#deradicalization

[odinsblog]

The fucking nerve of Netanyahu talking about “de-radicalizing” Palestinians, as he is committing genocide. Somebody needs to de-radicalize Benjamin Netanyahu and the state of Israel.

#politics #palestine #gaza #israel #benjamin netanyahu #deradicalization #benjamin netanyahu is a war criminal #israel is a terrorist state #israel is an apartheid state #war crimes #benjamin netanyahu is evil #free palestine #bds #boycott divest sanction #settler violence #settler colonialism #ceasefire #ceasefire now #never again #never again to anyone #collective punishment #israeli propaganda

[jewish-vents]

I hate that it's our responsibility to deradicalise them

it's not our responsibility to deradicalise antisemites, our responsibility is to live our life respectful and kind to others, and to do our part to better the world or our community.

there's no use talking to people who think you're less human for the way you were born or because of actions others are taking in what they believe to be in your name, especially if they're not people you know personally. you can always try to explain to them if you believe it comes from a place of misinformation or ignorance, but it's not your responsibility to change their mind.

please stay safe anon 💙

#jewish vents #jumblr #added opinion #antisemitism #deradicalization

[trans-girl-nausicaa]

Radicalization and Deradicalization

Prelude:

The New York Times, Sunday, December 21, 1924:

BERLIN, Dec. 20 — Adolph Hitler, once the demi-god of the reactionary extremists, was released on parole from imprisonment at Fortress Landsberg, Bavaria, today and immediately left in an auto for Munich. He looked a much sadder and wiser man today than last Spring when he, with Ludendorff and other radical extremists, appeared before a Munich court charged with conspiracy to overthrow the Government. 

His behavior during imprisonment convinced the authorities that, like his political organization, known as the Völkischer, was no longer to be feared. It is believed he will retire to private life, and return to Austria, the country of his birth.

The United States of America is a cannibalistic nation. 

Its businesses consume their workers, its extractive industries consume its natural resources, its prisons consume their prisoners, its “law” enforcement agencies consume their jurisdictions, its military-industrial complex consumes the available budget of its nation, its borders consume prospective refugees & immigrants, its occupying forces consume their protectorates. Its economic policies are eating up civil society’s ability to reproduce itself. Food, housing, education, medical care, bodily autonomy: The share of the US population who can access these basic necessities is shrinking.

As an empire it is running out of frontiers. Its ability to wield power on the world-stage to consume other countries’ economies through economic-imperialism seems to be rapidly coming to an end.

When the current political-economic order loses legitimacy in the eyes of civil society, or rather, loses its material ability to reproduce civil society, alternate forms of power rush to mind, and counter-establishment groups rush to grab power. When a dynasty loses the Mandate of Heaven, peasants revolt and warlords rise up.

In the USA, the prospective warlords already have established subcultures and power structures and many of them are eagerly awaiting “their day.” They have many names for it, including The Day of the Rope, when Shit Hits The Fan (SHTF), Civil War 2: Electric Boogaloo, Racial Holy War (RAHOWA). But even before “their day,” and even if “their day” never comes, and even outside of formal groups, some people become “radicalized” and adopt a white supremacist “extremist” ideology that results in violence against innocent people. 

Definitions within this text:

Legal: According to the de jure, or by the letter, laws of the United States of America, even where they contradict international laws.

Terrorism: The use of violence or the threat of violence against a population to instill fear, especially for ideological or political purposes.

Extremism: Any ideology where extralegal violence or terrorism against one’s political enemies is acceptable. This includes cases where one wishes to legalize violence or terrorism against certain people. 

Radicalization: The process by which someone adopts an extremist ideology.

Deradicalization: The process by which someone rejects an extremist ideology.

Desistance: The process by which a person ceases extremist activities, regardless of whether they have an extremist ideology or not.

Former: A former member of an extremist group.

Left-wing extremism will not be addressed by this essay. The author is a Communist and opposes all false equivalences drawn between right-wing violence and left-wing violence. Violence can be used to terrorize and oppress, but it can also be used to defend and liberate.

Fundamentalist Islamic extremism (Salafism et al.) will largely not be addressed as it is beyond the scope of this essay. In the US, post-2001 it has been associated in far fewer acts of violence than white supremacists, hence it is considered to be less of a threat domestically.

Further uses of the word “extremism” and “radicalization” should be assumed to apply to white supremacist groups and ideologies unless otherwise specified.

Part 1: Radicalization

When Americans commit acts of extralegal terrorism, it is not because of a particular mental illness. There is no mental illness described in the DSM-V where becoming a Nazi and murdering people is a symptom. Certain mental illnesses can be one of many possible risk factors for radicalization, but it is radicalization itself that is required for acts of terrorism.

Radicalization is a process based on material circumstances. 

Some of these circumstances can be understood through studies on former members of extremist organizations.

Brown, Ryan Andrew, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt, What Do Former Extremists and Their Families Say About Radicalization and Deradicalization in America? Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2021:

Who Is at Risk of Joining Violent Extremist Organizations?

The interviews suggest that there is ultimately a wide range of factors, such as family dynamics and social backgrounds, that put some people at risk of radicalization. Three factors were mentioned most frequently.

Financial instability (noted in 22 of the 32 cases) Seven individuals noted that financial challenges pushed them into extremist beliefs. Interviewees also mentioned that they faced financial challenges when they participated in extremist organizations, which prompted some to work in jobs tied to the organization itself. This involvement led to delays in leaving the organization. Mental health (noted in 17 of the 32 cases) Mental health challenges were cited as obstacles that individuals had to cope with throughout their lives. Some interviewees identified overwhelming anger and other symptoms as drivers of joining an extremist organization. Trauma or posttraumatic stress disorder, substance use, and physical health issues were also mentioned, but less frequently. Victimization, stigmatization, marginalization (noted in 16 of the 32 cases) Many interviewees described how they felt one or more of these when growing up and that those experiences contributed to their radicalization. Most often, individuals mentioned feeling isolated and lonely in institutions (e.g., schools) or communities in which they were the minority race. Former white supremacists cited this factor, as did one former Islamic extremist. Only a few interviewees noted that their families held radical beliefs.

