Recent terrorist attacks and arrests have raised questions about homegrown terrorism. Canadians were surprised to learn two young men from a small town in Ontario were involved in the attack at the Algerian gas plant last January.
U.S. President Barack Obama, in the wake of the Boston Marathon attack, asked, “Why young men who grew did up and studied here, as part of our communities and out country resort to such violence?”
A comparison of cases of radicalization reveals several common factors, says Lorne Dawson, chair of the Department of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. He believes homegrown terrorism is a product of globalization, born of the movement of people around the world and the ease with which immigrants can stay in touch with people and issues in their homelands. The internet allows radical messages to travel easily.
Children of immigrants may feel intense pressure from trying to manage two different worlds. At home they are expected to conform to traditional culture and ideas while at school they want to fit in with their peer group and embrace its culture. They may experience discrimination or merely being treated as different.
Among psychological factors that seem to be catalysts to radicalization are a desire to make a mark in the world, to separate oneself from the crowd. Many radicalized youth are concerned with moral issues, knowing and doing the right thing as defined by some higher authority. They may scorn what they see is a corrupt society. Also there is part of the population that seeks action, adventure and risk.
Mentors will seek out youngsters with these characteristics and guide them along to become for radical. Small groups may increase enthusiasm and the courage to act.
Acts of violence may be precipitated by a triggering event which could be public or personal to the perpetrator.
Understanding these factors may help people in the community, families, and schools to keep an eye open for youth vulnerable to radicalization so they may try to intervene before they commit an act of violence, says Dawson.
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