Center for Interdisciplinary Policy, Education, and Research on Terrorism

Terrorism and other forms of political violence represent an extraordinary, escalating threat to societies throughout the world. Violence as a political strategy is rooted in the mass-mediated social and psychological consequences of fear. The primary mission of the Center for Interdisciplinary Policy, Education, and Research on Terrorism (CIPERT) is to promote the scientific understanding of the causes and effects of political violence, especially terrorism, and to translate this understanding into effective policy, education, and research.

Center. CIPERT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational foundation sponsored by the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, and by the Naval Postgraduate School through the Center for Homeland Defense and Security and the Center on Terrorism and Irregular Warfare.
Interdisciplinary. Understanding political violence is not the exclusive province of a particular academic discipline. CIPERT enjoys the support of leading representatives from a wide spectrum of social sciences, including political science, clinical, social and political psychology, psychiatry, criminology, sociology, history, and biology.
Policy. CIPERT seeks not only to advance scientific knowledge, but to contribute pragmatic, realistic improvements in public policy concerning terrorism and other forms of political violence.
Education. CIPERT leadership has developed and led a curriculum for homeland security leadership on the psychology of terrorism and fear management as part of the Naval Postgraduate School CHDS graduate and executive education programs. CIPERT contributors were recognized in 2003 by the American Psychological Association for innovations in graduate education.
Research. CIPERT conducts original research leading to new sources of objective evidence, as well as translational research, emphasizing findings from the social sciences that have important consequences for policy, education, and future research.
Terrorism. Although terrorism is a central aspect of political violence, contemporary political violence may take many other forms, ranging from politically motivated hate crimes, intergroup hostility, to mass murder and genocide. A key component of CIPERT's mission is to utilize social science knowledge, methods, and theories for a new understanding and effective interventions combating all forms of political violence.