Abstract:
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.
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