Countering Acts of Violent Extremism
Stanford University, Spring 2016
Problem Statement
The Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) needs a better way to deter individuals from joining violent extremist groups.
Problem Scoping and Discovery
The team conducted 100 interviews with state department personnel, NGO representatives, and community leaders. Through their discovery journey, team realized that a bottom-up approach, focusing on support for friends and family of those at risk for radicalization, might be the most effective. The team learned that an effective solution would need to be accessible as many friends and family shared that they had an idea that one of their loved ones was at risk, but did not know where to turn besides the police, which felt like a drastic measure.
Solution Proposed
The students recommended a support textline for friends and family of individuals at risk for CVE. The team identified ten organizations in the U.S. and Canada that would provide long term personal intervention. In the first year, they planned on deploying campaigns in two major cities alongside their intervention partners in 2017.
