What Works: Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism in U.S. Communities

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

While our understanding of how radicalization to violent extremism occurs in the United States remains unsettled, what is clear is that communities throughout the US are starting to implement prevention and intervention programs. This panel will draw on research projects from the National Institute of Justice to probe how best to assess and evaluate these programs. The panel will discuss different types of prevention and intervention programs at different stages of the radicalization process. The panel will also engage on evaluation methods alongside an emerging cadre of promising and best practices in this area.

Sub Unit

• Area V: Types of Offending / 28: State Crime, Political Crime, and Terrorism

Individual Presentations

• Uncovering the Motivations, Barriers, and Pathways to Becoming a Former Extremist: Mapping the Structural, Agentic, and Organizational Dynamics in Identity Transformation - Matthew DeMichele, Center for Justice, Safety and Resilience, RTI; Pete Simi, Chapman University; Katherine Blee, University of Pittsburgh

• Evaluating the Federal CVE Initiative - David Schanzer, Duke University

• Empirical Assessment of Domestic Disengagement and Deradicalization (EAD3) - Michael Jensen, University of Maryland

• Readiness Evaluation for Community Resilience Exercises - Ji Sun Lee, RTI International

Chair

• Aisha Qureshi, National Institute of Justice

Discussant

• John Picarelli, U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice