Over the last few years there have been a wide range of interventions aimed at reducing support for violent extremism. This report focuses on those interventions which seek to prevent violent extremism, or reduce support for it, at the community level. For the purposes of analysis, ‘community level’ is used simply to distinguish such interventions from national level interventions or campaigns, or those which are focused on particular individuals – for example, personalised de-radicalisation programmes – are therefore not included in this research. This focus reflects the policy area of Communities and Local Government which commissioned this research.
The report is the product of a rapid evidence assessment (REA). The REA looked at a wide range of databases, both nationally and internationally, to find evidenced, evaluated interventions which had been intended to change attitudes towards violent extremism. Following on from an earlier report which mapped the evidence base on community level interventions aimed at preventing violent extremism, this report analyses specific interventions to identify which were most effective at preventing support for violent extremism in the name of religion, in what ways and with which population groups.