Adverse childhood experiences, education, and involvement in terrorist violence: Examining mediation and moderation.
J Sch Psychol
; 106: 101348, 2024 Oct.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39251309
ABSTRACT
Most perpetrators of terrorist violence have had some level of post-secondary school education, with many enrolled in education at the time of their attacks. Exploring this premise in the context of prevention, this article draws from data gathered on a purposive sample (N = 206) of radicalized individuals from Europe and North America, half of whom became involved in terrorist violence at the end of their radicalization trajectories. Through a lens of educational participation, we propose novel, non-linear frameworks for understanding radicalization outcomes. To do so, two factors are explored that uniquely intersect when an individual enters a school setting:
Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and the human capital provided by education. As hypothesized, exposure to ACE was found to be associated with radicalization trajectories culminating in terrorist violence at the bivariate level (OR = 2.08). Consistent with the developmental-assets framework, it was further hypothesized that this relationship would be mediated by enrollment in education; however, results did not support this hypothesis. Instead, consistent with resiliency-based models, it was found that the relationship between ACE and involvement in terrorist violence was significant for those who abandoned education during radicalization (OR = 2.07). As well as contributing to theoretical models of radicalization to terrorist violence, identifying the furtherance of education as a moderator of risk may signal an important preventative strategy for violent extremism. Keeping enrolled students engaged in their programs, even if only nominally, may also forego the need for educators to engage in potentially controversial practices such as alerting the authorities to students who display signs of radicalization.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Schools
/
Violence
/
Terrorism
/
Adverse Childhood Experiences
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
/
Europa
Language:
En
Journal:
J Sch Psychol
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Country of publication:
Estados Unidos