Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism: Designing and Evaluating Evidence-Based Programs(Political Violence)

This textbook serves as a guide to design and evaluate evidence-based programs intended to prevent or counter violent extremism (P/CVE). Violent extremism and related hate crimes are problems which confront societies in virtually every region of the world; this text examines how we can prevent or counter violent extremism using a systematic, evidence-based approach. The book, equal parts theoretical, methodological and applied, represents the first science-based guide for understanding “what makes hate,” and how to design and evaluate programs intended to prevent this. Though designed to serve as a primary course textbook, the work can readily serve as a how-to guide for self-study, given its abundant links to freely available online toolkits and templates. As such, it is designed to inform both students and practitioners alike with respect to the management, design, or evaluation of programs intended to prevent or counter violent extremism. Written by a leading social scientist in the field of P/CVE program evaluation, this book is rich in both scientific rigor and examples from the “real world” of research and evaluation dedicated to P/CVE. This book will be essential reading for students of terrorism, preventing or countering violent extremism, political violence, and deradicalization, and highly recommended for students of criminal justice, criminology, and behavioural psychology.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction 1. The Ubiquity of Bias 2. Belief Formation 3. Culture, Norms, and Socialization 4. Threat, Grievance, and Dissatisfaction 5. Institutions 6. Biochemistry 7. Decide & Define What You Want to Do 8. Refine What You Want to Do 9. Determine How You Will Do It 10. Sustainability 11. Scalability 12. Defining the Problem and Identifying Goals 13. Complimentary Planning / Logistics 14. Choosing Appropriate Methods 15. Evaluation Implementation 16. Reporting Results

About the Author :
Michael J. Williams is the organizing member of the research, evaluation, and consulting firm, The Science of P/CVE, LLC. He has co-designed and evaluated programs designed to prevent or counter violent extremism, spanning five continents.

Review :
'Whether you are designing, implementing, evaluating or simply studying programs to prevent and counter violent extremism, Michael Williams’ new book is nothing less than indispensable.'-- John Horgan, Georgia State University, USA 'Erudite, insightful, and fiercely reasoned, this timely book offers an important compass for anyone interested in the science of P/CVE. The recommendations included in this book are a game-changer for the study of violent extremism.'-- Jocelyn J. Bélanger, New York University, Abu Dhabi 'A milestone book and an absolutely essential text in the field of preventing and countering violent extremism.'-- Daniel Koehler, German Institute on Radicalization and De-Radicalization Studies (GIRDS)