Pauline G. M. Aarten, Eva Mulder & Antony Pemberton (2018) The Narrative of Victimization and Deradicalization: An Expert View, Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 41:7,557-572, DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2017.1311111:

…experiences, perceptions, and narratives of victimization frequently inspire perpetrators’ behavior. Retaliation for past victimization often underlies violence, where a sense of entitlement caused by victimization can provide adequate justification for one’s own acts. This seems particularly true of group-based violence, such as in political violence and terrorism: narratives of victimization ranging back through the years can still provide motive and cover for violence and bloodshed in the present. As Volkan shows in his book Bloodlines, these so-called chosen traumas form a moral nucleus for politically motivated action, including violence. The experience of being righteously aggrieved is a particular strong motivation for morally motivated violence, particularly if this sense of historical victimization can be connected to a present-day threat. The link between victimization experiences and radicalization can be direct, with victimization experiences serving as a causal factor in the development and extremity of religious and political views that may motivate political violence and terrorism. For example, McCauley and Moskalenko describe how personal victimization is one of the pathways, and one of main explanations given by suicide terrorists, to individual radicalization.

These risk factors must combine with another ingredient to radicalize people: Ideology.

From The Narrative of Victimization and Deradicalization: An Expert View:

Ideology as Meaning-Making Ideology is a way of making meaning: it is a way of explaining the causes of the event, the consequences on him or herself and the further development of their story. In other words, ideology is the narrative attention that is needed in certain events—such as victimization—to help construct the radical’s life story. Indeed, the way that a person responds to these key personal event memories is important to the way the person subsequently defines his or herself. An ideology becomes part of someone’s identity, but is also a means to incorporate victimization experiences in a manner that does not denote passivity and helplessness. In other words, victimization as such is often rejected as being part of the radical’s narrative identity. Instead, the victimization experience itself is transformed through embracing ideology as a way to give meaning to and deal with such negative events.

Ideology is introduced to potential extremists through various means. In some cases, they are radicalized before joining an extremist group, and in other cases they directly recruited and are radicalized via their membership in such a group.

From What Do Former Extremists and Their Families Say About Radicalization and Deradicalization in America?:

How Are Individuals Recruited into Extremist Groups? Research shows that online propaganda and recruitment are key pathways to joining extremist groups. Interviewees participating in this project cited these and other paths that led them in. "Reorienting" event (noted in 17 of the 32 cases) Most interviewees described a dramatic or traumatic event that prompted them into reconsidering previously held views and considering alternative perspectives. These included a gun possession charge, rejection by the military, a friend's suicide, and an extended period of unemployment. Some white supremacists discussed events involving black individuals. Direct and indirect recruitment (noted in 25 of the 32 cases) The cases of four white supremacists and three Islamic extremists involved top-down recruitment—that is, recruiters from extremist organizations formally and proactively recruited them. The cases of 15 white supremacists and three Islamic extremists involved bottom-up entry, in which the individuals radicalized on their own and then sought membership in an extremist group. Propaganda (noted in 22 of the 32 cases) Individuals described consuming online materials, as well as music and books, during the time of their radicalization. Social bonds (noted in 14 of the 32 cases) Interviewees described how they were motivated to join a group by the social bonds they experienced with the group. Most noted feelings of family and friendship among group members, and some discussed how they felt a new sense of power as a member of a group. Some noted how they felt rewarded for contributions to the cause and group. Several cases were identified in which individuals "graduated" from one organization to a more extreme organization.

There is no mystery of where people are being directed in their path of radicalization. 

A list of some of these groups has been collected by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Part 2: The Failure of The Conventional Response

In a liberal democracy a governed population expects the State to maintain “order” as the State necessarily maintains a monopoly on the use of force and violence. 

The history of US foreign policy yields many cases of support for extremism abroad. One can refer, for example, to Operation Gladio, Iran-Contra, Operation Condor, Operation Cyclone, the 1953 coup in Iran, and US support for General Suharto. 

The U.S. government continues to grapple with this issue today.

James Carden, The Nation, January 14, 2016:

Congressmen John Conyers of Michigan and Ted Yoho of Florida drew up an amendment to the House Defense Appropriations bill (HR 2685) that “limits arms, training, and other assistance to the neo-Nazi Ukrainian militia, the Azov Battalion.” It passed by a unanimous vote in the House.

And yet by the time November came around and the conference debate over the year-end appropriations bill was underway, the Conyers-Yoho measure appeared to be in jeopardy. And indeed it was. An official familiar with the debate told The Nation that the House Defense Appropriations Committee came under pressure from the Pentagon to remove the Conyers-Yoho amendment from the text of the bill.

Fortunately, Congress was able to ban sending arms to the Azov Battalion in 2018. 

However, the fact that the Pentagon was opposed to such a restriction raises serious questions. Why was the Pentagon opposed to such a restriction? Did the US military provide arms or training to the Azov Battalion before 2018? Given the fact that the US has sent billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, has the Azov Battalion acquired any American weapons? What will the consequences of a well-armed Azov Movement be for postwar Ukraine?

Only time will tell. 

The U.S. government itself has apparently done an abysmal job of preventing extremist ideology among its own personnel as well.

Meghann Myers and Leo Shane III, The military knows it has a problem with domestic extremists, white supremacists, Jan 14, 2021

…a Military Times poll found that about one-third of all active-duty respondents said they saw signs of white supremacist or racist ideology in the ranks.

This tendency applies not only to ideology, but also to acts of terrorism.

Olivia Rubin, Number of Capitol riot arrests of military, law enforcement and government personnel rises to 52, April 23, 2021

At least 52 active or retired military, law enforcement, or government service employees are among the over 400 suspects arrested for their alleged actions at the Capitol, according to an ABC News investigation based on military records, court records, interviews, and publicly available news reports. The arrests include over half a dozen ex-police officers and multiple former elected officials -- and represent some of the most significant and violent charges brought in connection with the deadly insurrection.

Former military and law enforcement are valuable recruits for extremist groups, as they can provide combat training to the rest of the group. 

From White Supremacists Speak:

As was also shown in the Capitol Hill riots, some white supremacist groups recruit from both active duty and retired members of the military and police hoping to benefit from their weaponry knowledge and skills which can be imparted to the group, possible access to weapons and for their already developed sense of discipline. 

