Journal for Deradicalization

Interviewing activists and terrorists: a detailed research protocol

2024-06-25T06:01:43-07:00

In the domain of PVE as well as reintegration, the most interesting studies are arguably based on material collected first-hand from the individuals involved in the phenomenon of political violence or terrorism. As more individuals from the 2013-2016 wave of foreign terrorist fighters are exiting the criminal justice system, young individuals with no memory of that period are sympathizing with ISIS and others again are joining right-wing groups with violent agendas. Understanding the motives behind such engagement will always lead a portion of the scholars to pursue interview-based studies. This paper describes the research protocol used for a study which dealt with politico-ideological mobilization and violence in relation to causes and conflicts in the Arab World. More than one hundred interviews were conducted in Lebanon, Switzerland and Canada with individuals involved in politico-ideological mobilization or violence of different ideological orientations. Besides interviews, complementary material in the form of ethnographic fieldnotes and voice recordings via instant messaging were collected. The data was compiled into a MAXQDA database and coded according to the principles of Grounded Theory, using open, selective, axial and theoretical coding. The paper further discusses epistemological and ethical considerations.

The Role of Cognitive Fusion in Pathways to Violent Radicalization and Deradicalization

2024-06-25T05:26:55-07:00

A better understanding of modifiable psychological processes that could reduce pathways to violent radicalization (VR) would greatly aid researchers, providers, policy makers, and individuals at risk for VR. Cognitive fusion, the tendency for behavior to be overly regulated and influenced by one’s thoughts and feelings, and a common intervention target within Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), may be one such fulcrum. Participants, recruited via gateway snowball sampling, were 233 young adults drawn from five communities in North America as part of Wave 4 of the Somali Youth Longitudinal Study. Utilizing moderation and mediation path analysis in MPlus, the study examined the relations between cognitive fusion, VR, and three important variables associated with VR risk: post traumatic stress symptoms, experiences of daily discrimination, and perceptions of a just government. Findings supported that higher levels of cognitive fusion were directly related to greater openness to VR. Additionally, higher levels of cognitive fusion statistically mediated the link between both daily discrimination and openness to VR as well as between post traumatic stress symptoms and openness to VR. Findings also highlighted that cognitive fusion and perceptions of a just government interacted such that openness to VR was highest in individuals who had low perceptions of a just government and had high levels of cognitive fusion. Results of this study provide preliminary evidence of the potential role of high cognitive fusion in the pathways to VR and further evidence for its potential integration as a target domain within deradicalization efforts.

Evidence and Ideology in the Independent Review of Prevent

2024-06-25T05:42:05-07:00

A key part of the United Kingdom’s counter-terrorism framework, the Prevent Strategy is designed to operate ‘upstream’ to stop people becoming or supporting terrorists. In February 2023 the long-awaited independent review of Prevent reported, evaluating the Strategy against its core objectives. Led by Sir William Shawcross, the report claimed that Prevent’s overarching rationale remains good because the UK continues to face a genuine terrorist threat, but lamented its diversion toward safeguarding and its downplaying of Islamist extremism as the purportedly most pressing source of radicalisation within the UK today. To declare the reception to Shawcross’ report mixed would be generous, with some observers even demanding that the Government withdraw the review. We share many concerns raised by civil society groups and practitioners, and in this piece argue that the Review is fundamentally flawed because of its partial – in the sense of both limited and biased – engagement with the relevant (and extensive) knowledge base that exists around radicalisation, counter radicalisation, and Prevent. More specifically – and with particular attention to the report’s emphasis on ‘ideology’ – we show: (i) that the report suffers from a selective, and problematic, engagement with relevant academic research that poorly represents established knowledge in this area; (ii) that this selective engagement leads to a questionable, and highly contestable, conceptual framing of the report’s core terms and parameters; and, (iii) that this contestable framing has implications for operationalisation of the report’s findings. In doing this, the article makes three core contributions in: (i) situating the Shawcross review in relevant historical and policy contexts; (ii) offering original analytical critique of the review’s methodological and political assumptions and findings; and, (iii) extending research on the mechanisms of counter-terrorism review via this new – and underexplored – case study.

Participatory Theatre for Preventing Violent Extremism Through Education - Reflections on Prospects and Preconditions

2024-06-25T05:49:01-07:00

As the search for new ways of preventing violent extremism through education (PVE-E) continues, the question arises as to what the creative arts can offer. This paper argues that Forum Theatre inspired by Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, is a useful strengths-based approach to PVE-E. By allowing students to intervene and change the plot in a re-run of a play on radicalisation, Forum Theatre supports students in understanding the complexity of radicalisation and reflecting on protective factors as well as intervention possibilities. It offers opportunities to take on different perspectives and experiment with, question and explore the consequences of behavioural decisions in certain contexts. However, there are some conditions for Forum Theatre to fully exploit its potential for PVE-E. Among others, the creative intervention requires a safe environment where students’ learning is not impaired by self-censorship. It should also be noted that while Forum Theatre can empower students to take preventative action themselves, its sole purpose should not be to turn students into prevention actors. Adequate training for teachers and external artistic professionals as well as preparation and follow-up for students are also indispensable. Now, it is time to expand the evidence base for such a participatory education method to assess whether it lives up to the theoretical expectations and whether such conditions are met in practice.

The Evolution of Estimated Time of Arrival: The City of Toronto’s CVE Program

2024-06-25T05:54:42-07:00

The Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) field is evolving in Canada, with CVE teams offering psychosocial disengagement interventions in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec. This article is written as a case study to detail the evolution of the city of Toronto’s CVE program, called Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), housed in the community mental health centre Yorktown Family Services (“Yorktown”). Toronto – the largest Canadian city, provincial capital of Ontario, and one of the most multicultural cities in the world – has seen several high-profile cases of violent extremism and terrorism over the past few years. For example, there were two “Incel” attacks that together killed eleven people, including nine women, in 2018 and 2020. In 2022, hate crime occurrences reported to the Toronto Police Service were 74% higher than pre-pandemic levels, and 40% higher than the 10-year average. Clearly, there was a need for a structured and multi-sectoral response which led to the inception of ETA in 2020. Against this backdrop, this paper outlines ETA’s program components and operational design. Various data points such as client age range, ideological affiliation, and services rendered are provided to demonstrate trends for the period of April 2022 to March 2023. As this paper will demonstrate, ETA’s services are grounded in engagement, outreach, case management (multi-agency service delivery), psychotherapy, religious counselling, peer support and forensic consultation, which is reflected in the evolving CVE literature and evidence-base.

Book Review: Gaming and Extremism: The Radicalization of Digital Playgrounds Edited by Linda Schlegel and Rachel Kowert

2024-06-27T22:13:50-07:00

This article reviews Gaming and Extremism: The Radicalization of Digital Playgrounds (2024), edited by Linda Schlegel and Rachel Kowert. Gaming and Extremism (2024) presents the current state of the literature on the nexus between videogames, gaming spaces, and extremism.