Countering Violent Extremism Through Public Health Practice

Countering violent extremism consists of various prevention and intervention approaches to increase the resilience of communities and individuals to radicalization toward violent extremism, to provide nonviolent avenues for expressing grievances, and to educate communities about the threat of recruitment and radicalization to violence. To explore the application of health approaches in community-level strategies to countering violent extremism and radicalization, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a public workshop in September 2016. Participants explored the evolving threat of violent extremism and radicalization within communities across America, traditional versus health-centered approaches to countering violent extremism and radicalization, and opportunities for cross-sector and interdisciplinary collaboration and learning among domestic and international stakeholders and organizations. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop. Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Introduction and Overview 2 Understanding Violent Extremism 3 Contemporary Approaches to Countering Violent Extremism 4 The Challenges and Opportunities of Countering Violent Extremism 5 Applying Public Health Models and Approaches to Countering Violent Extremism 6 Ways Forward in Countering Violent Extremism References Appendix A: Workshop Agenda Appendix B: Workshop Statement of Task Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers and Moderators