Hate Crimes and the Safety Needs of Second and Third Generation Jewish Immigrants

Abstract

There were many Jewish immigrants fled from different countries during World War II and migrated to the United States. They came from Poland, Russia, Cuba, Brazil, France, Syria, Israel, and other countries, hoping to find a more tolerant and secure place to raise their families. However, anti-Semitic violence and incidents have occurred over the years. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of the second and third-generation Jewish immigrants toward their views of anti-Semitic violence and discrimination and safety needs. Additionally, this research relied on Social Identity Theory to understand the causes of the conflicts among the different groups. The author used a quantitative methodology, the author will collect information on participants’ perceptions toward anti-Semitism and safety needs. This study gathered 300 participants of the second and third Jewish immigrant generations in Florida. The results indicated that over 64.7% of Jewish participants strongly agreed or agreed they were more worried about encountering anti-Semitism or discrimination in neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, or other places now than in the past ten years. Moreover, this study provided explicit recommendations for different groups dealing with anti-Semitism and discrimination.