Theory

What means the term radicalization? What consist of the phenomenon of youth violent radicalization? What are the causes? How we can prevent it? While radicalization can have different and varied meanings, here below are some tools to help develop an idea about the phenomenon.

• TOOL 1.1.OVERVIEW ON THE PHENOMENON

• TOOL 1.2.RADICALISATION IN PRISON

How the positive psychology and the Good Lives Model could help young people to counter extremism?
This section provides some tools that use positive psychology and the good lives model in a practical way to help young people to improve their self-confidence and make them conscious of their strengths, in order to prevent radicalization phenomenon.

• TOOL 2.1. OVERVIEW ON POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND GOOD LIVES MODE

• TOOL 2.2. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND GLM IN SCHOOL AND UNIVERSITY

• TOOL 2.3. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND GLM IN PRISON

Engagement with young people in this project has demonstrated that the top – down approach is resented by young people who feel they need to be listened to and engaged with meaningfully so that the way they think and feel can truly be understood. The tools in this section helps facilitators engage better with young people to listen more effectively and empower young people to have a voice and participate more effectively in decisions that have a direct consequence in their lives.

• TOOL 3.1.PARTICIPATION AND LISTENING SKILLS

• TOOL 3.2.NFE & YOUTHLED APPROACH

Recognising conflict as part of a diversified society and looking at strategies to manage conflict in a positive and non-violent way, is important for guaranteeing the civil coexistence.
Taking a human rights approach, this section aims to explore the concepts of stereotype, prejudice, discrimination (problem emerged during the WP2 phase), conflict resolution and critical thinking.

• PDF. TOOL 4.1.STEREOTYPE, PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION

WHAT ARE THE YEIP SOLUTIONS FOR COUNTERING STEREOTYPES, PREJUDICE & DISCRIMINATION, PREVENTING CONFLICTS AND VIOLENCE?

1. Embracing diversity and improving empathy

Diversity is a resource not a threat and embracing diversity is foundamental for living in a tolerant and welcoming society. A way for embracing diversity is improving empathy and encouraging the “in someone else shoes” experience.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share another person’s feelings and emotions and is a powerful instrument for countering radicalization phenomenon: empathy, human relationships and coprehention capacity represent the counter-narration to hate and intolerance.

2. Teaching tolerance

Educating young people to the values of tolerance, respect of people and peoples’ rights, of their freedom and diversity is foundamental for positively influencing their approach to stereotype, prejudice and discrimination phenomena and changing their behavior in the society.

3. Countering hate speech

No universally accepted definition of the term “hate speech” exists, despite its frequent usage.
Though most States have adopted legislation banning expressions amounting to “hate speech”, definitions differ slightly when determining what is being banned.
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers” Recommendation 97(20) on “hate speech” defined it as comments which are necessarily directed against a person or a particular group of persons.

4. Resolving conflicts

Conflicts are inevitable because people think, experience and feel about situations differently.

When conflict happens or people experience inappropriate behavior, relationships are “damaged”. Conflicts affect not only the parts directly involved but also indirectly the “community” in with they live (think for example to a conflict on the workplace, it also effects indirectly the work team).

Being able to resolve conflicts in non-violent way through open discussion is the key to preventing conflicts escalating into possible violent extremism.

The best and most effective way of dealing with behaviour and acts that are undesirable is to use a restorative justice stance: restorative practices can be useful instruments both for preventing conflicts and addressing them when they happen, enabling “community” and individuals to “repair” their “damaged” relationship and building together positive daily interactions.

The following matrix demonstrate various other stances in dealing with undesirable behavior:

NEGLECTFUL: omitted, ignored, unresponsive

PUNITIVE: authoritarian, hyper vigilant

PERMISSIVE: person with authority provides solution, person with the authority does the reasoning, focus on sanctions

AUTHORITATIVE:  doing with authoritative, trusting, respectful relations

Skills required in managing conflict are the following:

Source: Fisher, Roger, William L Ury and Bruce Patton, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement without giving in, (Penguin Books, revised edition, 2011)

5. Developing critical thinking

Most extreme though and behavior is usually the result of unconsidered reaction to external stimuli in the form of incidents or speech. Developping critical thinking is important so responses to external stimuli are a result of a rational and considered thought process.

Critical thinking is an active approach that includes application, evaluation and analysis:

Questioning ourselves is an important step for developing critical thinking. The Hilsdson model distinguishes three steps of questions: descriptive questions, questions for analysing and questions for evaluating.

Source of the image: Hilsdon J. (2010). “Critical Thinking”, Learning Development, Plymouth University

Here you can find summarised the characteristics of a critical thinker and a non critical thinker: