By Lysandra Marquez
The root of many issues regarding terrorism around the world resides in ignorance and fear, and often, a group is erroneously blamed for the misconduct of one individual.
When rogue, or extremist groups like ISIS carry out attacks around the world, many are quick to blame Muslims as a whole, and assume ill intentions of all who identify as such.
Terrorism is born within extremist ideals and thoughts, something that doesn’t develop overnight. Therefore, I think one way to address it is through psychology.
The American Psychological Association published an article regarding studies being done to decipher how terrorism happens, and break down what it takes to understand it. One such approach is ‘de-radicalization’, a multi-step technique in which terrorist detainees are given psychological treatment that addresses unhealthy mental or emotional processes.
While ‘de-radicalization’ is not the solution to terrorism, it could be a potential step towards reducing it.
As a journalist, it also comes down to the media in how terrorism is covered. Most times, what fuels terrorist attacks is media exposure, which is a detail Abdul Sahly mentioned in his presentation about terrorism during our last class. Often, the media fuels ensuing attacks, and one thing we, as the media can do, is not give these groups the attention they crave.
There is no one solution to ‘solve’ terrorism, but what we can do is educate ourselves as a way to understand how we can maintain conscientiousness about it in our surroundings.
Hey Lysandra,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think you make a great point that education is a key element of solving terrorism. While I don’t think our world will ever see a point where terrorism doesn’t exist, I think there is a lot more the global community can do to hinder it.