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The past decade has seen an increased development of new extremism risk assessment tools, some of which are used for practice (Extremist Risk Guidelines - ERG), and some that are intended for research (Violent Extremist Risk Assessment- VERA). As a result, the study of extremism now includes different perspectives and understanding of risk. The proposed module is indented to introduce security and crime science students to the ongoing developments in extremism risk assessments. The module will begin by discussing what we mean by risk; risk of becoming radicalised or risk of committing an act of violence? The module will examine how different types of risk can arise from systemic (such as social and environmental) and individual (such as age and gender) circumstances.

Students will learn about the different types of risk assessment tools that have been developed (actuarial versus structured professional judgement), and the different types of risk factors that are considered (static versus dynamic). Adding to this, students will learn about the research that is required to understand risk of extremism: baseline and comparative data to develop risk assessment tools, experimental testing of tools, and reliability and validity testing of existing tools. Further, the module will offer a discussion on the lessons we can learn from past real-life examples, and allow students to reflect on the implications that different types of risk assessments may have on historical cases. Throughout the module, students will be introduced to theoretical and empirical material from different fields of study, such as criminology, medical sciences, and psychology. The module assessments allow students to demonstrate their theoretical knowledge (through an essay), and to apply this knowledge to a real-life case. Finally, the module will provide forum for discussion on the potential shift from risk assessments to needs assessment.