Hate crimes and identity of young Muslims in Europe

Anti-Muslim hostility has proliferated in Western countries in recent years. We examine the impact of this development on the attitudes of young Muslims in the UK and Germany. We combine measures of hate crimes and Islamophobia in the media with a survey of children of immigrants to study how group targeting impacts national identification, expressions of religiosity and attitudes on the process of immigrant integration. We find that exposure to anti-Muslim hostility does not lead to disengagement from majority society, but instead increases expressions of belonging and distancing from the religious ingroup. A custom survey of young Muslims and qualitative interviews with Muslim community leaders suggest that concerns about social status, desire for belonging, and fear of victimization are key mechanisms behind these reactions. Heightened expressions of majority identity appear to function as a strategy to avoid discrimination and to gain social acceptance by distancing from the targeted group.