Preventing Violent Extremism: A Review of the Literature

Stephens, William; Sieckelinck, Stijn; Boutellier, Hans

doi:10.1080/1057610x.2018.1543144

Cited by 118 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…A relatively recent phenomenon in the preventing violent extremism discourse has been to turn to the notion of resilience as a seemingly less problematic approach to prevention. Recent reviews of the scientific literature (Wimelius et al 2018;Stephens, Sieckelinck, and Boutellier 2019) have pointed to the prevalence of resilience building as a key concept in this literature, and an initial analysis of policy, presented in this article, suggests a similar trend. This is perhaps unsurprising given that resilience has become a go-to term in many other areas of social policy faced with complex challenges (Duit 2016;Amery 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…In our analysis of the academic literature on preventing violent extremism, "building resilience" was a theme that cut across different fields of study and approach (Stephens, Sieckelinck, and Boutellier 2019). Understanding whether and how this concept is drawn upon in PVE policy became a pressing question, particularly given the challenges described above associated with drawing on resilience in other policy areas.…”

Section: Resilience In Pve Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Being resilient to radicalisation in PVE policy: a critical examination

Stephens

Sieckelinck

2019

Critical Studies on Terrorism

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The problematic nature of certain policies and approaches to preventing and countering violent extremism has been robustly demonstrated; it is clear that rethinking the prevention of violent extremism requires concerted attention. One response to critiques of security-driven approaches has been the adoption of the language of resilience building. However, the turn to resilience has not been matched by a fundamental rethinking of approach, and may often mask troubling approaches in the language of objectivity and positivity. In rethinking the question of prevention, examining the concept of resilience is important not only to address a current trend in policy discourse, but also to benefit from the rich literature on resilience from which valuable lessons may be drawn. A critically informed concept of resilience has the potential to provide a framework of response that recognises individuals and communities as political actors who, rather than being shielded from ideologies, require the resources and channels to challenge violence, discrimination, and injustice, be it state or nonstate driven. This article, through examining the current use of "resilience" in PVE policies, makes a modest attempt to draw on lessons from applying resilience in other contexts to articulate possible features of a critically informed approach to preventing violent extremism.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Resilience In Pve Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Being resilient to radicalisation in PVE policy: a critical examination

Stephens

Sieckelinck

2019

Critical Studies on Terrorism

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“…This literature frequently uses the resilience concept on multiple scales for how to prevent radicalisation. Moreover, the resilience concept is proposed as the basis for a common framework for the prevention of radicalisation (Stephens, Sieckelinck, and Boutellier 2019). This approach to terrorism conceptualises resilience as "the relation between terrorism and the social factors that can facilitate, enhance or block the terrorism threat" (Lucini 2017, 99), or as a form of psychological robustness that makes potential terrorists refrain from radicalised ideas and the willingness to use violence as a political means.…”

Section: Resilience As Refraining From Extreme Ideasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within academic circles, resilience has gained massive attention in recent years and the resilience concept is suggested as the basis for a common framework for radicalisation and terrorism prevention (Stephens, Sieckelinck, and Boutellier 2019). While the academic literature on resilience is extensive in various disciplines, scholars of terrorism have only recently begun to develop a body of research on the concept and its associated benefits and perils.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Who does not want to be resilient from a devastating threat such as terrorism? Many scholars have also welcomed resilience approaches to terrorism because they see them as an alternative to military interventions and as more locally adaptable strategies (Dalgaard-Nielsen and Schack 2016;Stephens, Sieckelinck, and Boutellier 2019). However, as many critical terrorism scholars have pointed out, approaches to counterterrorism are never neutral.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is resilience a favourable concept in terrorism research? The multifaceted discourses of resilience in the academic literature

Jore

2020

Critical Studies on Terrorism

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The concept of resilience is frequently found in academic documents describing the favoured solution for how to address the threat of terrorism. Despite this, few attempts have been made to critically examine what resilience means and whether it is a favourable concept in terrorism research. Since multiple researchers in other disciplines have claimed that the resilience concept serves as an umbrella concept for a range of positive attributes, this study investigates the different discourses that resilience in the academic terrorism literature is built upon. The analysis outlines five different discourses in the academic literature that contain different descriptions of what it means to be resilient regarding terrorism. It is concluded that the meaning of terrorism resilience in the academic literature is multifaceted, ambiguous and sometimes contradictory. The positive connotation embedded in the concept of resilience and the absence of a description of what it means not to be resilient is problematic because it turns resilience into a utopian goal rather than a realistic counterterrorism project. Moreover, resilience normalises the view of terrorism as a ubiquitous omnipresent threat and legitimises counterterrorism measures as a positive, depoliticised necessity. Resilience is serving ideological purposes, and thus researchers should not uncritically accept resilience as the solution to the threat of terrorism.

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A systematic literature review on preventing violent extremism

Kafy

2022

Journal of Adolescence

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Introduction: In recent years, violent extremism (VE) attacks have escalated worldwide. More schools and students are being attacked. Examining and addressing VE core causes through preventing VE (PVE) strategies can help avoid future atrocities. Due to the tremendous proliferation of research geared toward PVE, an extensive but disorganized knowledge review has accumulated in recent years. The review aims to discover several common themes and strategies across different disciplines and suggests resilience approaches might be the effective framework for PVE worldwide. Methods: This study followed the guidelines provided by PRISMA. A systematic literature review on 81 articles was conducted in January 2022, with a screening approach starting from the title, abstract and finally, full articles. Results: Seventeen studies were identified with a total sample of 2415 vulnerable young adults, age range: 16-29, male: 68.65% and female 31.35% mainly influenced VE pursuits through internet, TV and social media. In addition, the study identified that for PVE, individual actions would include ineffective approaches compared to a group approach starting from family to educational institutions. Conclusions: The effective PVE will be ensured by developing strategies for resilient individuals and dialoguing from the social-ecological perspective for taking practical actions in reducing VE activities.

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Preventing Violent Extremism: A Review of the Literature

Cited by 118 publications

References 31 publications

Being resilient to radicalisation in PVE policy: a critical examination

Being resilient to radicalisation in PVE policy: a critical examination

Is resilience a favourable concept in terrorism research? The multifaceted discourses of resilience in the academic literature

A systematic literature review on preventing violent extremism

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