Evaluating Progress

To evaluate progress in individual cases, it is necessary to conduct monitoring activities, preferably using standardized measures. Monitoring should include focusing on psychological distress, mental health symptoms, functioning, and resilience or protective factors. For all these domains, we suggest using standard measures commonly used in mental health and psychosocial work. Examples include the PTSD Checklist, Beck Depression Inventory, GHQ, Kessler, etc. In addition to tracking these typical mental health and psychosocial outcomes, it can be useful for the mental health specialists involved to explore possible interaction between these outcome indicators and a person’s involvement in violence and extremism.  

For example, a junior-high student may become involved in online violent extremism in part because he is feeling depressed and isolated, and the extremist community offered him companionship and empowerment. In this scenario, tracking the student’s depression and isolation would provide important markers of his vulnerability to extremism and violence. 

As discussed in Module 2, researchers have developed many scales for examining the potential risk for violence, many of which use the structured judgment approach. Most of these scales have a limited evidence-base and have been studied in sub-populations that do not include all the populations where the scale is being used. Nonetheless, it is useful to be familiar with these tools and to consider using one. 

Another strategy is to rely on a more person-centered approach to outcomes. Weine et al. developed a person-centered approach to outcomes based upon existing evidence and practice knowledge for use with returning women and children in rehabilitation and reintegration (R&R) programs. Based upon the integrative analysis of the review and the expert and stakeholder-service-user input, the researchers selected 19 factors that were key to R&R for either women or children. Evaluation of this measure is in progress.

At this early stage in the space of targeted violence prevention, more measures need to be developed.