This research aimed to enhance emotional awareness and engender empathy among primary school students in Pakistan through education, ultimately fostering emotional regulation and preventing disruptive behaviors. While emotional intelligence (EI) is increasingly recognized as a vital component in counter-terrorism efforts, it is seldom emphasized by young primary school students. Research…

Violent extremist, terrorist, and targeted hate actors have been actively exploiting video games to propagandise, recruit and fundraise for more than 30 years. This report presents an analysis of that history using a unique dataset, the Extremist and Terrorist Games Database (ETGD), developed by the authors. It contains 155 reviewed…

Extensive criminological research has documented a ‘distance-decay’ effect in criminal activity, with offenders less likely to commit crimes farther from their residences. While recent studies have identified similar patterns in ideologically motivated violence, variation in the travel behaviors of extremists remains underexplored. Using data on right-wing extremists who carried out…

This brief provides an overview of Hedayah’s 2023 Research Conference by highlighting key recommendations for countering extremism, violent extremism and terrorism aimed at informing researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. More detailed content from these presentations is available both through Hedayah’s online channels and will be made available through essay contributions to…

As part of the DPL, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) organised working group meetings between May and July 2024, on the topic of online safety and the regulation of gaming platforms and services. The working group consisted of DPL members representing national ministries and regulators from Australia, Germany, New…

Given the diverse backgrounds of people living in modern societies as well as the international nature of cyber-terrorist threats, profiling the type of person behind cyber-mediated crimes has become a norm in terrorist profiling practice. This study contributes to timely efficient terrorist profiling and threat assessment by showcasing an automated…

The contribution and influence of psychological distress to interest and involvement in extremist violence has received considerable attention in recent years. At the same time, dominant medical models for understanding such distress – typically framed as mental illness or disorder – have been challenged by emerging alternative paradigms in parts…

The fall of Daesh’s territories in Iraq and Syria has created a vital need to provide rehabilitation and reintegration support for those returning to their country of nationality or origin. While previous work in the broader field of rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals affected by violent extremism, as well as…

This policy brief presents the gender representations theoretical framework to analyse how and why gender is used in the propaganda and politico-military strategies of violent extremist movements. It argues that violent extremist ideologies break down in-group and out-group collective identities into individual “good” and “bad” gender identities, or gender representations….

Digital publishing, sale and distribution of books have contributed significantly to the dissemination and mainstreaming of far‐right extremist (FRE) material in the 21st century. Historical and contemporary books that espouse politically and ideologically motivated violence circulate widely and easily online, in both FRE and mainstream spaces. Such books include, but…

This report seeks to raise awareness of critical thinking and analysis, and meaningful engagement in the digital space, in order to build resilience to violent extremism and radicalization that lead to terrorism (VERLT) in South-Eastern Europe.

This short guide explores the impact of COVID-19 conspiracy beliefs on support for anti-government violence and examines whether this relationship was stronger or weaker based on particular personality traits.