Family Responses to White Supremacist Extremism: Report to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Authors

National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center
Peter Simi, Chapman University
Steven Windisch, Temple University
Matthew DeMichele, Center for Courts and Corrections Research, RTI International
Karyn Sporer, University of Maine
Amy Aghajanian, Chapman University
Nathan Dufour, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Marisa Quezada, Chapman University
Corinne Tam, Chapman University

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

6-2021

Abstract

Executive Overview:

• Families often express some form of disapproval to relatives involved in white supremacist extremism (WSE);

• Expressions of disapproval are often limited to “staying out of trouble” or involve limited to no clearly defined intervention;

• Families fear “closing doors” will increase the likelihood they will push their relative away;

• Families rarely seek out formal assistance from either governmental or non-governmental agencies;

• While nearly 34% of the sample received counseling during childhood and/or adolescence, none of those counseling sessions addressed WSE; the counseling focused exclusively on non-WSE issues (e.g., academic failure, generic delinquency, etc.).

Recommended Citation

Simi, Pete, Steven Windisch, Matthew DeMichele, Karyn Sporer, Amy Aghajanian, Nathan Dufour, Marisa Quezada, and Corinne Tam. 2021. “Family Responses to White Supremacist Extremism.” National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE).