Lichtgedanken 03

Rubrik 60 Preventing terrorism Psychologists want to prevent young people from becoming radicalized— an increasingly complicated endeavour in the digital age. The Federal Government is now providing three million euros to fund the development of preventive measures. Discussions about fighting terrorism often centre on equipping the police or on military action. However, if one wants to find long-lasting methods for tackling politically or religiously mo- tivated offences, the key task is to pre- vent the perpetrators from becoming radicalized at a young age. Hence, over the next three years, psychologists at the University Jena will be developing measures to prevent the radicalisation of young people as part of a project funded by the Federal Ministry of Edu- cation and Research. In the project »Ra- dikalisierung im digitalen Zeitalter« (Radicalisation in the Digital Age)— RadigZ for short—they will be wor- king with seven other institutions in Germany, organised by the Criminolo- gical Research Centre of Lower Saxony. The Ministry is providing three million euros for the project, of which 350,000 euros go to Jena. BY SEBASTIAN HOLLSTEIN »In principle, we assume that radicali- sation processes work in very similar ways, regardless of whether right-wing extremism or religious fanaticism is in- volved,« says Prof. Andreas Beelmann, who leads the project at the University Jena. »However, because of the Inter- net, the situation has of course changed dramatically over recent years.« Whe- reas in the past, like-minded people had to make much more effort to make contact with each other, this has bec- ome much easier in the digital age, as well as much harder to monitor. Ho- wever, this does not have to mean that young people are more likely to bec- ome radicalised. »It is still a minority of members of a cohort or generation who go on to express a radical ideology in criminal actions,« says Beelmann. To- gether with the psychologists, Dr Sara Jahnke and Clara Neudecker, he will be systematically collecting and analysing national and international research on radicalisation over the next few years. »We will first be checking which de- velopmental factors in adolescents correlate with extremist views and ac- tions,« explains Beelmann. »We will then take a close look at the preventi- ve measures that have been taken and investigate how effective they turned out to be.« The psychologists want to use the results of these analyses to de- velop new, effective preventive measu- res, which can then be implemented in a variety of practical contexts such as schools or within civic education and staff training. Beelmann began studying the topic of preventing violence in children and young people some years ago. »In the last 30 years, significant progress has been made in this field,« he notes. In the case of the radicalisation of young people, too, the task is now to let the findings on radicalization processes flow into the development of preven- tive measures. The psychologist also sees socio-political shortcomings, of which the scientists want to raise awa- reness: »For instance, young people wi- thout qualifications or career prospects are a high-risk group; in radicalization they see opportunities for gaining the recognition that they are denied else- where.« »Centre for Research on Right-Wing Extremism, Civic Education and Social Integration« The project also adds a priority re- search area to the work of the Centre for Research on Right-Wing Extremism at the University of Jena. In addition, the Free State of Thuringia has exten- ded and significantly boosted its fun- ding of the Centre, which, as a result of its new tasks and objectives, now be- ars the name »Centre for Research on Right-Wing Extremism, Civic Educati- on and Social Integration«. IS is using digital recruitment me- thods to further its radical aims.