By Asta Zelenkauskaitė

With the prevalence of disinformation geared to instill doubt rather than clarity, Creating Chaos Online unmasks disinformation when it attempts to pass as deliberation in the public sphere and distorts the democratic processes. Asta Zelenkauskaitė finds that repeated tropes justifying Russian trolling were found to circulate across not only all analyzed media platforms’ comments but also across two analyzed sociopolitical contexts suggesting the orchestrated efforts behind messaging. Through a dystopian vision of publics that are expected to navigate in the sea of uncertain both authentic and orchestrated content, pushed by human and nonhuman actors, Creating Chaos Online offers a concept of post-publics. The idea of post-publics is reflected within the continuum of treatment of public, counter public, and anti-public. This book argues that affect-instilled arguments used in public deliberation in times of uncertainty, along with whataboutism constitute a playbook for chaos online.

Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2022. 318p.

By Timothy Williams

Why do people participate in genocide? The Complexity of Evil responds to this fundamental question by drawing on political science, sociology, criminology, anthropology, social psychology, and history to develop a model which can explain perpetration across various different cases. Focusing in particular on the Holocaust, the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, and the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia, The Complexity of Evil model draws on, systematically sorts, and causally orders a wealth of scholarly literature and supplements it with original field research data from interviews with former members of the Khmer Rouge. The model is systematic and abstract, as well as empirically grounded, providing a tool for understanding the micro-foundations of various cases of genocide. Ultimately this model highlights that the motivations for perpetrating genocide are both complex in their diversity and banal in their ordinariness and mundanity.

New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2020. 281p.

By Michael Welch

The “Bastille Effect” refers to the unique ways that former sites of political imprisonment are transformed, physically and culturally. In their afterlives, these sites represent sustained efforts to hold perpetrators accountable for state violence. For that narrative to surface, the sites must be cleansed of their profane past. In some cases, clergy are even enlisted to perform purifying rituals that grant the sites a new identity as memorials. Around the globe, carceral sites have been dramatically repurposed into places of enlightenment that offer inspiring allegories of human rights. Interpreting the complexities of those common threads, this book weaves together a broad range of cultural, interdisciplinary, and critical thought to offer new insights into the study of political imprisonment, collective memory, and post-conflict societies.

Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2022. 239p.

By Matthew P. Steinberg and Johanna Lacoe Matthew P. SteinbergJohanna LacoeMatthewMatthew P. SteinbergJohanna Laco

One important question about school discipline is whether it helps or harms those being disciplined. But a second, equally important question is whether a push to reduce the number of suspensions is harmful to the rule-abiding majority.

This study examines outcomes in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), which made dramatic changes to its code of conduct during the 2012–13 school year. Specifically, it instituted a new ban on out-of-school suspensions (OSS) for low-level “conduct” offenses—such as profanity or failure to follow classroom rules—and reduced the length of OSS for more serious infractions. To gauge the impacts of these changes, Matthew Steinberg (University of Pennsylvania) and Johanna Lacoe (Mathematica) examined data before and after they were implemented, and penned two scholarly papers: one that focuses on the district-level effects of the change in discipline policy, and a second that explores patterns of attendance and achievement at the school, grade, and individual levels.

Washington, DC: Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 2017. 35p.

By Amil Whitaker, et al.

The U.S. Department of Education recently required every public school to report the number of social workers, nurses, and psychologists employed for the first time in history. Data about school counselors had been required previously, but this report provides the first state-level student-to-staff ratio comparison for these other school-based mental health personnel, along with school counselors. It reviews state-level student-to-school-based mental health personnel ratios as well as data concerning law enforcement in schools. The report also reviews school arrests and referrals to law enforcement data, with particular attention to disparities by race and disability status. A key finding of the report is that schools are under-resourced and students are overcriminalized.

New York: American Civil Liberties Union, 2019. 64p.

By Shaun Harper

Nationally, 1.2 million Black students were suspended from K-12 public schools in a single academic year – 55% of those suspensions occurred in 13 Southern states. Districts in the South also were responsible for 50% of Black student expulsions from public schools in the United States. This report aims to make transparent the rates at which school discipline practices and policies impact Black students in every K-12 public school district in 13 Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. On average, Blacks were 24% of students in the 3,022 districts we analyzed, but rates at which they were suspended and expelled are disproportionately high.

Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center, 2016. 92p.

