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The Role of the Family in Preventing the Transformation of Western Youngsters into Jihadi Fighters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 October 2018

Abstract

The mother–child relationship is essential in the development of a healthy child, who can grow up trusting his/her own perceptions and understanding of the social environment. Teenagers naturally experience a period of transition in search of their own identity as individuals, thus being really exposed and vulnerable to being recruited by jihadists. In this particular stage of development, the teenager tries to free himself/herself from the tutorship of the family and looks to experience something new outside the family frame. One of the defining characteristics of this stage is a tendency to take things to an extreme and to see things in black and white, while emotions are experienced as very intense, overwhelming and sometimes difficult to control. Teenagers are easy to impress, convince and manipulate, especially by their social milieu outside the family of origin. In the cases when the relationship with the family of origin becomes tensed – whether the child has been neglected or spoiled during childhood, or when there are tensions between parents or the family is conflicting – the teenager looks for validation outside the family environment. Any opportunity to do something out of the ordinary and apparently easy to accomplish might seem attractive for this category of individuals, especially for those that do not enjoy family support. The illusion of becoming famous or the attraction of glamour might seem desirable at this age. This is one of the main reasons why Jihad has had such a significant impact on Western converts to Islam. Therefore, the aim of this study is to provide an analysis of the case of Boicea Luigi Constantin (Umar al Rumaani), a Romanian that adhered to the extremist ideology of the Islamic State, who does not come from a Muslim family, yet underwent a fast self-radicalization process. In order to better understand Boicea’s case, we will try to present the result of the investigation conducted on the family environment, his interests manifested at an early age, and the tragic events that contributed to his radicalization; in other words, we will try to present the general context in which self-radicalization occurred.

Abstracto

La relación madre-hijo es esencial en el desarrollo de un niño sano, que puede crecer confiando en sus propias percepciones y comprensión del entorno social. Los adolescentes experimentan naturalmente un período de transición en busca de su propia identidad como individuos, por lo que están realmente expuestos y son vulnerables a ser reclutados por yihadistas. En esta etapa particular de desarrollo, el adolescente intenta liberarse de la tutela de la familia y busca experimentar algo nuevo fuera del marco familiar. Una de las características definitorias de esta etapa es la tendencia a llevar las cosas al extremo y ver las cosas en blanco y negro, mientras que las emociones se experimentan como muy intensas, abrumadoras y, a veces, difíciles de controlar. Los adolescentes son fáciles de impresionar, convencer y manipular, especialmente por su entorno social fuera de la familia de origen. En los casos en que la relación con la familia de origen se vuelve tensa, ya sea que el niño haya sido descuidado o arruinado durante la infancia, o cuando hay tensiones entre los padres o la familia es conflictiva, el adolescente busca la validación fuera del entorno familiar. Cualquier oportunidad de hacer algo fuera del común y aparentemente fácil de lograr puede parecer atractiva para esta categoría de individuos, especialmente para aquellos que no disfrutan del apoyo de la familia. La ilusión de hacerse famoso o la atracción del glamour podría parecer deseable a esta edad. Esta es una de las razones principales por las cuales Jihad ha tenido un impacto tan significativo en los occidentales convertidos al Islam. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de este estudio es proporcionar un análisis del caso de Boicea Luigi Constantin (Umar al Rumaani), un rumano que se adhirió a la ideología extremista del Estado Islámico, que no provino de una familia musulmana, pero se sometió a una rápido proceso de autoradicalización. Para entender mejor el caso de Boicea, trataremos de presentar el resultado de la investigación realizada sobre el entorno familiar, sus intereses manifestados a una edad temprana, los trágicos eventos que contribuyeron a su radicalización, en otras palabras, trataremos de presentar el contexto general en el cual ocurrió la autoradicalización.

Abstrait

La relation mère-enfant est essentielle au développement d’un enfant en bonne santé, qui peut grandir en faisant confiance à ses propres perceptions et à sa compréhension de l’environnement social. Les adolescents connaissent naturellement une période de transition à la recherche de leur propre identité en tant qu’individus, étant ainsi exposés et vulnérables à être recrutés par les djihadistes. Dans cette étape particulière du développement, l’adolescent tente de se libérer de la tutelle de la famille et cherche à expérimenter quelque chose de nouveau en dehors du cadre familial. Une des caractéristiques déterminantes de cette étape est une tendance à prendre les choses à l’extrême et à voir les choses en noir et blanc, alors que les émotions sont vécues comme très intenses, accablantes et parfois difficiles à contrôler. Les adolescents sont faciles à impressionner, à convaincre et à manipuler, notamment par leur milieu social en dehors de la famille d’origine. Dans les cas où la relation avec la famille d’origine devient tendue - que l’enfant ait été négligé ou gâté pendant l’enfance ou qu’il y ait des tensions entre les parents ou que la famille soit conflictuelle - l’adolescent cherche une validation en dehors du milieu familial. Toute possibilité de faire quelque chose hors de l’ordinaire et apparemment facile à réaliser peut sembler attrayante pour cette catégorie d’individus, en particulier pour ceux qui ne bénéficient pas du soutien familial. L’illusion de devenir célèbre ou l’attrait du glamour peut sembler désirable à cet âge. C’est l’une des principales raisons pour lesquelles le Jihad a eu un impact si important sur les convertis occidentaux à l’Islam. Par conséquent, le but de cette étude est de fournir une analyse du cas de Boicea Luigi Constantin (Umar al Rumaani), un roumain adhérant à l’idéologie extrémiste de l'État islamique, qui ne vient pas d’une famille musulmane, mais qui a processus rapide d’auto-radicalisation. Afin de mieux comprendre le cas de Boicea, nous tenterons de présenter le résultat de l’enquête menée sur l’environnement familial, ses intérêts manifestés à un âge précoce, les événements tragiques qui ont contribué à sa radicalisation, en d’autres termes, nous allons essayer de présenter le contexte général dans lequel l’auto-radicalisation s’est produite.

