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Research

This research resources page is designed to bring together in some of the best thinking, important lessons, and helpful resources for targeted violence prevention practitioners and the public. Each of the topics presented here are designed to aid in the prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery from targeted violence.

  • Defense Personnel Security Research Center. ” Preventing Targeted Violent Attacks: Best Practices for Bystander Intervention,” May 31, 2023. https://www.dhra.mil/Portals/52/Documents/perserec/toolkit/20230531_PERS_Rpt_PA-23-01_Bystander_Intervention_Brochure.pdf
    • In the weeks and months prior to a violent act, perpetrators may engage in communication and/or behaviors that could signal imminent violence. Some of their behaviors may be intentionally concealed, while others are observable. Many targeted violent acts are preventable through recognition and reporting. This research aims to help bystanders prevent violent attacks by providing information on what, when, and where to report.
  • RESOLVE Network, “Researching Violent Extremism: Considerations, Reflections, and Perspectives,” May 12, 2023. https://resolvenet.org/system/files/2023-05/RESOLVE%20RSV%20Edited%20Volume_FINALMay2023.pdf
    • This edited volume includes chapters providing unique insight and honest, collective reflection on experiences with conducting research on violent extremism, including the challenges of data collection, choosing research and analysis methods, and managing and building research relationships. These reflections are helpful for those conducting research, those using research to make policy and programmatic decisions, and those seeking to better understand research findings.
  • Foundation For Defense of Democracies. ” Composite Violent Extremism: A Radicalization Pattern Reshaping Terrorism,” April 18, 2023. https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2023/04/18/composite-violent-extremism-a-radicalization-pattern-reshaping-terrorism/
    • This report explains a concept FDD developed: ‘composite violent extremism’ (CoVE). The report then introduces its four subtypes: ambiguous, mixed, fused, and convergent extremism. The CoVE framework can help practitioners and scholars better conceptualize the evolving nature of extremist threats that America’s top law enforcement officials have identified as concerning but difficult to understand.”
  • National Institute of Justice, “Assessing Risk of Terrorist Acts by Looking at Location Data and Demographic and Social Characteristics,” February 27, 2023, nij.ojp.gov:
    https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/assessing-risk-terrorist-acts-using-location-data-and-other-characteristics
    • This study identifies demographic and social characteristics of communities at risk of terrorism-related pre-incident and incident activities and situational, place-based risk factors most associated with where pre-incident and incident activities are more likely to occur.
  • Journal For Deradicalization, ” Evidence Review of Strategies Targeting Youth Who Have Radicalized to Violent Extremism,” December 30, 2022. https://journals.sfu.ca/jd/index.php/jd/article/view/667
    • This paper reviews strategies and approaches aimed as assisting and rehabilitating youth who have been imprisoned for terrorist offenses or identified as at risk of radicalization, due to their behaviors and associations
  • Frontiers In Psychology, ” Understanding the Role of Grievance and Fixation in Lone Actor Violence,” December 2022. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1045694/full
    • This review contends that LAGFV (lone actor grievance fueled violence) emerges through the perceived thwarting of psychological needs and the central task for clinicians and other professional services lies in understanding the unique pathways and contributing factors that give rise to violence for each specific individual/case.
  • Institute For Strategic Dialogue, McCain Institute, “Preventing Targeted Violence and Terrorism: A Guide for Practitioners,” November 2022. https://www.mccaininstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/PPN-TVTP-Framework-Nov-2022.pdf
    • This document compiles key considerations for the design and delivery of targeted violence and terrorism prevention (TVTP) programs. This guidebook starts with an overview of the targeted violence threat landscape in the US, with a focus on white supremacy, anti-government violence, internationally inspired terrorism, and emerging threat considerations regarding extreme misogynistic subcultures online. Checklists and other tools are provided to help practitioners that seek to develop their capacity to deliver intervention programs.”
  • National Institute of Justice, “Domestic Radicalization and Deradicalization: Insights from Family and Friends,” August 19, 2022, nij.ojp.gov:https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/domestic-radicalization-and-deradicalization-insights-family-and-friends
    • This research addresses a data gap in existing literature in terms of first-hand accounts of radicalization and deradicalization experiences.
  • Perspectives on Terrorism, “Targeted Violence: A Review of the Literature on Radicalization and Mobilization,” April 2022. www.universiteitleiden.nl/binaries/content/assets/customsites/perspectives-on-terrorism/2022/issue-2/mcbride-et-al.pdf
    • This literature review contributes to the work of understanding the differences between targeted violence and domestic terrorism by exploring research on radicalization and mobilization processes within the literature on targeted violence.
  • National Criminal Justice Reference Service, “Community Reporting Thresholds: Sharing Information with Authorities Concerning Terrorism and Targeted Violence,” January 2022. https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/community-reporting-thresholds-sharing-information-authorities
    • This study obtained data with the potential to guide development of violence-prevention strategies that enlist reports from “intimate bystanders,” defined as parents, siblings, partners, and friends who may be the first to suspect a loved one is at high risk of committing targeted violence, including terrorism.
  • National Institute of Justice, “Hate Crimes: National Database Identifies Traits and Motivations Marking Distinct Pathways of People Who Commit Bias-Based Offenses,” November 30, 2021. nij.ojp.gov: https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/hate-crimes-national-database-identifies-traits-and-motivations-marking-distinct
    • This study explores what drives people who perpetrate hate crimes found that, considering those diverse motivations and traits, the tools needed to monitor and rehabilitate those individuals must be flexible and capable of addressing risks in heterogeneous populations.
  • National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center, ” Predicting Domestic Extremism and Targeted Violence: A Machine Learning Approach,” June 30, 2021. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1027&context=ncitereportsresearch
    • The report applies machine learning (ML) techniques to forecast where domestic extremist groups and active shooter incidents are most likely to occur in the United States. Identifying high-risk areas for these emerging threats is important for effective counterterrorism and conflict prevention, but complicated by the fact that policymakers often need to detect these threats at a stage when there might not be overt warning signs of violence.
  • RAND Corporation. “Practical Terrorism Prevention: Reexamining U.S. National Approaches to Addressing the Threat of Ideologically Motivated Violence,” February 14, 2019. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2647.html
    • This report examines the current state of terrorism prevention in the United States and to develop recommendations for this area. Researchers sought to learn from past CVE efforts and to explore possible paths forward to effective, but also practical, federal and national terrorism prevention.