Dr Benjamin Adams

Research Fellow

School of Society and Culture

College of Education, Behavioural and Social Sciences


My skills and experience span across the academic social sciences, critical humanities and creative fields. My work in recent years has emphasised research into the conceptual frameworks and practical implementation of preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) strategies for youth and, especially, young men, along with broader but related issues regarding radicalisation, ideology, masculinities and social inequality.I am currently part of a project team exploring the intelligence imperatives and implications of digital pathways to violent extremism in young Australians. This includes conducting qualitative interviews with youth regarding the extent and types of their exposure to online communities that promulgate violently extremist, misogynist, far-right and/or ambiguous ideologies.
 
Previously, I have worked as a research assistant in the Schools of Education at University of South Australia, The University of Adelaide, and The University of Queensland, having contributed to several projects and journal articles focused on the sociology of schooling in a neoliberal context, gendered learner identities and subjectivities, masculinity studies, educational inequalities, countering violent extremism and restorative practices in schools, higher degree research cultures and decolonising educational supervision.
 
I also have academic experience in the disciplines of English and History, completing a first-class joint honors degree and, later, a literary and cultural studies PhD on the work, persona and cultural reception of American writer Charles Bukowski. In the creative realm, I am a published poet and book, music and arts reviewer, demonstrating high degrees of skill in clarity of expression, composition and communication across a range of contexts.

Date Position Institution name
2025 - ongoing Postdoctoral Research Fellow (B) Adelaide University
2025 - 2025 Research Assistant University of Adelaide
2024 - 2024 Academic Research Assistant University of South Australia
2024 - 2024 Research Assistant University of Adelaide
2024 - 2024 Academic Research Assistant University of South Australia
2023 - 2023 Research Assistant University of Adelaide
2021 - 2025 Senior Research Assistant University of Queensland
2020 - 2020 Academic Research Assistant University of South Australia
2019 - 2019 Academic Researcher University of South Australia
2019 - 2019 Academic Research Assistant University of South Australia
2018 - 2018 Academic Research Assistant University of South Australia
2013 - 2016 P/T Teaching Lecturer University of Adelaide

Date Institution name Country Title
2024 University of Adelaide Australia PhD

Year Citation
2026 Stahl, G., Yemini, M., Maxwell, C., Hu, Y., Adams, B., & Bergen, S. (2026). Australian Activists as Storytellers in Digital Spaces: Acquiring Skills, Producing Content and Getting the Message Out. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 14 pages.
DOI Scopus1 WoS1
2026 Young, J., Stahl, G., & Adams, B. (2026). Radicalisation as redemption: right-wing male extremists attempting to reclaim masculinity in Australia. International Review of Sociology, 21 pages.
DOI
2024 Stahl, G., Schulz, S., Baak, M., & Adams, B. (2024). "You fight your battles and you work out how you're going to change": the implementation, embedding and limits of restorative practices in an Australian rural community school. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 52(1), 82-100.
DOI Scopus5 WoS2
2024 Stahl, G., & Adams, B. (2024). My brother's keeper: masculinities, social mobility and the role of familial care for working-class men. Families, Relationships and Societies, 13(4), 567-585.
DOI Scopus2 WoS2
2024 Stahl, G., Adams, B., & Oberg, G. (2024). “If you don’t have rapport, you haven’t got anything really”: affective intensities, relationality and rapport building in the work of CVE Intervention Practitioners. Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 17(3), 239-256.
DOI Scopus6 WoS4
2024 Stahl, G., Adams, B., & Oberg, G. (2024). Understanding the Role of Masculinity through the Perspectives of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Intervention Practitioners Engaged in Men’s (de)Radicalization. Gender Issues, 41(4), 23 pages.
DOI Scopus5 WoS4
2024 Stahl, G., Adams, B., & Wang, J. (2024). 'You don’t really want to hide it...': exploring young working-class men’s mental health literacy. Disability & Society, 39(11), 2878-2899.
DOI Scopus4 WoS2
2023 Stahl, G., Keddie, A., & Adams, B. (2023). The manosphere goes to school: Problematizing incel surveillance through affective boyhood. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 55(3), 366-378.
DOI Scopus33 WoS24
2023 Adams, B., Stahl, G., & Oberg, G. (2023). “The ideology becomes a way to make sense of that disconnection”: Beliefs, behaviour and belonging – does ideology matter in countering violent extremism?. Critical Studies on Terrorism, 16(4), 648-671.
DOI Scopus13 WoS9
2023 Oberg, G., Adams, B., & Stahl, G. (2023). The Role of Trauma and Mental Health in Violent Extremism: The Perceptions of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Practitioners and Why We Can’t Get It Wrong. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 32(12), 1744-1762.
DOI Scopus14 WoS10
2021 Stahl, G., Baak, M., Schulz, S., Adams, B., & Peterson, A. (2021). Preventing violent extremism: Resourcing, stakeholder strategies and fostering belonging and connection in Australian schools. British Educational Research Journal, 47(5), 1177-1193.
DOI Scopus10 WoS8
2021 Baak, M., Stahl, G., Schulz, S., & Adams, B. (2021). ‘We have to be really careful’: policy intermediaries preventing violent extremism in an era of risk. Journal of Education Policy, 37(3), 461-481.
DOI Scopus17 WoS13
2021 Schulz, S., Baak, M., Stahl, G., & Adams, B. (2021). Restorative practices for preventing/countering violent extremism: an affective-discursive examination of extreme emotional incidents. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 42(8), 1227-1245.
DOI Scopus9 WoS7

Year Citation
2026 Adams, B., Stahl, G., & Oberg, G. (2026). Be a Man, but Not Like That. In Men and Masculinities at the Margins (pp. 130-144). Routledge.
DOI

Date Role Membership Country
2025 - ongoing Member Fay Gale Centre for Research on Gender Australia
2025 - ongoing Member Intelligence Network for Social Identity, Groups, Health, & Trust (INSIGHT) Australia

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