MUNCIE, Ind. -- The Amish are easy targets for hate crimes because they rarely fight back and their assailants know it, says a Ball State University researcher.

Interviews with Amish families in northern Indiana reveal long-standing victimization that goes back several generations, said Bryan Byers, a criminal justice professor.

"In talking with the Amish, we found they have been targets of hate crimes for hundreds of years of their history," Byers said. "They have been easy targets for groups of young males who want to create mischief by forcing buggies off roads, throwing stones at Amish farmers and tossing fireworks at their horses. Assailants think nothing about attacking an Amish person or stealing from their farms. For many non-Amish residents in northern Indiana, harrassing members of the religious sect is a way of life."

Byers found his interviews with local non-Amish residents disturbing. Many assailants proudly talked about attacking Amish individuals.

The attacks were always done by groups, not by individuals. The incidents were viewed as simple mischief, no matter how severe the offense, Byers said.

"They call the Amish `clapes' and the attacks or thefts are known as claping," he said. "Several individuals talked to us about how their uncles or fathers had done it as young men. We think it may go into several generations, but the interviews are still continuing."

Byers will present his findings on anti-Amish hate crimes occuring in the United States, July 15-19 at the British Criminology Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Amish date back to 1525 in Europe when a radical group of Christians, nicknamed "Anabaptists," sought a return to the simplicity of faith and practice as seen in the early Christian church in the Bible. Like many other religious groups, they fled to the U.S. to escape religious and social persecution. Amish groups tend to be cautious about technology and involvement with the rest of the world they describe as "English culture." They drive horse drawn carriages, dress plainly, shun modern conveniences like electricity and discourage higher education.

Byers selected Amish residents around Berne, Ind., which has about 700 Amish families in the nearby farm lands. Indiana has the third largest Amish population in the U.S., surpassed by Ohio and Pennsylvania.

"When talking to the Amish bishops about persecution, one said there wasn't a problem while another said there was," he said. "Others just wanted to know what they could do to stop local residents from being mad at them. The response made sense to us because of the martydom that makes up the culture." Byers doubts that local authoriites will be able to stop acts of violence against the Amish, who are pacifists and often refuse to help police or prosecutors.

"They want nothing to do with our laws," he said. "They don't hold grudges so I do think we'll be able to establish hate crime laws to help them without their assistance."