Innocence killed: Role of propaganda videos in the recruitment of children of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

ABSTRACT

Children of ISIS have no childhood. They are exposed to extreme violence and targeted by ISIS for recruitment. This study examines the role of ISIS child propaganda videos in catalysing the process of radicalising and recruiting children to join the Islamic State. Sixty in-depth interviews of Syrian families and children who have been exposed to ISIS propaganda show that children join ISIS mainly for survival. When they join the Islamic State, they are given a new identity. Fishers’ narrative paradigm provides the theoretical grounds for understanding the appeals ISIS’ creates through its narratives in their propaganda videos. The present research demonstrates how the narrative of the glorification of heaven draws potential martyrs and how families shape a key part of the Islamic State's narratives used to recruit children.

KEYWORDS:

• Cubs of the Caliphate
• Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
• Fishers' narrative paradigm
• recruitment of children
• terrorism
• radicalisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Flora Khoo

Dr. Flora Khoo is a Post-doctoral Fellow in the School of Communication and the Arts at Regent University. She won the 29th Kenneth Hardwood Outstanding Dissertation Award and the 2019 Mass Communication and Society Dissertation Award. Her academic research interests include communication and terrorism, the U.S. presidency and public opinion.

William J. Brown

Dr. William J. Brown is a Professor and Research Fellow in the School of Communication and the Arts at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science from Purdue University, a Master’s Degree in Communication Management from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and a M.A. Degree and Ph.D. in Communication, also from the University of Southern California. His academic research interests include international media and development communication, celebrity influence, health communication, political communication, and the use of entertainment for social change.