Public Health Approach to Countering Violent Extremism and Proposing the Chain of Violent Radicalization

Abstract

Violent extremism (VE) is a modern security threat of increasing frequency and growing severity which cannot be countered by the traditional military and/or law enforcement approach to counterterrorism. As such, innovative and evidence-backed solutions must be utilized to address this untraditional threat. Public health is one such venue for countering violent extremism (CVE) which has immense potential, as the very principles of public health align with the desired direction of the global effort to CVE. Although progress has been made both domestically and internationally in policy development and implementation, much scrutiny over radicalization theories and CVE programming exists due to their alleged lack of success and the civil and ethical concerns associated with such initiatives. While much of this failure may be attributed to the infancy of the field of CVE altogether, the lack of evidence-based intervention and program evaluation also contributes to the negative public perception surrounding the field. Utilizing a public health perspective to CVE presents an opportunity to address these challenges and to progress in the global effort to prevent radicalization. While the public health approach has undoubtedly furthered the field, further investigation of this application is necessary. This chapter reviews the current public health landscape for CVE and expands on this landscape by proposing the Chain of Violent Radicalization, an adaptation of the Chain of Infection to the radicalization process. The Chain of Violent Radicalization provides both a theoretical and practical application of public health to CVE and offers an additional tool for practitioners to use in implementing public health initiatives. While the review of existing public health theory and intervention found that ultimately both have been largely successful, this chapter argues that further evaluation is necessary to fully understand the success and potential of a public health approach to CVE.