David Hofmann

Dr. David C. Hofmann joined the UNB Sociology department in 2016. His recent funded research is related to terrorist risk and threat assessment, charismatic leadership within terrorist groups, the far-right and anti-government movements in Canada, hate crimes in Canada and the Maritimes, and modeling the fragmentation of trafficking networks upon removal of key actors and leaders. David is research fellow with the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society, and is a senior research affiliate with the Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security, and Society (TSAS).

Research interests

David’s current research interests are focused on five broad areas: terrorism and political violence, charismatic leadership, right-wing extremism, apocalyptical and millenarian groups, and criminal & illicit networks. David is a mixed methodologist, with a particular interest in social network analysis.

Selected publications

Hofmann, D.C. (Forthcoming). "Breaking Free: A Socio-Historical Analysis of the Canadian Freemen-on-the-Land Movement," In Canada Among Nations, Jez Littlewood, Lorne Dawson, and Sara Thompson (Eds.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Perry, B., Hofmann, D.C., and Scrivens, R. (In press). "Confrontational but not Violent: An Assessment of the Potential for Violence by the Anti-Authority Community in Canada." Terrorism and Political Violence, Forthcoming.

Hofmann, D.C. (In press). "How "Alone" are Lone-Actors?: Exploring the Ideological, Signaling, and Support Networks of Lone-Actor Terrorists," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Forthcoming.

Hofmann, D.C. (2017). "The study of terrorist leadership: Where do we go from here?" Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, 3, 208-221.

Hofmann, D.C. (2016). "The Influence of Charismatic Authority on Operational Strategies and Attack Outcomes of Terrorist Groups," Journal of Strategic Security, 9, 14-46.

Hofmann, D.C. (2015). "Quantifying and Qualifying Charisma: A Theoretical Framework for Measuring the Presence of Charismatic Authority in Terrorist Groups," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 38, 710-733.

Hofmann, D.C., & Gallupe, O. (2015). "Leadership Protection in Drug-Trafficking Networks," Global Crime, 16, 123-138.

Hofmann, D.C., & Dawson, L.L. (2014). "The Neglected Role of Charismatic Authority in the Study of Terrorist Groups and Radicalization," Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 37, 348-368.

Supervision areas

• Terrorism and political violence
• Right-wing extremism
• Criminal and illicit networks
• Cults and new religious movements
• Leadership and charismatic authority
• Sociology of religion
• Social and revolutionary movements
• Social network analysis
• Mixed methods

Please contact me to discuss possible supervision for undergraduate, MA, and PhD research projects.