Posts Tagged ‘Terrorism’
Digital Malevolence: The Dark Psychology of Online Manipulation, Exploitation, and Violence
Caroline Ewing and Anne Speckhard Introduction The rapid evolution of online extremist ecosystems has vastly shifted our understanding of radicalization and violence, particularly as contemporary movements increasingly transcend coherent political, religious, or ideological boundaries. This paper introduces the concept of Digital Malevolence, a behavioral framework for understanding how the maladaptive behaviors associated with socially malevolent…
Read MoreThe Psychology of Nothing – Understanding the Pathway to Nihilistic Extremism: Adolescence, Trauma, and a Public Health Model for Prevention
Caroline Ewing and Anne Speckhard Abstract In recent years, adolescents who experience trauma, social marginalization, and other developmental vulnerabilities have been increasingly exposed to online environments that encourage radicalization into fluid, non-ideological forms of nihilistic violent extremism (NVE). Current counter-extremism approaches often rely on ideology-centered frameworks, while overlooking the underlying psychosocial factors that make…
Read MoreTraining for Police Prevention of Extremist Infiltration in Communities
Introduction Targeted violence and violent extremism are on the rise in the United States and law enforcement personnel, specifically police officers and sheriffs’ deputies, are often the first line of defense in countering targeted violent extremist infiltration and recruitment attempts in their communities (https://www.splcenter.org/year-hate-extremism-2022). Law enforcement often have little training to effectively identify and intervene…
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