Amara Kassam

Background

About Amara Kassam

I currently work directly with radicalized individuals and their loved ones, providing structured support aimed at disengagement from violent extremist ideologies and movements and promoting long term resilience. In my work at Parents for Peace, I have assisted in building a framework structured to support individuals involved in violent extremist movements and their loved ones, and performing that support directly. I respond to calls on the Parents for Peace helpline from individuals and families affected by radicalization, providing immediate emotional support, assessing needs and risk, and guiding them through the intake and onboarding processes. I have participated in research at Parents for Peace focused on what draws people to extremist movements, and of effective intervention methods for deradicalization, as well as a review of differing scales used to measure mental health conditions, economic conditions, happiness, religiosity, and other additional factors to identify the most relevant and effective scales to use in our work. I’ve helped design and refine helpline methodology, including intake procedures, risk screening, confidentiality protocols, and social media monitoring procedures used to identify and assess potential risk factors. I lead our intern program, training interns to conduct intake interviews, manage high-stress and sensitive calls with empathy and clarity, and create a foundational understanding of extremism through a public health lens. My academic background is in International Relations from a Political Psychology perspective, and in Abnormal and Applied Psychology. I studied Totalitarianism at Free University Berlin during an exchange program, focusing on how nationalist identities were weaponized in the rise of Nazi Germany and the tactics by the Nazi Party used to maintain total control. Particularly the intersection of art and dictatorship through the censorship of Nazi deemed “Degenerate Art” that deviated from nationalist sentiments, as well as the profiteering and politics of Nazi-looted Jewish artwork. During my time in the University of California Washington Program (UCDC), my focus was Media Studies with an emphasis in Disinformation and Propaganda. This has informed my view of extremism as a public health problem, and highlighted to me that evidence-based, human-centered interventions can create pathways away from extremism.