (i.e., anti-hate speech injunctive norms and deviant peer pressure). Multilevel regression analyses revealed that witnessing and perpetrating hate speech were positively associated. Moreover, injunctive anti-hate speech norms were negatively related and deviant peer pressure positively related to hate speech perpetration. Finally, increasing levels of injunctive anti-hate speech norms weakened the relation between witnessing and perpetrating hate speech, whereas higher levels of deviant peer pressure strengthened this association. The findings demonstrate that the Social Cognitive Theory is a useful framework for understanding hate speech perpetration in schools. The results also highlight the importance of taking into account social norms and interpersonal relationships (e.g., within the class) when designing anti-hate speech prevention programs and not focusing solely on intrapersonal factors. KW - hate crimes KW - hate speech KW - social norms KW - school violence KW - discrimination KW - adolescents Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211056032 SN - 0886-2605 VL - 37 IS - 21-22 SP - 21143 EP - 21164 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Castellanos, Melisa A1 - Wettstein, Alexander A1 - Wachs, Sebastian A1 - Kansok-Dusche, Julia A1 - Ballaschk, Cindy A1 - Krause, Norman A1 - Bilz, Ludwig T1 - Hate speech in adolescents. A binational study on prevalence and demographic differences T2 - Frontiers in Education N2 - Hate speech, or intentional derogatory expressions about people based on assigned group characteristics, has been studied primarily in online contexts. Less is known about the occurrence of this phenomenon in schools. As it has negative consequences for victims, perpetrators, and those who witness it, it is crucial to characterize the occurrence of offline (i.e., in the school) and online hate speech to describe similarities and differences between these two socialization contexts. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hate speech witnessing, victimization, and perpetration, in a sample of 3,620 7th to 9th graders (51% self-identified as female) from 42 schools in Germany and Switzerland. We found that 67% of the students witnessed hate speech in their school, and 65% witnessed online hate speech at least once in the past twelve months. Approximately 21% of the students self-identified as offline perpetrators and 33% as offline victims, whereas these percentages were lower for online hate speech (13% and 20%, respectively). In both settings, skin color and origin were the most common group references for hate speech (50% offline and 63% online). Offline hate speech mainly came from classmates (88%), unknown sources (e.g., graffiti; 19%), or teachers (12%), whereas online hate speech mostly came from unknown persons (77%). The most frequent forms of offline hate speech were offensive jokes (94%) and the spread of lies and rumors about the members of a specific social group (84%). Significant differences by country, gender, and migration background were observed. Girls reported more offline victimization experiences, less perpetration, and a greater frequency of witnessing hate speech. This difference was larger in magnitude in the online setting. Students in Switzerland reported being exposed to hate speech more often than students in Germany. Students with a migration background reported higher hate speech victimization based on skin color and origin than students without a migration background. The high prevalence of hate speech highlights the need for school-based prevention programs. Our findings are discussed in terms of the practical implications. KW - Hate speech KW - adolescents KW - discrimination KW - victimization KW - Europe KW - immigrants KW - gender differences KW - racism KW - cyberhate speech Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1076249 SN - 2504-284X VL - 8 ER -