RadicalizationJihadi recruits are attracted to radicalism, not brainwashed or manipulated: Researchers
The notion that jihadists are brainwashed or manipulated individuals has been the foundational tenet for many de-radicalization programs in the United States. Scholarly research on terrorism, however, shows that most jihadists are aware of their actions. They tend to join terrorist organizations because they believe they are defending what they see as a just cause. Furthermore, homegrown Western jihadists tend to be self-recruiters who actively seek out violent action before they become fully radicalized into violent ideologies.Researchers and psychologists, therefore, recommend a moreholistic approach to de-radicalization, and approach which takes terrorists and radicals as individuals who first acknowledge the presence of a radical ideology, are attracted to its message, and make themselves available as potential recruits.
When it became public that three East London schoolgirls — Shamima Begum, Kadiza Sultana, and Amira Abase — left England in February to join the Islamic State in Syria, British prime minister David Cameron said the girls had their “minds poisoned by this appalling death cult.” The Daily Mail quoted Begum’s sister saying “We love her, she’s our baby. She’s a sensible girl. … (ISIS is) preying on young innocent girls and it’s not right.”
The notion that jihadists are brainwashed or manipulated individuals has been the foundational tenet for many de-radicalization programs in the United States. It is also the notion subscribed to by the Mohammad bin Naif Counseling and Care Center in Saudi Arabia, one of the most lauded counterterrorism initiatives in the world today.
According to theAtlantic, the center does not use the term “brainwashing” in its official materials. Established in 2004, it aims to “de-radicalize” jihadists or, as the center prefers to call its patients, “beneficiaries,” through an extensive program of religious re-education. It provides psychological counseling, offers classes in creative writing and artwork, and helps with post-treatment resettlement. The center believes that jihadists are misguided about the authentic nature of Islam and their religious obligations.
One center staff member was quoted as saying that the majority of patients were “simpletons” whose youth and “lack of knowledge (made) it easy for extremists to target them and influence their way of thinking.” The solution, according to the staff member, is introducing to patients “true” Islam, by which he meant the conservative version defined by the center and the Saudi state.
Harvard University terrorism scholar Jessica Stern recorded similar views among center staff members in 2010, following her own visit to the center. “A Saudi official,” she wrote, “told the group of us who visited … that the main reason for terrorism was ignorance about the true nature of Islam.” Stern observed that “the guiding philosophy” behind the center’s efforts “is that jihadists are victims, not villains, and they need tailored assistance — a view probably unacceptable in many countries.”
The Saudi initiative toward de-radicalization mirrors that of anti-cult groups in 1970s America. In research on the “cult scares” of the era, Anson Shupe and David Bromley noted that the notion of “brainwashing,” and the reverse process of “deprogramming,” formed the centerpiece of anti-cult activism and legitimized the physical abduction of cult members to protect them from the “demonic” embrace of the cult and its manipulative leaders. This belief places jihadists as victims, unable to make logical and sound decisions to reject radicalism. It allows jihadists to believe that their actions are the fault of outsiders who exploit the jihadists’ moral vulnerabilities.
Scholarly research on terrorism, however, shows that most jihadists are aware of their actions. They tend to join terrorist organizations because they believe they are defending what they see as a just cause. Furthermore, homegrown Western jihadists tend to be self-recruiters who actively seek out violent action before they become fully radicalized into violent ideologies.
A holistic approach to de-radicalization takes terrorists and radicals as individuals who first acknowledge the presence of a radical ideology, are attracted to its message, and make themselves available as potential recruits. Terrorist groups justify their ideology using moral reasoning, casting themselves as defenders of the good. De-radicalization programs must expose this fallacy and confront terrorists with results of their inhumane actions.
Evidence shows that in conventional criminal justice settings, offenders who are brought face-to-face with their victims are less likely to reoffend. This approach could be taken with terrorists, but de-radicalization programs must first admit that their “patients” are not brainwashed, but are morally and intellectually capable of making the decisions they have made.
