National Findings
Public Concern about Radicalization and the Potential for Violence in their Communities, Uncertainty about what to do, Level of Willingness to Contact Law Enforcement, and Support for a Whole of Society Approach
The results of nationally representative surveys we fielded via YouGov in May 2023 (n=2000) show that most Americans are at least somewhat concerned about radicalized individuals, targeted violence, and domestic terrorism in their communities (defined in the survey as the county in which they live).
Despite this concern over radicalization and the potential for targeted or political violence or terrorism, most Americans express uncertainty over what they should do if someone they knew was being radicalized.
Among those who told us they would know what to do if someone was being radicalized in their views, a plurality said they would tell a family member first, with the next most common answer being contact law enforcement.
The percentage of respondents who would contact law enforcement first grows when someone is being radicalized to believe that violence is acceptable to achieve goals and grows again if someone is thinking about engaging in violent extremist acts. Willingness to contact law enforcement first is at its highest when someone is imminently planning violence.
Yet, with less than half saying they would know what to do, and only 70 percent of those individuals saying they would contact law enforcement, there is a clear need to boost awareness of when to contact law enforcement and to work on trust building between law enforcement agencies and communities.
Americans express support for addressing radicalization through a variety of venues, with online the most common answer to where people think radicalization can be addressed most effectively, followed by family and schools. These answers provide support for the importance of taking a whole of society approach to the prevention of targeted violence and terrorism. Yet, people’s answers to where radicalization can be addressed most effectively and what they would do first at various stages of radicalization to violence may also be influenced by the availability of resources in their communities. With means for adequate community access to resources ranging between neither agree nor disagree and agree, there is clear need for investment in a variety of community resources relevant for prevention.
The research presented here is part of a larger project funded by the Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (opportunity number DHS-22-TTP-132-00-01). Analysis and opinions are those of the authors.