Parents for Peace at Harvard Medical School: Extremism as a Public Health Concern

At Parents for Peace, we believe that preventing extremism starts with understanding the root causes of radicalization—pain, trauma, and unmet psychological needs. In our work with families impacted by extremism and radicalization, it’s a pattern that we’ve seen time and time again.

Last week, our Executive Director, Myrieme Churchill, had the incredible opportunity to present those findings at a Harvard Medical School conference, engaging with educators, social workers, and clinicians on how to recognize and address radicalization as a public health issue.

Understanding Radicalization Through a Public Health Lens

The conference, designed to equip frontline professionals with the latest research and strategies for supporting school-aged youth, covered a broad range of urgent mental health topics—including youth anxiety, social-emotional learning, and the risks of social media.

Myrieme’s presentation focused on a crucial but often overlooked aspect of youth mental health: the process of radicalization and how professionals can intervene before it’s too late.

Here are some insights from her presentation:

✔️ Radicalization is a symptom, not just an ideology. Individuals drawn to extremist movements often experience significant personal pain, trauma, or social isolation. And in many cases, we’ve found, hate works like a surface-level coping mechanism: a drug of choice for a deeper emotional or psychological challenge. Addressing these underlying issues is essential to effective intervention.

✔️ Social workers and educators are on the frontlines. Those who work closely with youth are often the first to notice warning signs of extremism. By understanding the behavioral and psychological indicators of radicalization, they can provide support and direct individuals to useful resources before individuals fall deeper into extremist hate.

✔️ Punitive responses don’t work. Some of the traditional approaches that are used to combat extremism—such as criminalization or ideological counterarguments, a jail sentence or a “gotcha” moment— aren’t useful in pulling people away from those ideologies. Rather they often push individuals toward isolated spaces and deeper into extremist beliefs

Instead, we believe a public health approach prioritizes understanding, rehabilitation, and support for both individuals and their families. That means we treat extremism like a disease: something that can spread from person to person through repeated exposure, but also as something that we can treat and prevent.

At Parents for Peace, we’re using that philosophy to prevent the damage that extremism can bring to communities, families, and individuals. We rely on clinical research and therapy to help heal individuals falling into extremist hate. And we work to pull them out before people get hurt.

A Collaborative Approach

As we look back on our time in Cambridge, we’re reminded of the importance of collaboration between mental health professionals, educators, and organizations like Parents for Peace. Our work is rooted in equipping families and professionals with the tools they need to recognize early warning signs and provide compassionate, effective interventions.

We are grateful to Harvard Medical School for hosting this critical discussion and to the educators, clinicians, and social workers who are committed to addressing radicalization at its roots. If you’re interested in learning more about how we approach extremism as a public health issue, visit Parents for Peace or explore resources from the conference.

Together, we can build a future where support and understanding replace hate and extremism.