Over the past few years, policymakers, intelligence agencies, and international organizations have searched for new solutions to prevent and counter violent extremism among youth around the world. Researchers agree that there is no one path into the adoption of a radical ideology or participation with a violent extremist organization. As thousands of young men and women have left their home countries, their families, and their livelihoods to join groups like Al-Qa’eda in the Arabia Peninsula (AQAP), the Islamic State (IS), and Jabhat Al-Nusra, profiles of fighters and followers are incredibly diverse.
The Questscope Approach
Individuals’ motivations towards violent extremism are diverse, and therefore, addressing root causes of extremism, at the psychological, emotional, and social levels, requires, to some extent, sustained access to the inner lives of at-risk individuals.
Youth’s natural state is to yearn for more, and to vigorously question their place in their family, peer group, community, and world. That energy and drive can be harnessed for powerful social change just as much as it can be directed towards armed violence. The Questscope approach to P/CVE is grounded in a belief that youth are the key drivers of solutions, and not the problem.
This approach has been tested over years of experience in pro-social youth development programming in high-risk contexts in the MENA region, including juvenile detention centers and gang-affiliated communities. Click here to read about Questscope’s approach to P/CVE.