Brent Smith

Brent Smith
Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice
Director of Terrorism Research Center (TRC) in Fulbright College
University of Arkansas
Investigator
Biography:

Brent L. Smith received the Ph.D. in Sociology from Purdue University in 1979, began his affiliation with UAB in 1981, and retired in 2003. During his 22 years in the Department of Justice Sciences, he served as Director of the MSCJ Program and Chair of the Department. Dr. Smith is currently Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Arkansas where he continues his ground-breaking research on social movements—primarily terrorism. He is the author of Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams (1994). Smith founded the American Terrorism Study in 1987, a project that houses data on federal cases from 1980-present. He has testified regarding terrorism on several occasions before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, as well as the National Research Council. His publications on terrorism have appeared in numerous publications including Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Criminology & Public Policy, Terrorism: An International Journal, and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.

Background

Education:

Purdue University, Ph.D., Sociology, 1979

Selected Publications

Domestic Terrorism and Digital Media: Planning in Cyberspace  (Book Chapter)
The Situated Contexts of American Terrorism: A Conjunctive Analysis of Case Configurations  (Journal Article)
Suspicious Preoperational Activities and Law Enforcement Interdiction of Terrorist Plots  (Journal Article)
Spatial Analysis of U.S. Terrorism Incidents  (Research Brief)
Prosecuting Terrorism Post-9/11: Impact of Policy Changes on Case Outcomes  (Book Chapter)
The Terrorists' Planning Cycle: Patterns of Pre-incident Behaviors  (Book Chapter)
Infographic: Temporal Sequencing, Incident Sophistication, and Terrorist Outcomes  (Research Brief)
Temporal Sequencing, Incident Sophistication, and Terrorist Outcomes  (Research Brief)
A Community Level Comparison of Terrorism Movements in the United States  (Journal Article)
Opportunity, Group Structure, Temporal Patterns, and Successful Outcomes of Far-Right Terrorism Incidents in the United States  (Journal Article)
Identity and Framing Theory, Precursor Activity, and the Radicalization Process  (Report)
Prosecuting Terrorism: Challenges in the Post-9/11 World  (Journal Article)
The Emergence of Lone Wolf Terrorism: Patterns of Behavior and Implications for Intervention  (Journal Article)
Research Brief: Validation of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative  (Research Brief)
Validation of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative: Identifying Suspicious Activities from the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) and the American Terrorism Study (ATS)  (START Reports)
Patterns of Lone Actor Terrorism in the United States: Research Brief  (Research Brief)
Update on Geospatial Patterns of Antecedent Behavior among Perpetrators in the American Terrorism Study (ATS)  (START Reports)
Research Highlight: Identifying the Characteristics of Communities Where Perpetrators Live and Pre-Incident Activity Occurs  (Research Brief)
From Extremist to Terrorist: Identifying the Characteristics of Communities Where Perpetrators Live and Pre-Incident Activity Occurs  (START Reports)
Update on Geospatial Patterns of Precursor Behavior among Terrorists  (START Reports)
Patterns of Intervention in Federal Terrorism Cases  (START Reports)
Geospatial Patterns of Precursor Behavior among Terrorists  (START Reports)
Characteristics of Communities where American Terrorists, Lived, Planned, and Conducted their Attacks  (START Reports)
Patterns of Precursor Behaviors in the Life Span of a U.S. Environmental Terrorist Group  (Journal Article)
A Look at Terrorist Behavior: How They Prepare, Where They Strike  (Journal Article)

News References

U.S. perpetrators tend to attack close to home  (Featured Research)
LSE Blogs: Vulnerable targets, lone actors, and unsophisticated weaponry are increasingly common trends of U.S. far-right domestic terror attacks
University of Arkansas: Smith Named Inaugural Distinguished scholar by Division of American Society of Criminology
University of Arkansas: Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Celebrates 2016 Achievements
More plot participants, greater rate of attack success  (Featured Research)
Patterns of Lone Actor Terrorism in the U.S.  (Featured Research)
START to offer Massive Open Online Course  (News)
New START study examines communities where terrorists lived, planned and prepared  (Featured Research)
Terrorists act locally  (Featured Research)
START Releases 2011 Research Review  (Featured Research)
START responds to White House report on preventing violent extremism  (Featured Research)
START Researchers Featured in Journal of Homeland Security  (Featured Research)
New START Project to Focus on Extremist Violence in U.S. Counties  (Featured Research)
START Announces 2009-2010 Undergraduate Research Program Award Recipients  (News)