Limited Review of Literature on the Evaluation of P/CVE Programming

 A wide variety of programs, activities, and interventions could be considered preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) programs. As a 2016 evaluation of a US CVE initiative in New Jersey argued, some efforts can best be described as CVE-relevant programs if they are “not necessarily labeled as CVE programming per se, but [are] intended to produce outcomes that are theoretically linked to factors (reported in peer-reviewed literature) associated with preemption of violent extremism” (Williams et al., 2016). Other efforts, per a 2020 evaluation of CVE efforts in Massachusetts, are better described as CVE-adjacent programs. Like CVE-relevant programs, those in this category are not necessarily labeled as CVE, and they aspire to produce outcomes associated with the prevention of violent extremism; however, they are “not necessarily supported by peer-reviewed literature or rigorous evaluation”