Using Psychological Insights about Stigmatized Groups to Inform Policymaking and Institutional Design

My research focuses on the psychological responses of stigmatized groups to policy and institutional arrangements in the United Kingdom and Europe. Policies such as the Prevent Duty, European religious dress bans and the profiling of AMEMSA (Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian) people have often been justified with appeal to secularism and national security; in brief, defenders have argued that infringements of privacy, right to public displays of religious affiliation and the imposition of certain costs, such as longer airport security times, is proportional to the aim of ensuring these goals. My thesis makes an empirically-grounded argument that these justifications neglect an important side-effect of these policies, as they have been shown to lead Muslims to form beliefs that they have an inferior political status, to anticipate hostility and legal sanction when exercising of their freedom of speech and to perceive costs when dealing with Prevent-bound practitioners. This insight has been neglected by academics in Politics and Public Policy and the existing Psychology evidence about these responses fails to provide a normative plan of action to guide policy. My research aims to fill this gap.
Although Prevent has been widely criticized since its implementation in 2015, there has been renewed interest in it, as, in 2019, it has been used to silence and deter environmental activists, police force critical of state guidance and, increasingly, kindergarten pupils. Furthermore, amid UK government plans to expand the scope of the Duty to non-publicly funded staff, Prevent was found to be in violation of human rights and a symptom of institutionalized islamophobia by the United Nations in 2020. My research makes a timely contribution beyond academia, in response to current developments in the implementation of Prevent and to planned anti-radicalization policy reform in the UK. Through this fellowship, I aim to maximize this impact by (i) disseminating my research to both policymakers (via Commission for Countering Extremism) and Muslim interest groups in the UK (Muslim Council of Britain and Muslim Engagement and Development Network) at a UK government conference, and (ii) facilitating a conversation between these key stakeholders at a public engagement that I will co-organize with the Alan Turing Institute.
During the ESRC Fellowship, I will focus on disseminating my PhD findings to academic audiences, through three 4* journal articles, and presenting my research at two international conferences. To ensure impact beyond academia, I will present my research on the psychological effects of Prevent at an annual conference on de-radicalization organised by the UK government and close the research feedback loop by targeting Muslim interest groups through a public engagement activity. To maximize impact, I will write an opinion piece for Euronews, where I have worked as a contributor in the past. This media engagement plan is aimed at providing an unbiased, empirically grounded assessment of Prevent to generate debate about the current UK government's plan to expand its scope and to communicate the input of relevant stakeholders present at the public engagement event.
My limited further research, about how targeted political ads exploit and inflame stigma against AMEMSA groups for electoral gains, will add another layer to my doctoral research. On the recommendation of my examiners, this case study will increase the generalizability of my argument, thus adding to its academic credibility and allow me to shape the field in current debates about electoral practices. This research will also contribute to the regulation of the practice, through a briefing paper submitted to Parliament (POST) and to the development of a funding proposal for a monograph based on my PhD, submitted to British Academy and Leverhulme. Through this engagement, I hope to be able to guide inevitable electoral reform in the UK in the digital age.