Stephen Hart is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University.
His primary area of research is the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based procedures for violence risk assessment and management. It resulted in the dissemination of tools that are used by law enforcement, corrections, national security, and mental health agencies around the world. For the past 5 years, he has been exploring how best to expand risk assessment tools beyond a focus on individual-level factors to recognize the importance of individual-in-group, group, and group-in-society factors.
His goal is to incorporate theory and research on identity, group dynamics, and social dynamics into risk assessment and management. This was originally motivated and subsequently reinforced by case work, consultation, presentations, and training related to the problem of terrorism in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. His work in this area resulted in the recruitment of graduate students interested in group-based violence, and eventually in the development of a tool that is being pilot tested in Canada with the support of a grant from the Kanishka Project Contribution Program.
He plans to continue research related to group-based violence generally and terrorism more specifically.
