Diffusing Destructive Devotions: Deploying Counter Terrorism

Radicalisation, psychology, violent extremism, social processes

Radicalisation and violent extremism, both under the ubiquitous umbrella of terrorism are nebulous, fluctuating and challenging to define. These terms generally consist of psycho-cognitive constructions of mental/emotional social processes often occurring in closed communities with an impetus to pursue violent behaviour and the adoption of extreme positions to intimidate the public and threaten security (Foret & Markoviti, 2019; Prislan, et al., 2019). Cross-cultural research and fieldwork on violent extremism indicates that the most influential and dangerous operators are devoted or committed actors (Atran, 2021). In this complex terrain, of destructive devotions to left-wing, rightwing, Islamic and other forms of extremism, there are no easy answers, but wounding through structural and political conditions, in tandem with idiosyncratic personal motives and circumstances create deep complexities in deploying counter terrorism measures (Belanger, 2021; Bjorgo & Sikle, 2019; Pio & Syed, 2018; Schuurman, 2020; Syed, et al., 2016; Tomkinson et al., 2020). Military and police involvement need to be bolstered by nurturing stances through whole-of-nation approaches to diffuse the seeds of destructive devotions