Preventing Violent Extremism through Value Complexity: Being Muslim Being British

• Main Authors: Jose Liht, Sara Savage
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Henley-Putnam University 2013-12-01
• Series: Journal of Strategic Security
• Subjects: Fundamentalism; Globalization and global change; Methodology; Peace studies; Psychology; Radicalization; Violent extremism
• Online Access: http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/jss/vol6/iss4/3/

This article reports on an intervention designed to prevent violent extremism in young UK Muslims, and provides an empirical assessment of its effectiveness. The course was designed to expose participants to the multiplicity of value priorities that influential Muslims embody, and to structure group activities that allow participants to explore all value positions on issues central to radical Islamist discourse, free from criticism or social pressure. The intervention, a 16 contact hour course using films and group activities that enables participants to problem solve according to a broad array of their own values, was pre and post tested with 81 young Muslims (mean age 19.48; SD=2.14) across seven pilot groups around the UK. As hypothesised, value spread and integrative complexity increased significantly by the end of the course in group discussions, and in written responses to moral dilemmas, conflict resolution style shifted towards collaboration and compromise.