A Novel Motivation-based Conceptual Framework for Disengagement and De-radicalization Programs

Abstract

From 2014 to 2016, the Centre de Prévention contre les Dérives Sectaires liées à l'Islam (CPDSI) was commissioned by the French Interior Ministry to establish the first indicators of radicalization, to come up with an experimental method for de-radicalization and to train law enforcement teams in France. A qualitative analysis of the data gathered from interviewing 809 young people prevented from joining ISIS, along with the collection of their interactions with the recruiters enabled us to identify the individualization of the recruitment pitches. Indeed, "the new radical discourse" adapts the jihadist ideology to the various emotional and cognitive needs of the young people, thereby pitching motivations tailored to their specific socio-culture and psychological profiles. The process analysis of the radicalization process sheds light on several sequential phases, which include a two-fold emotional-ideological dimension. This papers argues for a novel conceptual framework of the de-radicalizations studies and programs that take into account the link between the emotional and the ideological dimensions.

Joining the Islamic State from France between 2014 and 2016: an observational follow-up study

“…The dyadic relationship within the couple acts as a cement that amplifies adhesion to the radical ideology. It may also increase the splitting with previous friends and nonradicalized relatives, and the feeling of being involved in something meaningful (Khosrokhavar, 2014;Bouzar, 2014). The 'belonging to a family with married parents' factor (together with being Muslim by birth) can also illustrate that radicalization may be promoted in stable Islamic families through education and also through belonging to Islamic communities in which some individuals already experienced radicalization.…”

“…A total of 4011 French individuals were registered for radicalization, including 1017 minors (25%), 1434 females (35%), and 1672 (42%) convert Muslims (Ciotti and Menucci, 2015). To tackle the phenomenon of radicalization among young Europeans, authors have suggested individual risk factors such as personal vulnerabilities (e.g., early experiences of abandonment, perceived injustice, personal uncertainty and perceived group threat) and psychiatric disorders (Bazex et al 2017;Doosje et al 2013); micro-environmental risk factors such as family dysfunction and friendships with radicalized individuals (Bazex et al 2017;MIVILUDES, 2015;Schuurman and Horgan, 2016;Van San et al 2013); societal risk factors such as geopolitical events, societal polarization and societal changes (Benslama, 2016;Coid et al 2016;O'Duffy, 2008;Wiktorowicz, 2005); and systemic factors such as an encounter between an individual who is a candidate for becoming radicalized and a recruiter who uses sectarian techniques to isolate and dehumanize the candidate (Bouzar, 2014;MIVILUDES, 2015). However, recent reviews have highlighted that studies with empirical data are limited; they are mainly based on either small samples of males involved in terror attacks or projects (Bazex et al 2017), i.e., a retrospective design (Veldhuis and Staun, 2009), or Muslim by birth individuals (Kundnani, 2015), making it impossible to generalize the results or to establish causal relations.…”

The Indoctrination and the Treatment of Children from ISIS

“…It consists in a thematic analysis of the data collected through our assistance programme to study the steps of the radicalization process and categorize the different commitment motives [14,15]. The use of a qualitative thematic approach can widely be explained by the context of intervention of the CPDSI.…”

“…This also means that the cognitive opening of the radicalized is dependent on relating the emotional approach to the ideological approach. Even if the radicalization process is based on ideology that provides a binary worldview, one cannot challenge it with knowledge and reasoning [15]. It is counterproductive to directly confront the youth since this will automatically make them suspicious towards anyone outside the radical group.…”

“…This training replaces what we have called "the individualization of recruitment" carried out by recruiters via Internet on teenagers and young adults when they are in France. We describe meticulously this process where recruiters adapt the "jihadist" ideology to the cognitive and emotional aspirations of each teenager, to convince him/her to join the group and the "jihadist" project [15].…”