摘要:

母子关系对孩子的健康发展至关重要,他们可以在成长中信任自己对社会环境的构想和理解。青少年都会经历一段寻找自己的身份认知的过渡时间,此时他们很容易接触并被圣战分子招募。在这个特殊的发展阶段,青少年试图摆脱家庭的辅导,并在家庭框架之外寻找新的体验。这个阶段的主要特征之一是倾向于将事物推向极端,以黑白两色来看待事物,而且情绪非常激烈和汹涌,有时难以控制。青少年特别容易受到原籍家庭之外的社会环境的影响、说服。在与原籍家庭的关系变得紧张的情况下——无论是儿童在童年时期被忽视或被宠坏,或者父母或家庭之间存在相互冲突的紧张关系——青少年会在家庭环境之外寻求存在感。任何去做一些突破常规的并且明显容易完成的事情之机会,对于这类人来说似乎都很有吸引力,特别是对那些没有拥有家庭支持的人。这个年龄段的人,成名的幻想或魅力的诱惑也许是合乎情理的。这也是圣战对西方皈依伊斯兰教产生如此重大影响的主要原因之一。因此,本研究的目标是对一个坚持伊斯兰极端主义思想的罗马尼亚人Boicea Luigi Constantin(Umar al Rumaani)进行案例分析。他不是来自穆斯林家庭,却经历了一个快速自我激进化的过程。为了更好地理解这个案例,我们将展示对家庭环境、他在很小时候表现出来的兴趣、以及导致他激进化的悲惨事件进行调查的结果,换句话,我们将尽力呈现自我激进化发

الملخّص

تشكّل العلاقة بين الأم والطفل عنصرًا أساسيًّا في تنمية طفل سليم يمكنه أن ينمو ويثق بتصوّراته(ها) للبيئة الاجتماعية وفهمه(ها) لها. بطبيعة الحال يختبر المراهقون مرحلة انتقاليّة بحثًا عن هويتهم الخاصة كأفراد، وبالتالي يتعرّضون لخطر التجنيد الفعليّ من قبل الجهاديين. في هذه المرحلة الخاصة من النّمو، يحاول المراهق أن يحرّر نفسه من قيود العائلة ويبحث عن تجربة جديدة خارج إطارها. تتميّز هذه المرحلة بميل هؤلاء المراهقين إلى التّطرّف في فهمهم للأمور وإلى رؤية الأشياء باللونين الأسود والأبيض، في حين يكون اختبارهم للعواطف مفرطًا يصعب السّيطرة عليه أحيانًا. يُعْتَبَرُ المراهقون أكثر الأشخاص تأثّرًا حيث يسهل إقناعهم والتّلاعب بهم، لا سيما من خلال محيطهم الاجتماعي خارج عائلة المنشأ. في الحالات التي تصبح فيها العلاقة مع عائلة المنشأ متوتّرة - سواء كان الطفل قد تم إهماله أو إفساده في مرحلة طفولته، أو قد شهد توتّرًا في العلاقة بين والديه أو صراعًا في العائلة - يبحث المراهق عن دعم خارج محيط هذه البيئة الأسريّة. وهكذا، تصبح أي فرصة للقيام بأيّ شيء خارج عن المألوف وسهل المنال أمرًا مثيرًا للإهتمام بالنسبة لهذه الفئة من الأفراد، خاصة بالنسبة لأولئك الذين لا يتمتعون بدعم أسريّ

قد يبدو وهم الشّهرة أو جاذبيّة الإغراء أمرًا مرغوباً فيه في هذا العمر. هذا هو أحد أهم الأسباب التي تجعل من الجهاد عاملًا رئيسيًّا في إقبال الغرب على اعتناق الإسلام. وبالتّالي، يكون الهدف من هذه الدراسة تقديم تحليل لحالة بويسيا لويجي كونستانتين (عمر الروماني)، وهو روماني التزم بالأيديولوجية المتطرفة للدولة الإسلامية؛ وبالرّغم من أنّه لا ينحدر من عائلة مسلمة، فلقد خضع إلى عمليّة تطرف ذاتيٍّ سريع. من أجل فهم حالة بويسيا بشكل أفضل، سنحاول تقديم نتيجة التحقيق الذي تم إجراؤه على البيئة الأسريّة، واهتماماته الّتي تجلّت في سن مبكرة، والأحداث المأساويّة التي ساهمت في تطرّفه. بعبارة أخرى، سنحاول تقديم السياق العام الذي حدث فيه هذا التطرف الذاتي.

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Article
Copyright
© 2018 International Society of Criminology 

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