By Janelle T. Scott, Michele S. Moses, Kara Finnigan, Tina Trujillo, and Darrell Jackson

Systemic violence and disparate school discipline policies hinder equitable, just, and safe schooling. They also restrict access to social opportunities and civil liberties. Research shows that schooling contexts and social policies set up the conditions for young people of color to experience violence in regularized, systematic, and destructive ways. This policy report centers on questions of race and disparate racial impacts. The authors draw from critical race theory (CRT) to redirect how educators might talk more productively about students’ social contexts, violence, and school discipline. They also explore how CRT might help educators consider how attempts to achieve “law and order” unfairly target students of color with a systemic form of violence that harms their ability to secure equitable, just schooling and social opportunity. The report ends with recommendations for shifting state and local policy to better reflect research evidence on the best approaches to keeping all children safe as they make their way through schools and society. A focus on state and local action becomes critical under the current federal civil rights and education policy context.

Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center, 2017. 27p.

By Roxy Lawrence and Krystal Gibson

Disparities in educational outcomes and opportunities persist for students of color throughout the United States. On every measure of educational achievement and attainment, race continues to be a prominent factor in widening the opportunity gap within the student population. Black and Hispanic/Latinx students consistently represent a disproportionately high number of discipline incidents, which can significantly impact a student’s future. Given the national and local focus on police reform, Indianapolis Public Schools partnered with CRISP to identify best practices for achieving racial equity in school policing. This study assesses existing IPS PD practices, policies, and procedures and how they align with racially equitable evidence-based practices.

Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University, Public Policy Institute, Center for Research on Inclusion & Social Policy, 2021. 80p.

By Benjamin W. Fisher, Cherie DawsonEdwards, Kristin M. Swartz, Ethan M. Higgins, Brandon S. Coffey, Suzanne Overstreet

Examines the impacts of SROs on outcomes related to school climate and student suspension rates, with a focus on racial differences and the role of school context. This study also examines how SROs perceive their roles and how these may be shaped by school contexts.

Louisville, KY: University of Louisville, Department of Criminal Justice, 2022. 70p.

By Scott Crosse, et al.

This is the Final Summary Overview of a study that assessed the effects of school resource officers (SROs) in schools, using a longitudinal design.

The study assessed 1) the effects of SROs on school disciplinary offenses and disciplinary actions and 2) whether the effects of SROs vary by student characteristics, SRO approach, and dose or community and school characteristics. The study collected and analyzed data on public middle and high schools in California that increased SRO staffing levels at a specific time (treatment schools) and on a set of matched schools that did not increase SROs. The increase in SRO staffing levels at the treatment schools resulted from the award of CHP grants to local law enforcement agencies in 2013 or 2014. The grants were intended to support the placement of SROs in schools, and the state had administrative data on schools that could support the analyses planned. Two approaches were used that relied primarily on monthly administrative data on outcomes for assessing the effects of increased SRO staffing levels at the treatment schools resulted from the award of CHP grants to local law enforcement agencies in 2013 or 2014. The outcome measures, based on administrative data, were monthly school-level counts of disciplinary offenses.

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  There were differing reporting requirements for disciplinary offenses by students with and without special needs. The SRO survey, augmented with LEA interview responses for schools that were missing SRO surveys, provided information about SRO activities at their assigned treatment schools. Consistent with prior research on SRO effects, this study found statistically significant intervention effects on weapon-related and drug-related offenses across both follow-up time periods examined and on exclusionary discipline practices at 11 months post-intervention. For these time periods, the mean number of offenses increased for the treatment schools and decreased for the comparison schools, and the mean number of actions decreased substantially less for the treatment schools than for the comparison schools. Differences by school location and student race are noted.

Final report to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2020. 13p.

By Osei Baffour Frimpong

This paper focuses on the impact of climate change on diminishing resources, its relationship with violent extremism and terrorism in the Lake Chad Basin, and how this relationship exacerbates insecurity in the region.

Washington, DC: Wilson Center, Africa Program, 2020. 8p.

By Fonteh Akum, Remadji Hoinathy and Malik Samue

In the highly volatile Lake Chad Basin region, dealing with ex-Boko Haram combatants and associates presents complex strategic and policy challenges for local, national and regional stakeholders. Understanding why and how individuals journey out of extremism is necessary to shape approaches to rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation. These insights also provide a path from countering violent extremism to peacebuilding and long-term stability.

Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2021. 28p.

By Norma Mendoza-Denton

In this ground-breaking new book on the Norteña and Sureña (North/South) youth gang dynamic, cultural anthropologist and linguist Norma Mendoza-Denton looks at the daily lives of young Latinas and their innovative use of speech, bodily practices, and symbolic exchanges that signal their gang affiliations and ideologies. Her engrossing ethnographic and sociolinguistic study reveals the connection of language behavior and other symbolic practices among Latina gang girls in California, and their connections to larger social processes of nationalism, racial/ethnic consciousness, and gender identity.An engrossing account of the Norte and Sur girl gangs - the largest Latino gangs in California Traces how elements of speech, bodily practices, and symbolic exchanges are used to signal social affiliation and come together to form youth gang styles Explores the relationship between language and the body: one of the most striking aspects of the tattoos, make-up, and clothing of the gang members Unlike other studies – which focus on violence, fighting and drugs – Mendoza-Denton delves into the commonly-overlooked cultural and linguistic aspects of youth gangs.

Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2008. 354p.

By Stapleton, Patricia; Gerstein, Daniel M., Willis, Henry H.

From the Webpage Description: "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has to respond to crises generated by a variety of threats and hazards, such as natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and public health emergencies. When confronted with such challenges in the past, DHS has relied on scientific and technical advice and solutions to identify gaps in its processes and operations. By leveraging this technical advice and support, DHS seeks to improve its understanding of the homeland security threats that it manages and its mission effectiveness. To enhance DHS's ability to leverage science and technology communities to support the use of science, technology, innovation, and analytical capabilities during crisis response, RAND researchers conducted a literature review and discussions with subject-matter experts to understand how these capabilities have been used during past national security crises and how they could be used in the future. In this Perspective, the researchers offer a conceptual framework for employment of the science and technology communities' capabilities during crisis response. They also present five imperatives that should be considered for providing technical support during a crisis and a concept for how to institutionalize that support. These critical elements form the basis for providing quality technical support to crisis leadership."

RAND Corporation. 2022-09. 32p.

By Xavier-Brier, Mari; Grieco, Julie

From the Executive Summary: "This report examines many factors, such as barriers to providing aid, FEMA's coordinating role in disaster recovery efforts including local factors impacting damage assessments and delivering resources, and efforts by federal agencies to comply with the Stafford Act and other civil rights obligations. In addition to FEMA, the report also assesses aid provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Small Business Administration for compliance with federal civil rights law and policy. [...] This report is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the impacts of Hurricanes María and Harvey, potential civil rights implications regarding federal responses to natural disasters, and how the storms impacted various demographic populations. Chapter 2 addresses FEMA's role and obligations to ensure that the agency treats all disaster survivors equitably, and the role of coordinating aid with state, local, and territorial governments, and nongovernmental organizations. Chapter 2 also examines civil rights concerns regarding disaster aid. Next, Chapter 3 provides an in-depth analysis of the federal responses to Hurricanes Harvey and María. This chapter also provides a comparative look at the responses to each storm, analyzes additional challenges FEMA faced working with other federal agencies and with state and local officials in allocating and distributing aid, and discusses compliance efforts with the Stafford Act. Finally, Chapter 4 identifies potential civil rights issues associated with disaster recovery efforts and developing practices to address them. Several experts, stakeholders, and survivors provided recommendations following the briefings, which are also included in Chapter 4."

United States Commission on Civil Rights. 2022-09-21. 936p.

By Miller, Carl. Smith, Melanie. Marsh, Oliver; Balint, Kata; Inskip, Christopher Jozef; Visser, Francesca

From the Executive Summary: "Joining air, sea, land, space and cyber, information is increasingly seen as a theatre of war. In this report, ISD [Institute for Strategic Dialogue] and CASM Technology set out to examine the ways in which Wikipedia may be vulnerable to the forms of systematic manipulation that have been exposed on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit and a number of other information spaces. The report combines a literature review on publicly available research and information around Wikipedia, expert interviews and a case study. For the case study, the English-language Wikipedia page for the Russo-Ukrainian war was chosen, where accounts that edited the page and have subsequently been blocked from editing were examined. Their editing behaviour on other Wikipedia pages was mapped to understand the scale and overlap of contributions. This network mapping has seemed to identify a particular strategy used by bad actors of dividing edits on similar pages across a number of accounts in order to evade detection. Researchers then tested an approach of filtering edits by blocked editors based on whether they add references to state-media affiliated or sponsored sites, and found that a number of edits exhibited narratives consistent with Kremlin-sponsored information warfare. Based on this, researchers were able to identify a number of other Wikipedia pages where blocked editors introduced state-affiliated domains, which helps spotlight various regions of Wikipedia that might be investigated more closely."

