This study asked members of the Somali‐American community in Minneapolis‐St. Paul to describe the challenges of living

in a refugee community, how violent extremists try to exploit their condition for recruitment purposes, and what resources

and strategies are needed to minimize their vulnerability.  Using ethnographic methods, this study looked at the everyday

lives of Somali‐American adolescent boys and young men in the context of their families and communities.  It found

opportunities for entering violent extremism as well as capacities for diminishing those opportunities. Based on empirical data and

informed by relevant theory, it identified themes and built a model, Diminishing Opportunities for Violent Extremism (DOVE),

which can help to inform prevention strategies for building community resilience to violent extremism in the Somali‐American

community in Minneapolis‐St. Paul.