Brenna Helm

Research Associate

Brenna Helm is a digital criminologist researching online deviance, extremist subcultures, and extremists’ use of the Internet and technology. Much of her work focuses on understanding how individuals engage with extreme beliefs and spaces online, how extremist communities form and are maintained, and potential avenues for individual disengagement. More recently, Brenna has been researching youth mobilization, violent nihilistic subcultures, and the strategic use of media platforms by women in extremist movements. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Crime and Justice, Crime & Delinquency, Deviant Behavior, Sociological Focus, and in Critical Criminology. Her work has also been featured in the VOX-Pol Network of Excellence Blog and the Global Network on Extremism & Terrorism Insights. Brenna is a doctoral candidate (ABD) in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University and Research Associate at the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center.