Countering Violent Extremism

Research Briefs are short, engaging and accessibly written descriptions of the results of TSAS-funded research projects, focusing on top-level conclusions and policy relevance.

Research Reports are longer, evidence-based, policy-relevant scholarly analyses on topics related to terrorism, security, and society, broadly defined, that touch on Canada, Canadian issues in comparative context, or global issues of interest to a Canadian audience.

Working Papers are scholarly analyses of various lengths that provide analysis based on TSAS-funded research projects. We are no longer accepting submissions for this series.

RESEARCH BRIEF

Weak Personal Ideals Incline Proud People Towards Religious Radicalization in Anxious Circumstances

This research brief describes results of our experimental and correlational studies conducted between 2011 and 2019 on how weak personal ideals, high self-esteem, and uncertain circumstances combine to cause states conducive to aggressive religious radicalization. Despite theoretical speculation about the importance of these variables since the middle of last century, only scattered empirical research has…

RESEARCH BRIEF

AN EXAMINATION OF COMPETENCIES FOR AND THE EVALUATION OF CVE IN POLICING

Drawing on expert interviews (n=10), an environmental scan of current practices within one Canadian province (Ontario), and insights generated by a police-academic working group assembled for this project, this research documents: 1. the types of CVE activities police officers in Ontario are currently engaging in; 2. the state of police service performance assessment tools in…

Working Paper Title 2020
RESEARCH REPORT

No Country for a Returning Foreign Fighter? More Reasons for Repatriating Canadian IS Member in Custody

What should the Canadian government do about returning extremist travellers who have been involved with the so-called Islamic State (IS)? Should the government develop a gender-informed response to deal with male and female members of IS? What are some of the major causes of radicalization leading some Canadians to join IS? What are the views…

Working Paper Title 2020
RESEARCH REPORT

Preparing Professionals to Dialogue about Extremism and Radicalization: A look at the ERC programs at McGill University and University of Quebec in Montreal

Historically, extremist groups from religious and far-right organizations have been active across Canada. In the last few years, the situation in Quebec has been particularly alarming (Amarasingam and Tiflati 2015; Dwivedi 2017; Zine 2019). According to Ministere de la securite publique (2016), between 2013 and 2014, religious-based hate crimes against Jewish people, Muslims, and unspecified…

Working Paper 2018 Title
WORKING PAPER

Linguistic and Narrative Trends Among Islamic State Videos and Magazines

This study applies the semi-automated method of sentiment analysis to magazines and videos that have been produced by the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) in order to determine what thematic narratives are prevalent within this propaganda and how consistent these narratives are between the platforms of magazines and videos. The data for this study included 28…

Working Paper 2018 Title
WORKING PAPER

Duped: Why Gender Stereotypes are Leading to Inadequate Deradicalization and Disengagement Strategies

In narratives around insurgencies, terrorism, and other forms of armed political violence, the media -and policymakers- frequently portray women as victims or unintelligent pawns of men. Occasionally, when a women has a direct role in a violent act, she will receive more in-depth attention, with various often salacious details reported by the media about her…

Working Paper 2018 Title
WORKING PAPER

Belonging: Feelings of attachment and acceptance among immigrants in Canada

In line with previous research, we argue that belonging is a core dimension of immigrant integration, and that belonging is better conceptualized and measured by distinguishing between immigrants’ feeling of being attached and feeling of being accepted. Feeling attached captures immigrants’ desire to belong, whereas feeling accepted captures the perception that the community wants them…

Working Paper 2018 Title
WORKING PAPER

How “Alone” are Lone-Actors? Exploring the Ideological, Signaling, and Support Networks of Lone-Actor Terrorists

The threat of lone-actor terrorism poses a unique challenge to security practitioners tasked with detecting, identifying, and preventing acts of ideologically and politically-motivated violence. Conventional knowledge and early academic work on lone-actor terrorism has popularized the concept that these individuals radicalize, operate, plan, and execute terrorist plots in relative anonymity, with little connection to formal…

Working Paper 2017 Title
WORKING PAPER

A Concurrent Evaluation of Threat Assessment Tools for the Individual Assessment of Terrorism

This research examines what is the content overlap among three tools that may be relevant for assessing an individual’s risk for terrorist violence: Version 3 of the Historical-Clinical-Risk Management—20 (HCR-20 V3), the first and second versions of the Violent Extremism Risk Assessment Protocol (VERA and VERA 2), and the Multi-Level Guidelines (MLG)? Download Working Paper…

Working Paper 2016 Title
WORKING PAPER

Teaching CVE: a review of the Preventing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation in Australia handbook, and challenges across policy and practice

(1) What are some of the key issues and challenges that emerged following the release of the Preventing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation in Australia (PVERA) handbook? (2) What lessons that can be drawn from the content and public reception of the PVERA handbook? Schools and community organizations have recently become an important focus of the…

Working Paper 2016 Title
WORKING PAPER

Impromptu Initiative: Security Certificates and Scale

This paper offers some background and theoretical framing as part of a larger project on the Canadian Security Certificate Initiative. Here I consider questions about different ways of thinking about responses to national security and how they contrast with security concerns that do not invoke the need for secrecy. The use of secret information in…

Working Paper 2015 Title
WORKING PAPER

Traits de personnalité et terrorisme

Plusieurs chercheurs ont conclu que les traits de personnalité ne peuvent pas être liés au terrorisme. Cette conclusion est maintenant admise comme un fait dans les cercles académiques et gouvernementaux, ainsi que dans le monde du renseignement. Cependant, un examen méthodique de la documentation scientifique pertinente n’a révélé aucune preuve à cet effet, et n’a…

Working Paper 2015 Title
WORKING PAPER

Personality Traits and Terrorism

Many researchers claim that individuals who engage in terrorism do not share distinct personality traits, a claim well accepted in academia, government, and the intelligence community. A thorough review of the literature, however, has yielded no evidence for this claim and found only three studies where the personality traits of terrorists were measured. Each study…

Working Paper 2015 Title
WORKING PAPER

Quantifying and Qualifying Charisma: A Theoretical Framework for Measuring the Presence of Charismatic Authority in Terrorist Groups

In order to stimulate the production of robust and replicable empirical research on the dynamics of charismatic leadership in terrorist groups, this working paper operationalizes the social-scientific concept of charismatic authority. It presents and justifies a theoretical framework consisting of fourteen indicators meant to be used as a heuristic to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the…

Working Paper 2014 Title
WORKING PAPER

Perceptions of Muslim Faith, Ethno-Cultural Community-based and Student Organizations in Countering Domestic Terrorism in Canada

What are the perceptions of Muslim community based organizations and university student organization leaders on domestic terrorism and counter-terrorism in Canada and what are their suggestions to prevent radicalization and improve existing counter-terrorism policy? Importance: Explore the phenomenon of radicalization within the Muslim community and examine community perceptions Identify reasons for the lack of community…

Working Paper 2014 Title
WORKING PAPER

A Framework for Estimating the Number of Extremists in Canada

How can researchers appropriately estimate the number of extremists, particularly violent extremists, in Canada? Having a reasonable idea of the size of the threat posed by violent extremists is a central policy consideration. Crucially, accurate estimates would allow for the better allocation and prioritization of limited resources. As well, they would allow afford a better…

Working Paper 2014 Title
WORKING PAPER

Between Here and There: Pre- and Post-migration Experiences and Generalized Trust among Recent Immigrants in Canada

This study examines levels and origins of trust among recent immigrants in Canada. Three questions are asked: 1) How much trust do recent immigrants exhibit in comparison to other Canadians? 2) To what extent are immigrants’ levels of trust structured by pre-migration experiences? 3) To what extent are immigrants’ levels of trust structured by their…

Working Paper 2013 Title
WORKING PAPER

Les théories des mouvements sociaux et la dialectique des niveaux: un cadre d’analyse pour l’étude des évolutions d’Al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique

Le développement d’Al-Qaïda au Maghreb islamique (AQMI) dans l’espace sahélo-saharien est-il le résultat de choix stratégiques du groupe en réponse à des contraintes et opportunités environnementales ou le fruit de dynamiques internes sous-tendant un jeu politique interne multiforme ? La présente étude est une analyse multi-niveau à travers une lecture historique et sociologique du groupe…

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