Institute for Strategic Dialogue. CASM Technology. 2022. 25p.

By Julie Atella and Lindsay Turner with Kelsey Imbertson, Sophak Mom

Minnesota’s Safe Harbor law provides the legislative framework for legal protections and state services for sexually exploited, including sexually trafficked, youth. Passed in 2011, this legislation shifted legal definitions of “sexually exploited youth” and “delinquent child” to acknowledge that exploited minors are not delinquent, but are victims and should be treated as such. Definitions for “prostitution,” “patron,” and “prostitute” were also amended. This initial legislation also introduced a diversion program for 16- and 17-year-olds engaged in prostitution. Furthermore, the legislation increased penalties for facilitators and patrons of commercial sexual exploitation. Finally, the legislation directed the formation of a comprehensive, multi-state-agency approach to ensure communities statewide can effectively identify sexually exploited youth (see description of the No Wrong Door framework, Appendix A). Partially in response to advocacy, as well as evaluation findings and recommendations, the legislation was later expanded so that youth age 17 and younger are protected from criminal prosecution, and youth age 24 and younger are eligible for services. However, young adults age 18 and over can still be criminally prosecuted. It is important to note that Safe Harbor provides services to young adults through age 24, so people who are receiving services from the grantees are generally referred to as “youth.”

This biennial report includes findings and recommendations about the Safe Harbor initiative, based on key informant interviews, participation surveys and interviews, focus groups, and information about youth collected in a database by grantees.

St. Paul, MN: Wilder Research, 2019. 102p.

By Mackenzie Hart, Jacob Davey, Eisha Maharasingam-Shah, Ciaran O’Connor, Aoife Gallagher

This report documents the second-year findings of a study by researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) which tracks the online ecosystems used by RWEs (right wing extremists) in Canada. This work is delivered in the context of a larger study into Canadian right-wing extremism (RWE), led by a team of researchers at Ontario Tech University (OTU) in partnership with Michigan State University and the University of New Brunswick. It contains an update to the findings laid out in an interim report published in 2020 which detailed RWE Canadian social media activity throughout 2019. The interim report used the same methodological and definitional framework laid out in this report.

Beirut; Berlin; London; Paris; Washington DC : Institute for Strategic Dialogue, 2021. 65p.

By Michael Danahy

Many of the contributing factors leading to extremism and terrorism have been exacerbated in recent years by both domestic and transnational events. While U.S. counterterrorism efforts have been largely focused on international terrorist groups, there has been a progressive resurgence of far-left and farright violent extremism in the United States and Western Europe. This increasing threat has not only resulted in attacks on civilians but has targeted law enforcement as well. This author reviewed and analyzed publicly available news articles, journals, databases, expert opinions, and other findings on far-right extremism content to authenticate and detail the extent to which far-right violent extremists have targeted law enforcement over the last several decades and their current trend. The report gives an overview on the various tactics and strategies far-right violent extremists implement in the overall efforts to expand their influence and achieve their intended goals. The findings suggest that far-right violent extremists will utilize both physical and psychological methods and tools to manipulate people, justify actions, and accumulate power. The findings also shed light on the efforts of law enforcement, counterterrorism analysts, and scholars to counter such a growing threat, including actions that the public can undertake to further limit its spread.

Marlborough, MA: American Counterterrorism Targeting and Resilience Institute (ACTRI), 2022.

By Bulent Kenes

As a pro-Second Amendment movement, the Boogaloo Boys are easily recognizable because of their Hawaiian-themed Aloha shirts and masks along with their semi-automatic weapons. Having the basic characteristics of anti-establishment far-right populists and seeing the outbreak of violence as something like a party, typically accelerationist Boogaloo Boys use these Hawaiian shirts to hide their intention to trigger a civil war to overthrow what they regard as a corrupt establishment in the US.

Brussels: European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS), 2021. 29p.