The Paradox of Hope: A Psychodynamic Approach to Understanding the Motivations of Young People Engaged in Violent Extremism

ABSTRACT

The 21st century began in a burst of political violence that terrified people around the globe. A series of programs designed to counter violent extremism grew up, entangling tens of thousands of children and young people in its web. The philosophy on which these programs were founded, seemed based on a fear driven mindblindness that assumed that even the youngest perpetrators were incorrigible in some fundamental way and thus only the most violent levels of power and control would be sufficient to prevent terror from proliferating. Twenty years later, tens of thousands of children and young people are incarcerated or part of surveillance and suppression programs. However, recent studies indicate such programs serve to fuel rather than prevent violent extremism. Evidence indicates that programs eschewing violence and promoting collaboration, compassion and restorative justice have measurably positive results. This paper outlines a psychoanalytic approach illuminating that evidence. Through the use of three clinical vignettes, the paper offers a psychoanalytic perspective on the motivations of young people convicted of political violence. The paper suggests a way that psychoanalytic, developmental perspectives may contribute to the creation of effective psychosocial programs that harness their idealism and need for agency in the face of terrible violence toward preventing, treating and reintegrating young people affected by violent extremism.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. Bragin (2019) offered a brief discussion of the history of contributions from Southern Africa to Freud’s eventual theories regarding the management and integration of unconscious violence elicited by war. The appropriation of ideas, while deriding their authors, is a feature of Freud’s and the Western world’s colonialism, and it is beyond the scope of this paper.

2. State violence has continued unabated, notably in the United States, the country from which I write (Crump, 2019; Stevenson, 2015). Such violence is occurring during this writing regarding racist actions; it will be the subject of future papers.

3. This section is adapted from Bragin’s (2007), “Knowing terrible things: Engaging survivors of extreme violence in treatment,” as identified in this article’s references.

4. In order to be sure that this person cannot be recognized, I have created a composite. The person described here is not famous and should not have her story conflated with those of any well-known U S political prisoners, none of whom consulted with me.