Al Qaida influenced radicalization: a rapid evidence assessment guided by situational action theor y. UK Home office, Office for Security and Counter Terrorism
The overarching objective of PARTICIPATION is to identify future perspectives and trends of polarisation, extremism and radicalisation as well as the social composition of the group at risk in Europe by a participatory and provisional methodological strategy, that permits to co-create with social actors, stakeholders and policy-makers effective strategies for prevention.
Risk assessment and management of group-based violence.
Group-based violence (GBV) may be defined as actual, attempted, or threatened physical injury that is deliberate and nonconsensual, perpetrated by one or more individuals whose decisions and behaviour are influenced by a group to which they currently belong or with which they are affiliated. Although GBV represents a serious challenge to professionals around the world tasked with protecting public safety, there is lack of systematic, evidence-based procedures to aid decision-making. This dissertation reports the development and evaluation of a new set of structured professional judgment (SPJ) guidelines for assessing and managing GBV, called the Multi-level Guidelines (MLG; Cook, Hart, & Kropp, 2013). The first part of the dissertation describes the development of the MLG based on a Campbell Collaboration review and expert feedback. The MLG was structured according to an ecological model of GBV comprising 20 risk factors in four nested domains: Individual, Individual-Group, Group, and Group-Societal. The second part of the dissertation reports on an evaluation of the MLG in two samples of criminal justice and mental health professionals who completed training and rated case studies. Consistent with predictions, the results of the evaluation indicated that professionals who completed the training: (1) reported significant increases in their confidence, competence, and knowledge concerning the assessment and management of GBV significantly: (2) appraised the MLG to be useful for their practice; and (3) made judgments concerning the presence of risk factors, as well as the nature and level of risks posed, with a degree of reliability comparable to that reported in evaluations of other SPJ guidelines. The professionals also provided feedback for improving the MLG. Overall, the findings suggest the MLG may aid decisions about GBV made by professionals working with diverse problems in a wide range of settings.
Developing, implementing and using risk assessment for violent extremist and terrorist offenders.
Across the EU, there is a call for more specialised risk assessment tools to assess the risk of radicalisation, extremism and/or terrorism in the offender population. Several such tools have been developed and are in use at the time of writing, for example, the Extremism Risk Guidance 22+ (ERG 22+) and the Violent Extremist Risk Assessment 2 Revised (VERA-2R). More specialised tools are being developed across the EU, either in national contexts or in EU project contexts.
Tracking narrative change in the context of exstremism and terrorism: adapting the innovative moments coding system. Aggression and Violent Behavior
Existing models of deradicalisation, countering violent extremism (CVE), and counter-terrorism (CT) have lacked a clear theory of change, as well as robust empirical methodologies. This paper proposes an empirically-based systematic and transparent methodology – the Innovative Moments Coding System (IMCS) – which is empirically sensitive, ethically defensible, and can be of use in the context of research to inform practitioner contexts. Through a case study of former violent militants, we explore the adaptation and usage of this instrument to identify and track self-narrative change in the processes of engagement and disengagement, as well as radicalisation and deradicalisation in the context of violent extremism and terrorism. We illustrate how this methodology has the potential to bring benefits to the work of researchers involved in producing guidelines for disengagement, deradicalisation or risk-reduction interventions.
T. E. S. A. T.
It is a privilege for me to present the European Union (EU) Terrorism Situation and Trend report (TE-SAT) 2020, which provides an overview of the incidents and developments with regard to terrorism in the EU in 2019. The attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday 2019 showed that the so-called Islamic State (IS) still looks to conduct large-scale attacks targeting EU citizens. In 2019 such plots have not materialised in the EU, largely due to the effectiveness of our law enforcement and security authorities, our international cooperation mechanisms and the collaboration between public and private actors in security matters.
The gender dimension in extremist and radical propaganda
Relying on case study methodology, it contributes to developing an up-to-date understanding of communicative approaches to prevention and countering of violent extremism and to radicalisation, which is the objective of WP4. Specifically, D4.4 explores how gender features in extremist communication, with a focus on emerging trends (ideological re-casting) and hybridisation processes, thus filling key gaps identified by previous tasks in Participation project.
Methodologies and tools for risk assessment on radicalization and violent extremism
The purpose of this report is to analyse the current panorama of risk assessment tools and methodologies relating to radicalization processes and violent extremism through a critical literature review. The aim is to understand which tools and methodologies are currently most used in the field of contrasting and preventing violent extremism and polarization and, in parallel, to deepen their limits, their output and their field of application.
Community-based strategies and practices for preventing and countering radicalisation and polarisation
The current white paper is part of WP3 of the PARTICIPATION project, and it attempts to formulate specific policies to optimise strategies and interventions against extremism, hate cultures and radicalisation on three levels (micro, meso, macro). By realising the social lab methodology, partners from Italy (CESIE), the Netherlands (HSC), Greece (KMOP), Poland (PPHS) and Romania (PATRIR) identified and provided concrete recommendations for the prevention and the countering of violent extremism, radicalisation and polarisation in local contexts for enhancing the procedure and counteracting the phenomenon. The necessity for a coordinated response, the involvement of various perspectives and actors along with the promotion of relevant education and training programmes have been central to the recommendations of the current paper.
Comparative analysis of P/CVE policies and strategies
The purpose of task T3.1 `General framework. Comparative analysis of existing P/CVE policies` is to provide a comparative, in-depth, critical and multi-level analysis of existing policies in the field of prevention and countering of violent extremism (P/CVE) implemented in Europe over the last few years, assessing their aims and breadth, as well and their strengths and weaknesses. The main output of the comparative analysis performed under T3.1 is a collection of cases highlighting the best practices and lessons learned, which constitute a stepping stone for the task 3.2. and address the social lab participatory strategies.
Building resilience and prevention in schools
During their adolescent years, young people are in the process of learning, exploring different worldviews, and developing opinions. This is a period of growth and development which is centred on a process of identity construction, particularly in terms of beliefs, values, motivations, and personalities. It is a phase of life full of challenges within an interconnected and complex world that can lead to difficulties in orientation, and the search for strong cultural and value models capable of guiding them within various social realities. A time in their life’s that is often characterised by uncertainties, fears, guilt, and anxieties that can be exploited by extremist individuals and organisations, that offer the most vulnerable people divisive narratives based on an “Us vs. Them” or a "Them vs. Us" division of the world. These narratives frequently identify scapegoats for the hardships, suffering, and issues present in our societies, using stereotypes and conspiracy theories.