Dr. Ryan Scrivens

Ryan Scrivens is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. He is also an Associate Director at the International CyberCrime Research Centre at Simon Fraser University in Canada and a Research Fellow at the VOX-Pol Network of Excellence in Ireland. Dr. Scrivens conducts problem-oriented interdisciplinary research with a focus on terrorists’ and extremists' use of the Internet, right-wing terrorism and extremism, and hate crime. Many of his research projects are derived from his engagements with front-line practitioners in law enforcement and intelligence agencies, as well as in social media and tech companies. A hallmark of his research is employing advanced quantitative methods and machine learning tools to better understand right-wing extremists’ use of the Internet and associated technologies. He complements this approach by also conducting in-depth interviews with current and former violent extremists, as well as law enforcement and community activists. As a result, he has become a leading international expert on right-wing terrorism and extremism, known among his peers for conducting innovate and cutting-edge empirical research. Dr. Scrivens has published over 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, books and book chapters, conference proceedings, and policy notes in the past five years. His recent work appears in Terrorism and Political ViolenceStudies in Conflict & TerrorismNew Media & Society, and Deviant Behavior. He also has book contracts with Oxford University Press and Palgrave. In addition, he has presented his findings before practitioners and policymakers at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the UK Home Office, the Swedish Defence Research Agency, and the United Nations, among others. His research has been funded by Public Safety Canada, the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security and Society, and VOX-Pol.

Contact Information:
Email: rscriv@msu.edu

Additional Information:
MSU School of Criminal Justice Page
Personal Website
Twitter Page
LinkedIn Page
Google Scholar Citation Page
ResearchGate Page

Relevant Publications:

Scrivens, R. (In Press). Examining Online Indicators of Extremism Among Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists. Terrorism and Political Violence.

Scrivens, R., Gaudette, T., Conway, M., & Holt, T. J. (In Press). Right-Wing Extremists' Use of the Internet: Trends in the Empirical Literature. In B. Perry, J. Gruenewald, & R. Scrivens (Eds.), Right-Wing Extremism in Canada and the United States. Palgrave.

Davies, G., Scrivens, R., Gaudette, T., & Frank, R. (In Press). A Longitudinal Comparison of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremist Identities Online. In B. Perry, J. Gruenewald, & R. Scrivens (Eds.), Right-Wing Extremism in Canada and the United States. Palgrave.

Scrivens, R. (2021). Exploring Radical Right-Wing Posting Behaviors Online. Deviant Behavior

Gaudette, T., Scrivens, R., Davies, G., & Frank R. (2021). Upvoting Extremism: Collective Identity Formation and the Extreme Right on Reddit. New Media and Society.

Scrivens, R., Chermak, S. M., Freilich, J. D., Wojciechowski, T. W., & Frank, R. (2021). Detecting Extremists Online: Examining Online Posting Behaviors of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists. RESOLVE Network Policy Note.

Scrivens, R., Osuna, A. I., Chermak, S. M., Whitney, M. A., & Frank, R. (2021). Examining Online Indicators of Extremism in Violent Right-Wing Extremist Forums. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.

Scrivens, R., Burruss, G. W., Holt, T. J., Chermak, S. M., Freilich, J. D., & Frank, R. (2021). Triggered by Defeat or Victory? Assessing the Impact of Presidential Election Results on Extreme Right-Wing Mobilization Online. Deviant Behavior.

Hutchinson, J., Amarasingam, A., Scrivens, R., & Ballsun-Stanton, B. (2021). Mobilizing Extremism Online: Comparing Australian and Canadian Right-Wing Extremist Groups on Facebook. Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression.

Scrivens, R., Wojciechowski, T. W., Freilich, J. D., Chermak, S. M., & Frank, R. (2021). Comparing the Online Posting Behaviors of Violent and Non-Violent Right-Wing Extremists. Terrorism and Political Violence.

Scrivens, R., & Gaudette, T. (2021). Terrorists’ and Violent Extremists’ Use of the Internet and Cyberterrorism. In T. J. Holt (Ed.), Crime Online: Causes, Correlates and Context, Fourth Edition. Carolina Academic Press.

Scrivens, R., Wojciechowski, T. W., & Frank, R. (2020). Examining the Developmental Pathways of Online Posting Behavior in Violent Right-Wing Extremist Forums. Terrorism and Political Violence.

Gaudette, T., Scrivens, R., & Venkatesh, V. (2020). The Role of the Internet in Facilitating Violent Extremism: Insights from Former Right-Wing Extremists. Terrorism and Political Violence.

Scrivens, R., Gill, P., & Conway, M. (2020). The Role of the Internet in Facilitating Violent Extremism and Terrorism: Suggestions for Progressing Research. In T. J. Holt & A. Bossler (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of International Cybercrime and Cyberdeviance. Palgrave (Cybercrime Series).

Scrivens, R., & Amarasingam, A. (2020). Haters Gonna “Like”: Exploring Canadian Far-Right Extremism on Facebook. In M. Littler & B. Lee (Eds.), Digital Extremisms: Readings in Violence, Radicalisation and Extremism in the Online Space. Palgrave (Cybercrime Series).

Scrivens, R., Davies, G., & Frank, R. (2020). Measuring the Evolution of Radical Right-Wing Posting Behaviors Online. Deviant Behavior.

Conway, M., Scrivens, R., & Macnair, L. (2019). Right-Wing Extremists’ Persistent Online Presence: History and Contemporary Trends. The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague.

Scrivens, R., & Conway, M. (2019). The Roles of ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Media Tools and Technologies in the Facilitation of Violent Extremism and Terrorism. In R. Leukfeldt & T. J. Holt (Eds.), The Human Factor of Cybercrime. Routledge.

Scrivens, R., Gaudette, T., Davies, G., & Frank, R. (2019). Searching for Extremist Content Online Using The Dark Crawler and Sentiment Analysis. In M. Deflem & D. Silva (Eds.), Methods of Criminology and Criminal Justice Research. Emerald Publishing.

Scrivens, R., & Bouchard, M. (2019). 21st Century Crimes: Cybercrime and Terrorism. In N. Boyd (Ed.), Understanding Crime in Canada (Second Edition). Emond Publishing.

Scrivens, R., & Davies, G. (2018). Identifying Radical Content Online. Policy Options.

Scrivens, R., Davies, G., & Frank, R. (2018). Searching for Signs of Extremism on the Web: An Introduction to Sentiment-based Identification of Radical Authors. Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression.

Figea, L., Kaati, L., & Scrivens, R. (2016). Measuring Online Affects in a White Supremacy Forum. In Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI).

Scrivens, R., & Frank, R. (2016). Sentiment-based Classification of Radical Text on the Web. In Proceedings of the 2016 European Intelligence and Security Informatics Conference (EISIC).

Perry, B., & Scrivens, R. (2016). White Pride Worldwide: Constructing Global Identities Online. In J. Schweppe & M. Walters (Eds.), The Globalisation of Hate: Internationalising Hate Crime (pp. 65-78). Oxford University Press.

Scrivens, R., Davies, G., Frank, R., & Mei, J. (2015). Sentiment-based Identification of Radical Authors (SIRA). In Proceedings of the 2015 IEEE ICDM Workshop on Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI).