What we do

Violence Prevention Network USA is conducting a training program that combines the scientific results of distancing and disengagement of violent extremism with long-standing international practice consulting experiences.

  1. Through a hotline and extensive RESTORE partner network, we help families, friends and other contacts (such as teachers or social workers) to intervene as early as possible in the process of radicalization. We support them in strengthening their relationship with and influence on individuals, thereby decreasing the likelihood of radicalization to violence.
  2. We help individuals tempted by (homegrown or foreign) violent extremism to take a different path by offering coaching, prevention workshops and discussion spaces – online and offline.
  3. We use a combination of social diagnostics and individual needs assessment to identify biographical, social, as well as environmental factors that can contribute to their distancing, disengagement, and deradicalization. We speak with radicalized individuals – without shaming them – about the ways in which they justify violence and help them build capacities to choose a different future.

Tools & Resources

The work of Violence Prevention Network US is based on diverse international experiences that have been adapted to the American context with a tailor-made approach. Our work follows Violence Prevention Network’s proprietary “social diagnostic” tool, which focuses on assessing radicalized individuals’ needs and identifying and accessing individual’s resources for change and development.

The Social Diagnostics Toolkit

Why we need it

Joint assessment and mutual decision making among a variety of different actors is a key piece in the puzzle of improving multi-stakeholder collaboration to prevent and address violent extremism. This is why Violence Prevention Network has developed the Social Diagnostics Toolkit over the past years as a means to support first-line practitioners to plan, implement and evaluate casework in disengagement, eradicalization and rehabilitation processes. The toolkit builds on our 3R methodology and combines multi-disciplinary insights from the work with more than 1,800 individual cases of Violent Extremist and Terrorist Offenders (VETOs) and at-risk individuals. 3R stands for identifying and managing risks, resources, and resonances – building on a comprehensive methodology to assess biographies, needs and social situations of clients.

Purpose and process

The toolkit provides lessons learned and best practices developed for first-line practitioners working in disengagement, eradicalization and rehabilitation and reintegration processes. Social Diagnostics can be of valuable support to professionals from law enforcement, prison and probation authorities, municipal institutions, health and social service providers, civil society organisations and many more. Our toolkit is designed to provide practitioners with the resources and capacities required to navigate the key phases of case management.

Our Social Diagnostics Toolkit provides unique lessons learned and best practices for practitioners to plan, implement and evaluate multi-stakeholder case processes in primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of violent extremism. This toolkit builds on cutting edge research and analysis and thereby also provides ideas on how to account for gender-specific needs in prevention, rehabilitation and reintegration efforts.

Our approaches

In our counselling work with individuals, we use the following approaches:

participatory

restorative

non-judgmental

non-generalizing

community-based

resource-oriented

Empowering civil society

In the area of countering and preventing violent extremism, it is the job of intelligence agencies and law enforcement to assess and mitigate risk. However, that leaves a large job vacant. In contrast to law enforcement, civil society actors must cultivate their ability to see promise and potential for change rather than risk when working with at-risk and already radicalized individuals. Everyone has a role to play.

Whole-of-society approach

We know that no state, organization or individual can address violent extremism alone. When a variety of actors come together to connect their ideas and resources in trusted collaboration prevention programs are more effective and reliable – for partners, affected communities and the individuals that we work with.

Our goal is to strengthen whole-of-society partnerships in the areas of prevention, disengagement, deradicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration. For the implementation of sustainable prevention strategies, we promote mutual learning and cooperation at eye level between state agencies, local stakeholders, schools, refugee centers, civil society organizations and many others.