What Drives Youth to Extremism and the Power of Youth to Counter Violent Extremism
This talk will focus on the evidence of why youth join violent extremist groups, and why they resist. It will discuss various ways peacebuilders engage youth to act as agents of positive peace and build a communities resilience to violent extremism. It will conclude with where peacebuilding needs to move in order to have greater impact.
- Understanding of the evidence of why youth join VE groups
- What might help them prevent them from joining VE groups
- Policy and programming options
Rebecca Wolfe
Dr. Rebecca J. Wolfe is a leading expert on the drivers of youth violence. Currently, she is the Director of Mercy Corps’ Peace and Conflict team, where she has developed and supported programs in various countries across Africa, the Middle East, Central and South Asia, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Dr. Wolfe is able to draw on her practitioner and academic backgrounds to effectively research important development issues and communicate to multiple audiences. She has been invited to speak to USAID, US State Department, DFID and at various conferences and universities on her research. Dr. Wolfe has taught at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs and at the Wagner School for Public Service at New York University. She received her PhD in Social Psychology from Harvard University.
