Exploring the Social Networks of Homegrown Violent Extremist Military Veterans, United States, 2003-2019 (ICPSR 39021)
Version Date: Dec 2, 2025 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Hazel R. Atuel, University of Southern California;
Carl A. Castro, University of Southern California
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39021.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
This study aimed to comparatively explore the risk factors of a sample of homegrown violent extremist (HVE) civilians (n=30) and veterans (people with a military background; n=30), who enacted or planned an HVE event between 2003-2019, as informed by people from their various social networks. A HVE event is defined as acts of terrorism within the context of ideologically motivated violence or plots (Southers, 2013). For veterans these ideologies include White Supremacy/Neo-Nazi/Anti-Muslim/Anti-LGBTQ, Anti-Government, Radical Islam, and Black Nationalism. A group of non-HVE veterans (n=10) served as a comparison group. For both HVE and non-HVE veterans, this investigation was conducted across the military lifecycle (premilitary, military, postmilitary), and included an exploration of protective factors against HVE across the military lifecycle for the non-HVE comparison group.
The collection includes three relational data files with information about demographics (DS1), radical experience (DS2), and military experience (DS3). A fourth dataset tabulates the type of social network informant for each HVE civilian, HVE veteran, and non-HVE veteran (DS4).
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Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reason for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.
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Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes
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This study includes four quantitative datasets that were compiled from a combination of primary and secondary data sources, as well as semi-structured interviews. The raw interview transcripts are not available as part of this collection, but the interview guides are made available as study-level documentation.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare veterans and civilians' trajectory toward homegrown violent extremism (HVE) from the perspectives of informants in various social networks (i.e., family, premilitary peers, military peers, postmilitary peers). Among veterans, this trajectory was across key transition timepoints (premilitary, military, postmilitary). The study posed the following overarching question: Among HVE veterans and civilians, what were the needs, narratives, and networks that put them at-risk for violence, as informed by people from their various social networks?
A group of non-HVE veterans served as a comparison group. Unlike the HVE sample, the non-HVE veteran comparison group were interviewed after being screened for their exposure to and resistance against violent ideologies (e.g., White Supremacy, Anti-Government). For this non-HVE veteran group, the following question was examined: Among non-HVE veterans, what were the needs, narrative, and networks that made them resist violent ideology across the military lifecycle?
Study Design View help for Study Design
For the homegrown violent extremist (HVE) civilian and veteran samples, a combination of primary and secondary data sources was utilized. Primary data included semi-structured interviews with key informants (e.g., family) as well as the veterans' own self-disclosures (e.g., self-published books, screeds). Meanwhile, secondary data from open sources included court documents (e.g., transcripts) and information from various media outlets (e.g., investigative journalism). For the non-HVE veteran sample, a semi-structured interview was developed and administered. All interviews were transcribed prior to analysis.
The research team utilized directed content analysis (DCA; Hshieh and Shannon, 2005) to analyze both primary and secondary data. Using DCA allowed for the development of a priori coding categories and to create emergent/new coding categories during the analysis. This resulted in the Military Radicalization Database comprised of three relational datasets. The final database includes 42 demographic variables, 29 radical experience variables, and 67 military experience variables. A fourth tabulated social networks dataset was also produced.
Sample View help for Sample
The study used purposive sampling of homegrown violent extremist (HVE) civilians and HVE veterans who committed or planned an HVE attack between 2003-2019, and their social networks. Convenience and snowball sampling were used for non-HVE veterans through outreach to various community-based veteran organizations and on social media forums for active-duty and veteran service members.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
People with a military background who committed or planned a homegrown violent extremist event.
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Data Source View help for Data Source
Smith, Brent L., and Damphousse, Kelly R. American Terrorism Study, 1980-2002. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2007-07-30. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR04639.v1
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HideOriginal Release Date View help for Original Release Date
2025-12-02
Version History View help for Version History
2025-12-02 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:
- Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.
Notes
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