The threat of recruitment and radicalization has heightened significantly with the rise of ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). ISIS uses propaganda videos and social media messages to appeal to a range of audiences, including would-be violent avengers, humanitarians, immigrants and refugees, and converts – males and females. Hundreds of U.S. foreign fighters reportedly have gone to ISIS. U.S. law enforcement agencies are concerned that more Americans will join ISIS, and that those foreign fighters who have joined and traveled abroad might pose security threats here at home.
To compete with ISIS to prevent more young people from going to Syria and Iraq, implementing CVE programs and policies is a national priority. This could be an opportunity for psychiatry and other mental health professionals to contribute to national and local response strategies.
One new initiative is a project recently begun by our team that is funded by the Science and Technology Directorate of the Homeland Security Dept. as part of a broader research portfolio on CVE conducted by the START Consortium, which aims to better understand how to integrate mental health professionals into countering violent extremism. This project presents an opportunity for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to contribute to national and local response strategies to radicalization and recruitment.
Dr. Weine is professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He will address the issue of radicalization and recruitment to violence among Muslim-American teens at the upcoming joint meeting between the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry (ASAP) and the Internal Society for Adolescent Psychiatry March 26-29 in New York. The meeting, which is themed “The Art and Science of Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy,” also will include resumption of ASAP’s Certification Examination in Adolescent Psychiatry.