Causes Of Radicalization

The terrorist attacks perpetrated in several European and neighboring countries over the past year have been the painful result of a most worrying trend: an increasing number of children and young people being drawn into extremist movements in their search for identity and a meaningful place in society. Profound feelings of injustice and frustration about their social exclusion are amongst the main root causes contributing to young people 's vulnerability, and increase their willingness to adhere to extremist, sometimes violent groups, which offer an apparent social purpose to them. Research on conflict and political violence indicates that young populations are more prone to conflict than older ones, and that youth are more likely to join

Overwhelming majorities of radicalized youth are found to have a strong sense of being discriminated against and are alienated from the larger society. This in turn is believed to be a function of socio-economic deprivation. Poor education standards, lack of economic opportunities, and unequal access to avenues for social and economic mobilization are usually present in countries that undergo radicalization among the young. The problem is often accentuated in societies which exhibit cultural

Regardless of the model for integration, Muslims from France to Germany to Belgium created what are often referred to as “parallel societies” in European countries. These marginalized parallel societies are full of young Muslims ripe for recruitment by Islamic extremists. What is more frightening is that “the most vulnerable potential recruits, whether born Muslim or converted to Islam, are those who are at a stage of life where they are seeking an identity, while looking for approval and validation. They are searching for causes that can be religiously and culturally justified, that provide them a way to identify who they are, and that provide a clear call for action”

In sum, the causes for radicalization can range from identity crisis, personal trauma, discrimination, segregation, and alienation to misinformation about Islam and Western foreign policy. However, there are other important factors that need to be present for the process of radicalization to take