Why do young people joined extremist groups and how to prevent it

The extremists - it's not just fanatics. They are ordinary people who are deliberately recruited. Political analyst Erin Marie Saltman said that to prevent the radicalization of scientists, artists, marketers need to work together with former extremists.

Erin Marie Saltman (Erin Marie Saltman)

Political scientist, researcher independent research center "Institute of strategic dialogue." It is engaged in anti-terrorism policy to Facebook.

What attracts young people to extremism

Sometimes it's easier to think that the terrorists - it sociopaths or a victim of severe childhood. Unfortunately, things are not so simple. Terrorists are people of different origin, gender, age, marital status. Let us try to understand what is so attracted to radical movements.

The process of radicalization is influenced by many factors, but they can be divided into two kinds: driving and attracting'Till Martyrdom Do Us Part' Gender and the ISIS Phenomenon.. They are roughly the same for all extremist movements.

drivers

There is also pull factors. What is so attractive offer extremist groups? Usually pretty positive things: brotherhood, a sense of belonging to something greater, spiritual purpose, the ability to create a utopian society, a sense of their own strength. They promise that the person will become a hero.

Extremist groups depict the life of a black and white scene of the struggle between good and evil. Themselves in this picture of the world are good, which fights against evil.

How to stop it using a personal communication and collaboration

Saltman is looking for new ways to make contact with people at risk. They are usually divided into three subgroups. First - wide layers of youth who need to explain what is extremism and radicalization. Second - those who became interested in some ideas of radical movements. The third - the people who already belong to the extremists.

For the first subgroup at the "Institute of strategic dialogue" to develop educational programs Extreme Dialogue. As part of her former extremists and victims of extremism in the videos tell their stories and ask questions.

To work with the second subgroup concretized create content and distribute it to a narrow audience. For this united representatives of different areas: technical specialists, marketers, artists. For example, remove a satirical video deriding Islamophobia, aimed at 15-20-year-old youth, who lives in Manchester and is interested in music, which promotes white supremacy.

For the most difficult sub-group developed a program One to OneIn which former extremists directly access social networks for those who are interested in radical movements. About 60% have received such messages are responsible, and not a threat, as one might assume. Some of them continued to chat. So, there is still an opportunity to influence them, to offer them an alternative to extremism.