Learning from Other Countries about CVE

Posted on 20 September 2017 by Darin

If you are going to read one article regarding countering violent extremism (CVE), this is the one I would recommend. Eric Rosand unpacks CVE strategies of Australia, Canada, and the US. He then provides two recommendations for the US:

  1. Invest in and empower community-led efforts using funding from non-security/law enforcement agencies;
  2. Be precise and judicious regarding public discourse on violent extremism;
  3. Build trust with communities by using proper framing and terminology;
  4. Involve non-security/law enforcement agencies in all aspects of CBE work;
  5. Invest and mobilize resources/expertise to develop individual programs;
  6. Share information regarding best practices and other information; and,
  7. Pursue a federalized approach to counter violence.

While no country or CVE approach is going to be perfect, this is a great start at improving existing systems.

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The Goldwater Rule

Posted on 5 August 2017 by Darin

With so many armchair psychologists and other commentators questioning U.S. government officials’ mental health, it is important to remember the Goldwater rule. Or, specifically, judging mental health from a distance is unproductive.

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Speed dating?

Posted on 16 July 2017 by Darin

One of the things I would like to see Kansas City do in the future is host some speed dating sessions. Well, that was until now:

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Reading Faces to Detect Poverty?

Posted on 9 July 2017 by Darin

This is an interesting study on how neutral faces can be read to reliably detect aspects of socioeconomic status. The big question: Will this ever be used with facial recognition software?

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A Rare Study on Moral Judgments in Terrorists

Posted on 6 June 2017 by Darin

From several recently released studies using a sample of 66 ex-combatants and 66 control participants showed considerable similarities in all investigated areas except one: Moral judgment. The 66 ex-combatants were incarcerated in Columbia and former paramilitary operators.

Baez, S., Herrera, E., Trujillo, N., Manes, F., Young, L., & Ibañez, A. (2016). Aberrant moral judgment in extremist terrorists. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 108. Doi:10.1016/j.iipsycho.2016.07.344

Baez, S., Herrera, E., Garcia, A. M., Manes, F., Young, L., & Ibañez, A. (2017). Outcome-oriented moral evaluation in terrorists. Nature Human Behaviour, 1. doi:10.1038/s41562-017-0118

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