Justice Delayed is Assimilation Denied: Rightwing Terror, Fear and Social Assimilation of Turkish Immigrants in Germany

50 Pages Posted: 31 Oct 2018

See all articles by Sumit S. Deole

Sumit S. Deole

Technical University of Dortmund; Global Labor Organization (GLO)

Date Written: 2018

Abstract

In 2011, German police accidentally stumbled upon a previously unknown right-wing extremist group called the National Socialist Underground (NSU). Further investigations implicated the group in previously unexplained murders of mostly ethnically Turkish individuals and in other crimes targeting Islamic immigrants in Germany. Using German Socioeconomic Panel (SOEP) data, this paper offers the first evidence that the 2011 revelations of the NSU crimes resulted in an increase in perceived fears of xenophobic hostility among NSU’s targeted groups. This serves as an indication of the minority’s perceived maltreatment by German institutions while investigating the NSU crimes. The results further show that the revelations significantly reinforced a feeling of estrangement among Turks, who were now less likely to self-identify as Germans and more likely to see themselves as foreigners; they, therefore, tended to bond more strongly with the ethos of their country of origin. The results also demonstrate that Turks reported a substantial decrease in their health satisfaction and subjective wellbeing. In conclusion, the paper underlines the pertinence of judicial efficacy over rightwing crimes for assimilation and welfare of immigrants.

Keywords: rightwing crimes, immigration, delayed justice, social assimilation

JEL Classification: D630, F220, J150, Z100

Suggested Citation

Deole, Sumit S., Justice Delayed is Assimilation Denied: Rightwing Terror, Fear and Social Assimilation of Turkish Immigrants in Germany (2018). CESifo Working Paper No. 7235, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3275409 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3275409

Sumit S. Deole (Contact Author)

Technical University of Dortmund ( email )

Friedrich-Wöhler-Weg 6
Dortmund, 44227
Germany

Global Labor Organization (GLO) ( email )

Collogne
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://glabor.org/user/sumitdeole/

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
80
Abstract Views
489
Rank
607,170
PlumX Metrics