Dr. Peter Simi

Dr. Peter Simi

Professor
Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Department of Sociology
Office Location: Roosevelt Hall 217
Office Hours: Thu: 1-2 p.m. and by appointment, either in person or zoom
Phone: 714-744-7611
Scholarly Works:
Digital Commons
Education:
Washington State University, Bachelor of Arts
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Master of Arts
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Ph.D.

Biography

Pete Simi is a Professor of Sociology at Chapman University. He has studied extremist groups and violence for more than 25 years, conducting interviews and observation with a range of violent gangs and political extremists. Dr. Simi is a member of the NCITE at the University of Nebraska, Omaha which is the newest university-based research center funded by the Department of Homeland Security and committed to the scientific study of the causes and consequences of terrorism in the United States and around the world. Simi is co-author of two book manuscripts, American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement’s Hidden Spaces of Hate and Out of Hiding: Extremist White Supremacy and How It Can be Stopped, and frequently serves as an expert legal consultant on criminal and civil cases related to political extremism.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

Out of Hiding: Extremist White Supremacy and How it Can be Stopped https://www.routledge.com/Out-of-Hiding-Extremist-White-Supremacy-and-How-It-Can-be-Stopped/Blee-Futrell-Simi/p/book/9781032333892
"Intuitive Pathways into Racist Beliefs." Latif, Mehr, Pete Simi, Kathleen Blee, and Matthew DeMichele. Emotions and Society, v. 5:3: 348-65.
Simi, Pete and Seamus Hughes. 2023. “The Slow Burn Threatening Our Democracy.” Lawfare.
Simi, Pete. 2022. “An Essay: Understanding the Threat of Right-Wing Extremism.” In Extending Justice, edited by Sarah Redfield and Bernice Donald. Carolina Academic Press.
Logan, Michael, Steve Windisch, and Pete Simi. 2022. “Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), Adolescent Misconduct, and Violent Extremism: A Comparison of Former Left-Wing and Right-Wing Extremists.” Terrorism and Political Violence.
Steven Windisch & Pete Simi. 2022. “More than a Joke: White Supremacist Humor as a Daily Form of Resistance.” Deviant Behavior
Simi, Pete and Steven Windisch. 2022. “Trauma, Extremism, and Criminology,” Trauma, CREST Security Review, November, Issue 15.
DeMichele, Matthew, Wesley S. McCann, Kathleen Blee, and Peter Simi. 2022. “Findings and Implications from a Project on White Supremacist Entry and Exit Pathways.” Perspectives on Terrorism. A Research Note for Oct. 2022 issue of PoT [XVI 5].
Blee, Kathy, Pete Simi, and Shayna Yogman. 2022. “Attacking White Supremacist Extremism through the Courts.” C-REX Blog, May, 2022.
Scrivens, R., Windisch, S., & Simi, P. Forthcoming. “Former Extremists in Radicalization and Counter-Radicaliaztion.” In M. Deflem and D. Silva (Eds.), Sociology of Crime, Law, and Deviance - Vol. 25: Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization (pp. 207-222) Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing.
Windisch, Steven, Pete Simi, Kathleen M. Blee, and Matthew DeMichele. 2020. “On the Permissibility of Homicidal Violence: Perspectives from Former US White Supremacists.” Perspectives in Terrorism:14(6), 148-59.
Pete Simi and Steven Windisch. 2020. “The Culture of Violent Talk: An Interpretive Approach.” Social Science, 9.
Windisch, Steven, Pete Simi, Kathleen Blee, and Matthew DeMichele. 2020. “Measuring the Extent and Nature of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) among Former White Supremacists.” Terrorism and Political Violence.
Latif, Mehr, Kathleen Blee, Matthew DeMichele, and Pete Simi. 2020. “Do White Supremacist Women Adopt Movement Archetypes of Mother, Whore, and Fighter?” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.
Hoffman, Dennis and Pete Simi. 2020. “Requiem for a Report.” Omaha Star. Op ed.
Simi, Pete.2020. “Unpacking the Links between Ideas and Violent Extremism.” George Washington University, Program on Extremism: 1-11.
“Active Abeyance, Political Opportunity, and the ‘New’ White Supremacy.” In Mobilization. Edited by Hank Johnston and Pamela Oliver.
Why White Supremacist Women Become Disillusioned, and Why They Leave.” The Sociological Quarterly, published online, June 27.
Windisch, Steven, Pete Simi, Kathleen Blee, and Matthew DeMichele. Forthcoming. “Understanding the Micro-Situational Dynamics of White Supremacist Violence in the United States.” Perspectives in Terrorism.
Simi, Pete and Steven Windisch*. 2018. “Why Radicalization Fails: Barriers to Mass Casualty Violence.” Terrorism and Political Violence.
Fahey, Susan and Pete Simi. Forthcoming. “Pathways to Violent Extremism: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of the US Far-Right.” Journal of Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict.
Latif, Mehr, Kathy Blee, Matthew DeMichele, and Pete Simi. Forthcoming. “How Emotional Dynamics Maintain and Destroy White Supremacist Groups.” Humanity & Society.
Simi, Pete, Steven Windisch*, Daniel Harris*, and Gina Ligon. Forthcoming. “Anger from Within: The Role of Emotions in Disengagement from Violent Extremism.” Journal of Qualitative Criminal Justice & Criminology.
Windisch, Steven, Gina Ligon, and Pete Simi. 2017. “Organizational [Dis]trust: Comparing Disengagement Among Former Left-Wing and Right-Wing Violent Extremists.” Studies of Conflict & Terrorism.
Windisch, S., & Simi, P. Forthcoming. “Trends in Neo-Nazi Music.” In S. Brown and O. Sefiha (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Deviance. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Futrell, Robert, Pete Simi, and Anna Tan. Forthcoming. “Political Extremism and Social Movements.” The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Social Movements edited by David Snow, Sarah Soule, Hanspeter Kriesi, and Holly McCammon. Wiley.
Simi, Pete, Kathy Blee, Matthew DeMichele, and Steven Windisch. 2017. “Addicted to Hate?: Identity Residual among Former White Supremacists.” American Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122417728719 DOI: 10.1177/000312241772871
Evans, Mary, Amy Anderson, and Pete Simi. 2017. “An Examination of the Relationship Between Height and Delinquency.” Journal of Developmental & Life Course Criminology, 1-18.
Bubolz, Bryan and Pete Simi. 2017. “The Problem of Overgeneralization: The Case of Mental Health Problems and US Violent White Supremacists.” American Behavioral Scientist.
Blee, Kathy, Matthew DeMichele, Pete Simi, and Mehr Latif. Forthcoming. “How Racial Violence is Provoked and Channeled” Socio.
Simi, Pete and Bryan Bubolz. 2016. “Far Right Terrorism in the United States.” In Handbook of the Criminology of Terrorism edited by Gary LaFree and Joshua Freilich. Wiley Press.
Windisch, Steven*, Pete Simi, Gina Scott Ligon, and Hillary McNeel*. 2016. “Disengagement from Ideologically-Based and Violent Organizations: A Systematic Review of the Literature.” Journal for Deradicalization, 9:1-38.

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