Similarly, both active duty and retired military and police recruits serve to lend an air of prestige and legitimacy to such groups, reinforce the idea that the groups are patriotic in nature and these members are also good recruiters as a result.

The police and military are dismal at preventing extremism, and the FBI is also dismal at investigating extremism. 

The FBI has a trend of engaging in entrapment, particularly against vulnerable individuals.

The practice can be seen in this especially egregious case:

Murtaza Hussain, THE FBI GROOMED A 16-YEAR-OLD WITH “BRAIN DEVELOPMENT ISSUES” TO BECOME A TERRORIST, June 15, 2023

…according to the government’s own criminal complaint, Ventura had never actually funded any terrorist group. The only “terrorist” he is accused of ever being in contact with was an undercover FBI agent who befriended him online as a 16-year-old, solicited small cash donations in the form of gift cards, and directed him not to tell anyone else about their intimate online relationship, including his family.

The arrest has shaken his family, who denied allegations that their son was a terrorist and said that he had been manipulated by the FBI. Ventura’s father, Paul Ventura, told The Intercept that Mateo suffered from childhood developmental issues and had been forced to leave his school due to bullying from other students.

“He was born prematurely, he had brain development issues. I had the school do a neurosurgery evaluation on him and they said his brain was underdeveloped,” [Paul] Ventura said. “He was suffering endless bullying at school with other kids taking food off his plate, tripping him in the hallway, humiliating him, laughing at him.”

Other than baiting innocent people into terrorism, the FBI also engages in domestic spying programs so incompetently that their own informant was reported for being suspicious.

Nina Totenberg, Supreme Court to hear arguments on FBI's surveillance of mosques, November 8 2021

It all started in 2006, in Orange Country, Calif. A home-grown terrorist on the FBI's most-wanted list had come out of a mosque there, and relations between the faithful and the FBI had become so fraught that the head of the Los Angeles FBI office, Stephen Tidwell, decided he should do a town hall at one of the Orange County mosques.

He picked the Islamic Center of Irvine, and repeatedly sought at the meeting to assure the audience that the FBI was not monitoring them. If the bureau is going to come to the mosque, he told them, "We will tell you we're coming for the very reason we don't want you to think you're being monitored."

But even as he was saying that, the FBI was recruiting an undercover informant to infiltrate the mosque and catch anyone who might be recruiting and training terrorists. The informant was named Craig Monteilh, a trainer at a local gym who had a checkered past. He posed as a Muslim convert at the Irvine mosque, one of the largest in southern California.

As Sam Black reported for This American Life, "The FBI later confirmed in court that Craig was an undercover informant. A district attorney also stated in court that Craig did work with Agent Kevin Armstrong and that Craig had given the FBI 'very very valuable information.'"

The bureau also has confirmed that Monteilh secretly recorded tons of audio and video of the people he was making friends with at the mosque.

'You're doing the right thing'

Soon he started pummeling his new friends with questions about jihad, Black reported, to the point that some people from the mosque started to hear complaints about it.

Monteilh would subsequently confirm that he eventually did much more than ask questions about jihad.

"I said we should carry out a terrorist attack in this country," he told This American Life. "We should bomb something."

Monteilh said that to two of the men he'd been hanging out with, and they freaked out. They wanted to report what they had heard, but they didn't know how to go about it. So they contacted Hassam Ayloush, director of the Council on American Islamic Relations in Southern California.

"I told them, 'Calm down...you're doing the right thing. You're calling authorities. So even if the guy is planning on anything, you have nothing to worry about. You're not accomplice,'" Ayloush recalled.

Now, Ayloush was the person who had arranged that earlier town hall with Los Angeles FBI chief Tidwell, so he called Tidwell to report Monteilh's threats. But oddly, Tidwell, after thanking him for the tip, didn't even ask for the alleged terrorist's name.

In case you didn’t catch that, Tidwell didn’t ask for the alleged terrorist’s name because he already knew that it was his own informant who was being reported. 

It is obvious that white supremacist extremists should not receive leniency in investigation or sentencing for acts of violence and terrorism, but suffering state violence can also serve as re-radicalizing experiences for them.

Incarceration of those at risk of recruitment by white supremacist extremists feeds into another huge problem: white supremacist prison gangs.

Anti-Defamation League, White Supremacist Prison Gangs: 2022 Assessment, October 24 2022:

There are currently more than 75 different white supremacist prison gangs in at least 38 states and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, as well as in major county jails. They range from relatively small local gangs all the way to multi-state gangs with a thousand or more members.

Today, white supremacist prison gangs are one of the most active and violent segments of the white supremacist movement in the United States. Most states have at least one organized white supremacist prison gang; many have more. Such prison gangs are typically larger than other types of white supremacist groups, with memberships that often are in the hundreds, with a few, like the Aryan Circle and Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, reaching 1,500 or more members. Moreover, most prison gangs have substantial numbers of associates (including women) and hangers-on in addition to formally admitted members.

White supremacists are responsible for the majority of extremist-related murders in the United States almost every year—and members of white supremacist prison gangs commit a substantial number of them.  In the last decade alone, as noted in the COE report Murder and Extremism in the United States in 2021, white supremacist prison gang members were responsible for nearly a third (76) of white supremacist-related killings. Moreover, because murders behind prison walls are not always well reported, the true number is likely higher still.

Over the years, prison officials have tried breaking gang members up across different prisons—or even different prison systems—only to see such tactics result in gang spread. Other officials have tried to segregate gang members in a particular facility or to put documented gang members in administrative segregation—i.e., solitary. These tactics have had some success but are less feasible now due to lawsuits and administrative decisions limiting solitary confinement. More progressively, some prison systems have instituted gang exit programs, but though they may benefit individuals, they do little to hinder the overall operations of such gangs. 

The original Aryan Brotherhood, based primarily in the California and federal penal systems, has illustrated the extreme resiliency of such groups, surviving despite every tactic used against it, from racketeering indictments to solitary confinements. Members still found ways to communicate and, using proxy gangs, to continue their operations. Authorities have not yet figured out the best ways to combat white supremacist prison gangs.

From White Supremacists Speak:

Gang and prison-based white extremist groups were the most violent and, in some cases, follow a “blood in, blood out” recruitment strategy meaning one can expect to only exit the group by dying.

The US Government’s efforts at reducing white supremacist (and Islamic fundamentalist) extremism have been inadequate at best and counterproductive at worst.

Part 3: The Endgame

There are various methods by which extremist groups maintain their hold on their members. 

Anne Speckhard & Molly Ellenberg, White Supremacists Speak: Recruitment, Radicalization & Experiences of Engaging and Disengaging from Hate Groups, May 17, 2021

Tattooing permanent markers of white supremacy on one’s body is common and makes it more difficult to re-enter society as these marks of hatred are feared and reviled by others.  Hence tattoo removal may be an integral part of rehabilitation and reentry.

Of those white supremacists who turned to psychotherapy for help exiting and rehabilitating from white supremacy groups, some found their therapists afraid of them and lacking relevant knowledge. Others deeply benefitted from addressing both the adverse traumatic experiences that had led them to being vulnerable to join in the first place as well as those they encountered in the group.

Reciprocal radicalization plays an important role in further radicalizing white supremacists and keeping them involved in their groups. Many referenced violent interactions with Antifa as further radicalizing events that influenced them.

Doxxing has a serious effect on white supremacists causing some to leave their groups for fear of losing jobs, being arrested, etc. Likewise, the effect of significant others threatening to or actually leaving their white supremacists partners caused some to reevaluate the worth of staying with their group.

White supremacist extremists have to maintain psychological investment in the group, a sense of belonging, a sense of unity against perceived persecution. Getting in fights with antifa reinforces their ingroup-outgroup dynamic and allows them to bond through shared trauma. 

Clearly, getting beaten, however badly, does not cure someone of their extremism. The “Fourth Degree” rank for members of the Proud Boys is earned by “get[ting] arrested or get[ting] in a serious violent fight for the cause.” 

From White Supremacists Speak:

Lukas Bals, a former member of the German group Die Rechte, similarly articulates,

The reason why I stayed so long in [the] far right after it, they give me a reason, an identity. I know where I belong. If you have an enemy, you know who are your friends. My comrades are my friends, we have the same enemy. From one day to another, you have so many friends, I like it […] Being told I have worth, Lukas, you are worthy, you are worthy by birth. I didn’t have to do something first, I’m just German.

Killing a member of an extremist group could potentially make the rest of the group tighter-knit through shared trauma. Furthermore, it is natural for an escalation of violence to be reciprocated. 

However, I am not advocating for pacifism. Certain people, such as members of certain religious orders, are strict pacifists, but these people should be considered especially vulnerable and in need of protection from extremists. 

Rather, certain social dynamics are inevitable. Just as a white person with a certain background, with childhood trauma, with substance abuse issues, or other risk factors may be more likely to join a white supremacist group if recruited, being a white supremacist is a risk factor for getting attacked. Engaging in a white supremacist gathering is a direct provocation to violence. It’s the principle of “talk shit, get hit.” 

White supremacist marches and gatherings are preludes to violence in and of themselves. Certain extremists, and groups of extremists, attack peaceful counter-protesters and innocent bystanders, particularly persons who are part of marginalized demographics. Therefore it is advantageous for extremist gatherings to be prevented, such as through doxxing and information leaks, or dispersed as quickly as possible, such as through overwhelming force. 

Acts of violence and subterfuge against white supremacist extremists are only one aspect of a necessary socio-political struggle that must be undertaken against them.

Beyond the fact that apparatuses such as law enforcement agencies, the prison-industrial complex, and US border security are functionally white supremacist, a growing number of government officials explicitly espouse white supremacist extremist ideologies.

Part 4: Desistance and Deradicalization

The ideal outcome in any case of an individual white supremacist is that they can be deradicalized, that is, that their mind is changed and they reject white supremacist ideals. Failing that, the minimum positive outcome is desistance, that is, that they cease all white supremacist activities and separate themselves from any white supremacist groups they are a part of.

But how is this accomplished?

From What Do Former Extremists and Their Families Say About Radicalization and Deradicalization in America?

Why and How Do People Deradicalize and Leave Extremist Organizations?

To date, there is no standard model of how people turn away from or reject previously held extremist views or why they leave extremist groups. Interviewees cited many reasons and ways they turned away, but two in particular stood out in the study.

Disillusionment and burnout (noted in 14 of the 32 cases) These feelings were noted in cases concerning 13 white supremacists and one Islamic extremist. All interviewees expressed that former members felt disappointment. Hypocrisy or other negative behaviors were cited as reasons for these feelings and, ultimately, for leaving. Individual or group intervention (noted in 22 of the 32 cases) Interventions were typically conducted intentionally in the study sample. Individuals who helped people exit extremist groups were acquaintances, life partners, other former radicals, friends, journalists, children, other family members, religious authorities, current radicals, therapists, and school officials. The interventions consisted of diverse cultural and demographic exposures, emotional support, and financial or domestic stability. Some cases highlighted noxious or negative impact from radical individuals, which could be described as an inadvertent intervention. In 11 cases, the intervention was orchestrated and conducted by an institution, such as religious groups, law enforcement, and secular nonprofits. Twenty-two of the 32 cases also described processes of self-driven exiting from extremism. Deradicalization processes (noted in 20 of the 32 cases) Interviewees discussed how they or their family members or friends had undergone psychological or social processes of deradicalization. Twelve of these 20 cases were activists, currently engaged in helping others deradicalize. Six cases concerned individuals who had formally exited a radical organization but were still undergoing cognitive and emotional deradicalization. Failed interventions (noted in 19 of the 32 cases) When interviewees indicated that some interventions had failed, these cases most often involved family members who tried to intervene. Punitive interventions by law enforcement also often led to increased extremism. Upon leaving extremist organizations, six cases described feeling drawn back to organizations or ideologies. These interviewees discussed how they or their family members and friends missed the thrill and feelings of belonging, as well as other psychological benefits experienced by being part of an extremist group.

There are many activists, especially former white supremacists, who are engaged in deradicalization efforts, focusing on one individual at a time. However noble, these efforts are dwarfed in scale by the problem they are facing. I do not know of any existing program focusing on desistance or deradicalization that could be scaled up to meet the challenge. Even if they had infinite funding, there are a comparatively small number of formers and other activists who are able and willing to engage in such efforts. We must keep in mind that these processes can be long and painful, and each white supremacist who has the potential to be deradicalized is different, with their own unique history and needs. On that note, what percent of white supremacists even have the potential to be deradicalized? That number is unknown, and may be impossible to determine. 

Christian Picciolini, a former neo-Nazi and cofounder of the deradicalization organization Life After Hate, offers a different view.

The process of deradicalizing youth needs an overhaul. A former white supremacist explains how, Callum Borchers and Allison Hagan, December 6, 2021:

After 20 years of working one on one with hundreds of people trying to leave hate movements, Picciolini is calling for a shift in focus.

“If we don't switch focus to focus on prevention, the process of radicalization is quickly overcoming us,” he says. “And we're seeing too many people line up at our door for help disengaging when we really should be focusing much more heavily on prevention so future generations aren't moved toward that movement.”

Young people are most at risk for radicalization because they’re searching for “a sense of identity, community and purpose” — but older generations need help too, he says.

People in the U.S. need to get to the source of what’s pushing people toward extremism and shut off what he calls the “bigot spigot,” he says.

“Until we fix that,” he says, “there's no amount of de-radicalization or disengagement work that can put a dent in the number of people that are becoming radicalized.”

Trauma — which Picciolini refers to as life’s “potholes” during speaking engagements — leads people to find toxic identities and communities, he says.

Social media campaigns won’t fix this deeply ingrained cycle, he says: People need resources like access to mental health care, education and job security to fill these voids instead of finding harmful alternatives.

When people deeply immersed in hate groups approach Picciolini for help, he connects with professionals in the communities such as therapists, counselors, life coaches, teachers or even parents, he says.

“We have to learn to utilize the professionals that already exist in our communities,” he says.

Since announcing the end of the Free Radicals Project, Picciolini says he’s received support because people understand the need for a shift toward prevention to cut off the pipeline to radicalization.

“But also, people recognize that doing this work is traumatic,” he says. “Sitting in front of people to discuss their traumas, the things that happen to them in life, can also be a traumatizing effect on the people who listen.”

Poverty, mental health treatment, child welfare, social alienation, substance abuse issues, mass incarceration, far-right propaganda in mass media & social media, underlying structural white supremacy, environments saturated with casual racism and bigotry… All of these issues and more not only raise the risk of far-right radicalization in certain individuals, but they are also general social ills that harm all of us. 

It is possible that one of the most effective things we could do to combat radicalization would be good for all of us: Focusing on reducing these risk factors.

But reducing these risk factors relies on broad social, political, economic, and even religious change.

Do you believe that the prevalence of these risk factors is going to decrease or increase in the near future?

If they increase, then the general rate of far-right radicalization should be expected to increase as well. 

I'm not going to take the liberal stance and merely state policy recommendations that will never be adopted by the aged capitalists in our government while the culture war threatens to transition into a civil war.

If a civil war is imminent, then we should become ready to defend ourselves from white supremacist extremists with lethal force.

Even if you don't think a civil war is imminent, then you should at least have a plan for what you're going to do in the case that you're present at the scene of a hate crime or an act of stochastic terrorism from a white supremacist extremist.

#long post #radicalization #deradicalization

[screamingfromuz]

hi. i know this isn't an easy question to answer but i'm very lost right now so i would appreciate any advice. how can you deradicalise someone away from conspiracy theories? my white roommate has been liking israel did 10/7 posts, as well as some praising mob attacks on random diaspora jews, and i'm really scared. it's all because of twitter. i've given her my login info for a couple of newspapers i subscribe to but she hasn't been reading them. i've sent her links to books/podcasts but she doesn't open them (just says oh thank you and then nothing). she doesn't listen when i tell her bluntly she should stop getting her news from the site run by a neonazi. i am not a zionist and i know i'm significantly more pro palestine than her (she didn't even know who ben gvir was or what the west bank was the one time we talked about it, i really think it's just a Correct Twitter Opinion for her), but i'm scared she'll dismiss me as anti palestinian and deem me a bad jew if i say anything and i'm not in a position to move out rn. i'm so nervous and feel like i'm walking on eggshells all the time. please let me know if you know of any resources for this kind of situation. i don't know what to do

first, I know you said you cannot move out right now, but get an escape plan ready, just in case. Deradicalization should never come at the cost of your safety.

two, efficient deradicalization does not use facts, sending articles and podcasts is useless because of the nature of ideologies. Althusser explained that ideologies have a central place in the perception of reality of someone, your ideology is part of you, and forcing change on others never ends well. If you want to deradicalize her, you must engage in a conversation that acknowledge emotions and the way people get defensive when their opinions are challenged. Talk about the emotional reality of the matter, ask her why she thinks that it was an inside job, or what makes her comfortable attacking random Jews and them deconstruct that belief with her. If you feel comfortable, you can ask if she thinks it's ok if you were attacked, if she would praise people that would put you in danger.

this will require the trickiest thing in deradicalization, you must not come from a place of moral superiority, you must come from a place of equality and serve as a companion and not a guide. deradicalization is placing a mirror in front of someone and helping them examine themselves and develop empathy for "others".

this is a long process, that often requires you to teach people a whole new language. I can tell you that part of deradicalization here is simply getting the term "Palestinian" into the vocabulary.

I will warn you, it only works if the other person has a desire to change. deradicalization is a lot like speech therapy, it will take time.

this is a great video that might give you tools. Daryl Davis is am amazing person and a role model for how to deradicalize people.

good luck love, be safe.

#deradicalization #jumblr #conspiracy theories #daryl davis #ask uz

[woodsfae]

Taking another crack at a concise response to the question I get all the time "Since you were raised in an alt-right cult, how did you deradicalize when most people never do?" and uh. It's like 1100 words long already. Goddang it 😂

#deconversion #deradicalization #ex evangelical #exvangelical #homeschooled #ex homeschooler #ex cult #woodsfae

[whereserpentswalk]

When I was in highschool I used to draw this guy a lot, and I finally redrew him (thats the image above). He's meant to be this kind of mysterious parasite thing that's heavily associated with a setting that I still have to this day.

