The Making of an Extremist: Identity, Grievance, and the Online Ecosystem of Violence
Presented by: Dr. Lisa Pescara-Kovach
Date: 22 October 2026: 15h00-16h30 Johannesburg time; 06h00 LA time; 09h00 NY time; London 14h00; Mumbai 18h30; Hong Kong 21h00
Format: Zoom Webinar
Cost:
Free for any TAP member with up-to-date paid membership dues (eg AfATAP, AETAP, ALATAP, APATAP, ATAP, CATAP)
ZAR200 (approximately US$11) for non-members
Registration Queries: doc@afatap.africa
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About the webinar: The Making of an Extremist: Identity, Grievance, and the Online Ecosystem of Violence
The presentation examines the growing intersection of extremist ideology, metapolitics, and targeted violence through Generation Identity (GI) ideology and the Great Replacement narrative. GI promotes an exclusionary ideology centered on the preservation of a perceived “pure” cultural and racial identity, opposing immigration and multiculturalism. The Great Replacement narrative has transcended geographic boundaries and is increasingly reflected in terror attacks in the United States and abroad.
Grounded in current research on radicalization and extremist movements, the aim of the presentation is to highlight the rapid rise of identity-based hate ideologies and the increasing role of domestic actors in extremist violence. Particular attention is given to how social media platforms function as accelerants via facilitating propaganda dissemination, grievance reinforcement, and recruitment, particularly among vulnerable youth populations. The presentation further explores how exposure to extremist narratives online contributes to identity formation processes that can culminate in violent action.
Through analysis of high-profile cases including, but not limited to, Buffalo, Christchurch and El Paso, this work addresses the transnational diffusion of ideology and the convergence of online and offline radicalization pathways. Implications for educators, mental health professionals, and threat assessment teams are discussed, with emphasis on early identification, media literacy, and intervention strategies aimed at disrupting pathways to violence.Top of Form
About the speaker: Dr. Lisa Pescara-Kovach
Dr. Lisa Pescara-Kovach is a professor of educational psychology at The University of Toledo where she serves as Director of the Center for Education in Mass Violence and Suicide. Lisa has her B.A. in Psychology, M.A. in Experimental Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a minor in Child Clinical Psychology. She primarily teaches graduate courses in human development, school violence prevention and intervention, case management, student and educator mental health, digital media literacy, and classroom engagement and behavioral supports.
In addition to her university work, she is a member of the Great Lakes Chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP Worldwide). She served on the advisory board of the National Association of Behavioral Intervention and Threat Assessment (NaBITA) from 2017 until 2021 and has since moved on to the advisory board, and co-creates content and trainings with, the International Association of Care and Threat Teams (InterACTT), DPREP Safety, and the Workplace Violence Prevention Association (WVPA).
Lisa is co-author of White Supremacist Violence: Understanding the Resurgence and Stopping the Spread published through Routledge. Her most recent peer-reviewed publications address domestic terrorism recruitment practices, media contagion in connection to suicides and targeted shootings, as well as the mental health and mass shooting myth. Her work on media contagion, female shooters, threat assessment, and post-mass shooting mental health has been featured in Salon, The Hill, the Californian, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, and the Colorado Sun. She was also selected as an expert blogger for Psychology Today.
Dr. Pescara-Kovach’s international and national level peer-reviewed and invited presentations include, but are not limited to, issues of domestic terrorism; suicides and homicides related to bullying; behavioral threat assessment; and prevention through postvention in school, campus, and workplace shootings. She is certified in psychological autopsy, mental health first aid as well as group and individual critical incident stress management.
Lisa served as an expert witness for the plaintiff in the estate of Gabriel Taye v. Cincinnati Public School District lawsuit (see https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/04/us/gabriel-taye-suit-settlement/index.html). Within her regional community, she has served as the region’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Fundamentals of Mental Health trainer since 2014 and is co-founder and director of the Northwestern Ohio Critical Incident Stress Management team.
