Researcher Profile

  • Associate Professor Debra Smith, Principal Research Fellow, Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities (ISILC), Victoria University

  • Terrorism and Political Violence; Behavioural indicators of violent extremism; Emotions and mobilisation to violence; Right Wing Extremism

  • Terrorism and violent extremism; Behavioural indicators of violent extremism; Person of Interest (POI) Prioritisation Instruments; Emotions and mobilisation to violence; Right Wing Extremism

  • Smith, D. (2021). Passionate Belief: Ideology, Emotion and Terrorist Action, Emotions: History, Culture, Society 5:2, 6–24. https://doi.org/10.1163/2208522X-02010111

    Peucker, M.; Lentini, P.; Smith, D.; Iqbal, M. (2021). ‘Our diggers would turn in their graves’: nostalgia and civil religion in Australia’s far-right, Australian Journal of Political Science, 56:2, 189-205. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2021.1935448

    Ilardi, G. J.; Smith, D.; Zammit, A. (2021), Revisiting the relationship between academics and national security practitioners, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 19:1, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/18335330.2021.1895441

    Smith D. & Guenther, R. (2021) Understanding transitions to violence and the role of practitioner–academic partnerships, in Close, L. & Impiombato, D. (eds) Counterterrorism Yearbook 2021. Canberra: Australian Strategic Policy Institute ASPI, 87-90. https://www.aspi.org.au/report/counterterrorism-yearbook-2021

    MacDonald, F. and Smith, D. (2021) Educating the Children of Returning Foreign Fighters: Fear as the antithesis of inclusive education, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 25:2, 224-238. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2019.1707305

    Peucker, M. and Smith, D. (Eds) (2019) The Far-Right in Contemporary Australia, Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811383502

    Harris-Hogan, S., Barrelle, K., and Smith, D. (2019) The Role of Schools and Education in Countering Violent Extremism (CVE): Applying lessons from Western countries to Australian CVE policy, Oxford Review of Education, 45:6, 731-748. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2019.1612343

    Smith, D. and Talbot, S. (2019) How to make enemies and influence people: A Social Influence Model of Violent extremism (SIM-VE), Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 14:2, 99-114. https://doi.org/10.1080/18335330.2019.1575973

    Smith, D. (2018) So how do you feel about that?: talking with Provos about emotion, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 41:6, 433-449. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2017.1323467

    Smith, D. (2016). Symbiotic othering: terrorism, emotion and morality in, A. Eriksson (ed) Punishing the Other: the social production of immorality revisited, London & New York: Routledge, pp. 247-269. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315772912-13/symbiotic-othering-1-debra-smith

  • Radicalisation And Extremism; Social Influence – Micro, Meso And Macro Levels; and Disinformation And Social Cohesion


  • Twitter Handle     @DebraSm47212442
    Email Address debra.smith@vu.edu.au

 

Debra Smith

Overview

Associate Professor Debra Smith’s research focuses on questions of violent political extremism, social conflict and social change. She has a particular interest in the role of emotion within violent extremist beliefs and action, evidence-based behavioural indicators of mobilising to violent extremism, and translating research for applied practitioner outcomes. Debra co-leads the Applied Security Science Partnership (ASSP) at Victoria University that brings together university and defence researchers with law enforcement practitioners to undertake collaborative applied research on violent extremism and co-edited Australia’s first book on contemporary far right extremism. In 2020 Debra was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research (Individual).