The time in my life when I drew him the most was when I was probably at my worst, being a fifteen year old reactionary edgelord. But now I'm a twenty year old leftist, and I feel I can reclaim him. If I can get better, then so can this lil guy.

Reblog to reclaim this beast.

#196 #my thougts #worldbuilding #my worldbuilding #my artwork #cryptids #cryptid #creature drawing #science fantasy #fantasy creatures #monster art #leftism #deradicalization

[aloeverawrites]

The basics:

Human rights are important.

Animals rights are important.

Abuse is never okay.

Marginalised communities deserve to be exist and be respected.

Harming others is wrong, being odd is okay as long as no harm is being caused.

Words can hurt.

The goal is world peace.

#human rights #deradicalization #morals

[buckets-of-dirt]

Looking for Book Recommendations

Help me find a book I can give my right-wing little brother for Christmas following a harm-reduction model for deradicalization. I need something he'll actually read that will subtly expand his worldview just enough to help him take the tiniest baby step towards the center (we'll work on further left once he gets to the "reasonable" stage).

Book topics he seems genuinely interested in:

Memoirs by/biographies of "self made men"

Stoicism (he's read Marcus Aurelius already)

Those self-help books that supposedly tell you how to be wildly successful (ie rich and powerful)

Remember, the goal is subtlety. I need to meet him where he's at. He's not gonna read bell hooks or Das Kapital right away, especially if it's me handing it to him. If it's not an innocuous-seeming gift given in good faith it won't work.

Thanks for your help!

#project deradicalize my little brother #this boy is an engineering major and business minor who makes a token effort towards not misgendering me to please our liberal parents #if that gives you a clearer view of what you've got to work with #deradicalization #harm reduction #books #reading #memoirs #biographies #philosophy #stoicism #politics #us politics

[timetobeaghost]

been on hiatus & came back only to find the byler tag & other tags flooded with (un)/intentional leftist antisemitism, like wtf

do you think the people who fall for the hamas propaganda will some day realize that it is in fact just propaganda?

it's very scary how many people seem to believe that crap, don't get me wrong, im not saying israel is full of saints & i wish they didn't kill those innocent civilians in gaza but loads of people seem to have a totally one sided opinion & seem to only believe the things from pro arab websites that are not exactly neutral & unbiased in terms of certain definitions & historic events

Yeah, same experience I had.

Will people realize they fell for propaganda? Probably not. :/ People are whipped into a frenzy online and usually incapable of changing their mind.

It's not like with Byler where you can look forward to being totally proven right just by watching TV. 😄

Best we can hope for is a change of atmosphere that will make other people louder and these people more quiet. Rambling something about colonialism under their breath while distracting themselves and think of something less challenging to the self worth. Some will think again and feel duped. The only thing we can do is trying to force this athmossphere change by being loud even now.

How is the deradicalisation of Q-Anons going? It's this kind of thing. Have I mentioned that the internet broke society?

Anyway today is a happy day! 24 innocent hostages freed, as obviously Hamas has their backs against the wall and no other option. It's a triumph over evil! Brett Gelman and Noah Schnapp too are having the best day in a while, as they should!! ❤️

#antisemitism #deradicalization #byler #standwithnoahschnapp #stand with basic human decency #i stand with israel #love and respect #noah schnapp #brett gelman

[sidleyparkhermit]

I'm actually looking at the sunny side of the Spotify Wrapped Conspiracy Theory. Last night I mentioned Charlie Veitch, who left the 9/11 Truther movement. The turning point for him happened when he and a group of other prominent Truthers met with the bereaved family member of a 9/11 victim, and afterwards everyone else in his group was still in denial and calling this person a fake plant, and it began to dawn on him that all his friends were assholes with zero empathy, and that's what led him out of the rabbit hole. I think there are going to be some people who find their way out of 10/7 denialism in parallel ways when confronted with the individual human reality.

But that's just one of the ways people can find a turning point from these mindsets. I recently saw this great interview with a former conspiracy theorist, where what happened for her was that one night she was really vibing with a new buddy about all the deep dark secrets they'd been learning about and then the person was like "also here's the BIG one: the earth is flat." And she just kinda... had to stop and have a long think about things! And she's turned her life around and she's doing great now.

So anyhoo, point is, I think "Spotify Wrapped changed its release date so (((they))) could drown out posts about Palestine" is probably giving a lot of people the same kind of moment that Ms. Robertson had. You won't hear them say it out loud until they have safer friend groups, but it's for sure happening.

#antisemitism #conspiracy theorists #deradicalization

[odinsblog]

war criminals 🇷🇺🤝🇮🇱

The Joseph Goebbels, “always accuse the other side of that which you are guilty of doing” strategy has always worked remarkably well on a lot of people, especially tankies and their counterparts, authoritarian conservatives.

Who will deradicalize Israel, and denazify Russia??

#politics #palestine #israel #russia #ukraine #gaza #benjamin netanyahu #vladimir putin #deradicalization #denazification #war criminals #war crimes #genocide #putin apologists #israel is a terrorist state #russia is a terrorist state #tankies #israeli propaganda #russian propaganda

[rjalker]

Feel free to reblog this by the way. All my posts are rebloggable unless stated otherwise (usually because I haven't written the image description yet or need to fix a typo)

Conservatives will be like, "I am a master debater! No one can win against my perfect logic and reason!"

And then what's actually happening is they constantly interrupt you and are consistently raising their voice louder and louder with every moment that passes until they are literally trying to shout you down and drown out every word you are saying while pretending that really, they're just being so perfectly logical that you can make no response, rather than the fact that they are literally fucking shouting you down and not letting you say a single thing without being interrupted.

Anyways my mom's husband has absolutely no fucking clue what he is talking about, ever, but no one else will tell him this because he turns even the most normal not at all controversial conversation (like...the duration of a year's pass to a fucking museum) into a "debate" where he is just pulling out the most random fucking shit you've ever heard for no reason ("Well if it's a year's pass, if we went this day (when we got the year's pass) next year, that'd be a year and a day! So we can't go this day next year!" (Literally no one was suggesting we did, and also, that's literally not how calendar's work!)) and raising his voice like it's a life or death situation and this is the hill he's going to die on.

The hill called "we bought a life's pass for the museum because it's cheaper than paying for a single visit as a group and now we can come back later with everyone". That's the hill he's gonna die on now, for no fucking reason other than he has no fucking clue how to have normal conversations with people.

Arguing with no one for no reason that a year's pass to a museam won't actually last 365 days because that would actually mean it's lasting a year and a day because he doesn't actually give a shit about logic at all, and just wants to turn every conversation into a debate that he will "win" by literally shouting down the "competition" (our mom, usually) and being so fucking hostile about shit that literally does not matter and is not up for debate (That's literally fucking now how calendars work!!!!) that his "opponent" finally just has to stop to put their hands over their ears and ignore him.

This man is so fucking poisoned by far right bullshit online that he has become a fucking troll in real life and literally no one besides us is actually willing to tell him he has no fucking clue what he's talking about, because 90% of the time he is just doing this shit about things that do not matter in any way, were not up for debate, and are things no one who is not on an eternal quest for Something to be Outraged By™ would want to argue about.

Like whether or not buying a year's pass for the museam would mean you can go there in exactly a year on the same day you bought the pass. Which everyone who uses actual logic knows you would be able to. Because we don't fucking celebrate birthdays the day before you were born.

So then when he starts trying to use these tactics to shit on trans people, he is fully fucking unprepared to have actual facts thrown in his face that he has to actually counter with other actual facts because we literally will not let him keep raising his voice and interrupting us.

He starts raising his voice? We tell him, the way you'd tell a five year old, to lower his voice and use his inside voice, and keep repeating this instruction until he does, shocked either by our audacity, or the fact that he'd raised his voice so high in the first place.

He interrupts us? We say, again, the way you'd tell a five year old who doesn't know what manners are, "It is my turn to talk, stop interrupting me. When other people are talking, we don't interrupt them. I am talking, it is my turn to talk, do not interrupt me" until he shuts his fucking mouth, looking absolutely fucking bewildered. Probably because no one besides us has ever demanded he use the kind of manners a five year olds are taught.

And now, when he is forced to keep his voice at a normal conversational level, when he is not allowed to interrupt every word you say, when he is forced to provide actual, factual evidence for the claims he's making, he is left to flounder, with no way of reacting to what we are saying, because he doesn't actually know how to have a conversation or a real debate.

Because he doesn't have any facts on his side, nor any logic. He doesn't actually know how to argue with reality on his side, and the constraint of not behaving like a five year old having a tantrum, because he spends 90% of his time "arguing" with his wife about random shit that has nothing to do with anything that she's not even pretending to entertain.

(But, it's important to note, she also can't be assed to tell him he needs to stop picking random fucking hills to die on, because that would require more than the bare minimum of effort of communication and commitment. And she's incredibly fucking lazy and doesn't care about fixing bad behaviors as long as she can ignore the behavior in relative peace. This is also why both her dogs are insuffurably untrained and bite and jump up and destroy shoes for fun. Because letting them do these destructive and dangerous things is less effort in her mind than simply training them to be well behaved would have been in the first place. She still gives them her old shoes as chew toys on purpose. I'm not joking.)

We've had these sort of "debates" with our mom's husband before. Last time he was spouting off about genderfluid people who change their pronouns every day and will blow up at you if you use the wrong ones. He was very blatantly just repeating the same shit the people on his shitty podcasts say.

We pointed out the most basic logic of this hypothetical situation -

If someone changes their pronouns every day, they'll tell you what pronouns they're using that day. They want people to use their pronouns, so they'll tell people which ones to use. No trans people expect you to be able to read their minds.

His mouth fell open and you could almost literally see his outraged thought processes screeching to a halt now that the wrench of logic had been thrown in.

If this fucking jackass weren't constantly listening to shitty podcats by people whose names I can't remember to constantly be radicalized and getting spoonfed Outraged Rants about trans people, it'd be really fucking easy to show him how absurd the shit he's being told is.

The ability to use actual logic is there, as is the ability to stop being a raging bigot.

Unfortunately, listening to podcasts by far-right bigots who want trans people dead is a lot more accessible for him than listening to trans people. Because if you're not the sort of fake trans person that exists in the Outraged Rants on his podcasts, then you're not really trans, so you're not actually an expert on the topic and you don't know what you're talking about.

Because in the little bubble of conspiracy that exists in far-right people's minds, if you're not a pedophile who grooms kids, you're not trans, because you aren't convenient to their arguments for why trans people should get the death penalty, and any normal, non-pedophile trans people who exist online are actually all just AI generated and not real. Because you can't trust anything to see online, but you can trust the bigots on his podcasts who are claiming that a school is being sued for not letting a catgender kid use a litter box instead of the bathroom.

Anyways. We're turning one of the sticks I found into the woods into a Talking Stick and whoever is holding it will get to talk. So that we can continue forcing him to behave like an adult who is forced to use actual logic and facts instead of just repeating the same Outraged ideas he keeps hearing on his podcasts.

Anyways did I mention that he was the one willing to use my name and pronouns until our mom got to him and persuaded him to stop? Lofl. Well now my doctor is going to be using my correct pronouns, so she can deal with it.

#transmisia #idk what do you tag this bullshit #fascism #radicalization #deradicalization #literally just requires logic. #and enforcing social conventions like Using Your Inside Voice. #and Not Interrupting People When They're Talking. #basic shit. #it'd be funny if these people didn't have the power to literally kill us

[proxykiwi]

Anyone have any good arguments to convince a (female) friend to turn away from the listening to the likes of jordan peterson & co, especially where male-female relationships are concerned? How do you gently argue someone back from the edge of the alt-right?

#Jordan peterson #Alt-right #deradicalization #Help!

[writing-with-olive]

for social change, what's your hottest take?

ohoh this is a fun one.

There's no such thing as a good or bad person. There's just circumstances and choices.

I'd leave it at that but people tend to hear that and think what i mean is that we can't hold people accountable or go "what about <insert historical person here>?"

i'm gonna go into what i mean. read through before you come at me.

If someone's good or bad, that's an innate character judgement. They just... Are. The logical next step of this is to believe that of course they made the choice they did. It couldn't be helped. It also makes it very improbable to make a choice that didn't align with their good/bad category placement, they're just not cut out for that. But that's just now how life works.

Every single "good" person in history has made mistakes, and every single "evil or bad" person in history has some things right. Even on the extremes. We consider them to be good or bad because on average, we as people struggle with nuance, and these individuals, on average made decisions that either significantly bettered or worsened society around them.

These decisions though, weren't because of some innate quality that people had. They were responses to a wealth of factors: what they'd been taught to value, their psychological state, what resources they had, what they knew in the moment, and a bunch of other things. But at the end of the day, they were decisions. They could have chosen not to do that thing, good or bad.

As pedantic as this feels in the abstract, it does have very tangible social change consequences.

As many humans struggle with nuance, many also struggle with accountability. If a person is just a good or bad person, it doesn't matter what's happening in the world around them. But people respond to their circumstances, and those who enable positive choices, and those who enable negative choices are still partially accountable for the outcome of the situation.

Example of this: a kid A gets upset on a playground and lashes out at another kid B, hurting B in the process. We could call A a "bad kid," but if that's how conflict resolution and emotional regulation's being modeled at home, is A really bad? or did they just use the tools at their disposal to the best they knew how? The parents here are partially accountable for A's actions because they enabled that behavior.

What I'm getting at here is that if we stop at calling people good and bad, we're not going to get at the underlying issues that perpetuate problems. In the example, kid A is still going to have to apologize and do what they can to make amends for their actions, they did harm, after all, but unless this knowledge gap is filled by those who can see it needs to be filled, the problem will continue.

That's the circumstances part of "there are just circumstances and choices." The other side is that even a person we see as "good" can do major harm, and a person we see as bad can do major good.

Example of this: if close friend X is always super kind when you're around, and does a lot of good work, maybe volunteers, and then you hear from his son that X is a perpetrator of domestic abuse, does the fact that you see abusers as bad people and X as good mean that X is inherently not perpetrating domestic abuse?

No. The answer here is no.

Another (real) example: if someone radicalizes a lot of people towards a hate group and then gets deradicalized themself and start an organization centered around getting others out, does the fact that they caused part of the problem to begin with mean that what they're doing now doesn't matter because they're already bad?

I would argue no here. It might not undo the problem and collateral damage but it does matter.

What I'm getting at is that people can help people in one area of life and then turn around and hurt others in a different area. If we believe that "good" people are incapable of doing harm, we're going to abandon those who feel the direct brunt of the damage being caused and we'll be afraid to call out the actions taking place, and it will continue to go unchecked. If we believe that "bad" people are incapable of doing good, then we inherently forfeit any battles we fight trying to make positive change. How can a person do better if we lock them into a narrative where their only options are to continue harm?

Similarly, this goes to how we view ourselves. One the one hand, a lot of people who consider themselves to be "good people" have done a lot of harm because of the belief that hurting others makes someone a bad person and they're not a bad person so therefore they could not have done harm - it's the other person's fault, or it wasn't actually hurting someone because there just wasn't another way. Or the other hand, if people consider themselves to be "bad people" then that must mean they're the ones causing the harm, regardless of whether or not they are.

Having this in mind also protects us against scapegoating mentality. What actions are the people we're told are good making? Why are they making them? Likewise, what actions are the people we're told are bad making, and why?

In the end, people are in control of the choices they make. Being kind and compassionate is a choice. So is being violent or destructive. People will always have their reasons because most of us like to see ourselves as the hero of our story, but a choice made is still a choice made. We all have to answer for that.

[and for the people who are picking their worst villain from history and saying what about them? yeah they made horrible choices. but it was in their power to make a different choice. the weren't predestined for badness, they were taught that it was okay (or weren't taught that it wasn't) and chose to do it anyway. they also chose not to right those wrongs. they probably didn't even see themself as anything but a hero, especially since they were kind to at least someone. and that's the dangerous part, because anyone, given the right conditions and resources can go down that path.]

TL;DR, a good and bad binary doesn't reflect reality, it obscures a lot of problems, lets enablers of bad choices get off free and leaves those of good choices in the shadows, makes it harder for people to change for the better, makes it harder to call out when people change for the worse, enables scapegoating, and makes it harder to recognize the agency we have over our own actions and the consequences thereof. That's my hot take.

#hot take #social issues #good people #bad people #binaries #heroes of history #villains of history #tw domestic violence #tw hate group mention #self image #introspection #life lessons #radicalization #deradicalization #nuance #critical thinking #circumstances and choices #agency #morality #right and wrong

[redheadedfailgirl]

I have a deep loathing of 'deradicalization,' because it's not as if it's not good when people stop being violent assholes. But the way that people who have go about trying to spread that towards other 'current radicals' ends up putting that as the most important thing in politics, and oftentimes puts accountability for their violence on the wayside.

They're still more concerned with helping 'people like them' see the light than in helping the folks they hurt. It still tells queer people, black people, disabled people, indigenous people, whoever they were violent against (it's usually not just one group) how they should be. That they too should focus, not on their needs and wants, but on those of the wannabe deradicalizer.

And I'm fucking tired of it. Deradicalization is good, but as the totality of praxis ends up being selfish at best, and increasingly violent at worst.

#this is not a new take #others have said this better #im just watching someone waxing poetic about deradicalizing eggy white boys and im tired of their shit #avalonrantz #politics #deradicalization #liberal bullshit masquerading as leftist bullshit #praxis #i guess

[creature-wizard]

RE: Help me please my girlfriend believes in the age of ascension. How do I tell her it's bullshit without insulting her?

Yeah. She's a self described witch and has read The Unseen Hand and thinks that it's legit. She's down deep...

TBF witchcraft isn't inherently conspiratorial. But buying into a book like that? That's bad. Holy shit. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this.

Yeah, gonna recommend searching up "how to speak to someone in a cult" and "how to speak to someone in QAnon."

You might also find help at the QAnonCasualties group on Reddit. Also, headspace-hotel's post on deradicalization might be helpful?

#answered #cult girlfriend #conspiracy girlfriend #deradicalization #conspiracy theorist