PhD Student, Lancaster University
Simon holds an undergraduate degree in Law and an MA in International Security Studies, both from the University of Leicester. Following his studies, Simon worked at political and security risk consultancies focusing on terrorism in Sub-Saharan Africa and interned at the International Security department of Chatham House. He has also been employed as a Research Associate at the University of Birmingham.
Simon’s research focuses on the role of kin and peer networks in the transmission of extremist ideology and move to involvement in terrorism. His research interests include radicalisation, militant ideologies, conceptions of relatedness and kinship, and the influence of family members and peers on terrorist careers.
He is supervised by Professor Kim Knott (Lancaster), Dr Matthew Francis (Lancaster) and Dr Ces Moore (Birmingham).
Project information
CREST’s work is structured by five Programmes of activity. You can find out more information about our core programmes, as well as our commissioned projects here.
Simon Copeland is part of the Ideas, Beliefs And Values In Social Context programme. Read more about this project here.
More from Simon…
Telling Stories of Terrorism: A Framework for Applying Narrative Approaches to the Study of Militant’s Self-Accounts
Narrative has recently garnered much attention in the study of terrorism but remains poorly understood. This paper offers some initial steps towards translating the...Read More »Kin and Peer Contexts, Ideological Transmission and Extremist Involvement
Kin and Peer Contexts, Ideological Transmission and Extremist Involvement by CREST doctoral researcher Simon Copeland. This poster presents Copeland’s research which looks at the roles...Read More »Reciprocal radicalisation briefings and report
CREST’s sister website, Radicalisation Research, has published a series of briefings on reciprocal radicalisation. A CREST report, by Professor Kim Knott, Dr Ben Lee...Read More »Reciprocal Radicalisation
This CREST report, by Professor Kim Knott, Dr Ben Lee and Simon Copeland, highlights the topic of ‘reciprocal radicalisation’, which is the idea that...Read More »After Islamic State Series: Workshop Report IV
This workshop report is the fourth in a series of reports that tackle the implications of the demise of the Islamic State. CREST has...Read More »After Islamic State Series: Workshop Report III
This workshop report is the third in a series of reports that tackle the implications of the demise of the Islamic State. CREST has...Read More »Kin and Peer Contexts, Ideological Transmission and the Move to Extremist Involvement
Kin and Peer Contexts, Ideological Transmission and the Move to Extremist Involvement by CREST Doctoral Researcher Simon Copeland. Simon’s poster presents his research on...Read More »After Islamic State Series: Workshop Report II
This workshop report is the second in a series of reports that tackle the implications of the demise of the Islamic State. CREST has...Read More »After Islamic State Series: Workshop Report I
This workshop report is the first in a series of reports that tackle the implications of the demise of the Islamic State. CREST has...Read More »The Importance of Terrorists’ Families and Friends
Families are complicated and how they influence terrorists isn’t always clear. CREST PhD researcher Simon Copeland is investigating the role that families and friends...Read More »Transmitting Terrorism: A Family Affair?
Simon Copeland investigates the transmission of extremist ideology within family and peer networks. Nearly 20 years after his father was convicted of helping plan...Read More »