Disarming terrorists like the Pittsburgh shooter before they act

A decade of efforts to guide terrorists or would-be terrorists away from violence is showing some success, if the approach is based on offering a good alternative.

|
AP
People listen at an interfaith vigil in Pittsburgh to honor those impacted by Saturday's shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

One of the world’s most successful efforts at persuading terrorists or would-be terrorists to “disengage” from extreme militancy is in Denmark. The program aims to prevent Muslims from being radicalized and to reintegrate those who abandon terrorism back into society. But the approach could apply equally to almost anyone lured by a violent ideology – including Robert Bowers before his attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue.

His radicalization toward anti-Jewish white supremacy has many causes, including the rise of hateful rhetoric in social media and politics. Yet it is just as important to focus on the missed opportunities at preventing such terrorist acts.

Could Mr. Bowers’s murderous intent have been detected by family, friends, social media companies, law enforcement, or others? If so, what might they have said to him?

Would they have expressed moral outrage at his views and threatened to banish him? Or, as the program in Denmark does, would they have approached him on the premise that he aspires to a “good life” and simply needs quality relationships and the skills of resiliency to deal with life’s challenges?

Denmark’s program relies heavily on private and local initiatives to disengage radicals. Surveillance by government of an individual’s risk of violence poses its own difficulty. A helping hand or a kind word of warning from a community leader, religious figure, or mental health expert can often turn around someone bent toward destruction in the name of a cause.

Such persons may not end up being “de-radicalized” in their ideology. Yet given a supportive and loving community, they could desist from causing harm. They might look elsewhere than violence to achieve meaning, honor, or empowerment.

Reaching such individuals is not that difficult. In a 2014 study of 119 terrorists who acted alone, their grievances and their commitment to an ideology were known to family and friends in nearly two-thirds of the cases. In 59 percent of cases, the offender made public statements prior to his or her violent act, according to the study, which is titled “Bombing Alone.”

In addition, the profile of would-be terrorists is pretty clear. Half of them changed addresses at least five years prior to their terrorist planning. Of the 40 percent who were unemployed, a quarter had lost their jobs within six months. A third showed elevated levels of stress.

“These findings suggest that friends, family, and coworkers can play important roles in efforts that seek to prevent or disrupt lone-actor terrorist plots,” the researchers concluded.

In other words, we are all counterterrorist agents, yet perhaps different in how we would approach people who appear radicalized to the breaking point. Will we present the “good life” to those on the fringes? Or push them off the edge?

“Our greatest strength lies not only in what we do but who we are and the values and freedoms we hold dear,” says Britain’s Home Secretary Sajid Javid. “That is why everyone has a part to play in confronting terrorism.”

The Danish program, known as the Aarhus model for the town where it is located, happens to be one of the most successful. Yet with the rise of “lone” terrorists since 2008, other countries have emphasized a “soft” approach. The aim is to modify behavior by offering an alternative to hate, one based on the good that binds people. Like the name of the Pittsburgh synagogue, we all are part of the tree of life.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Disarming terrorists like the Pittsburgh shooter before they act
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2018/1030/Disarming-terrorists-like-the-Pittsburgh-shooter-before-they-act
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe