As part of an ongoing “countering violent extremism” campaign, an administration official delivered another speech highlighting a range of factors that “push” young people toward terrorism – but with no reference to Islamic teachings.
Speaking in Geneva on Monday, Undersecretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Sarah Sewall cited a theory in popular psychology – the “hierarchy of needs” – in an attempt to explain why people from widely different backgrounds are attracted to terrorist groups.
“We remain challenged by the difficulty of understanding why individuals or communities would join such backward, violent extremist groups,” Sewall said. “Terror network recruits come from all walks of life: posh suburbs and forgotten slums; from countries rich and poor, repressive and free, stable and conflict-ridden.”
She said their motives in joining or aligning with terror groups may be “complex, overlapping, and context-specific.”
Sewall argued that those motives could be examined in line with the “hierarchy of needs,” a theory presented by psychologist Abraham Maslow in the mid-20th century.
Popularly represented as a triangular diagram, the theory holds that human beings have needs beginning with the base physiological (food, shelter, etc.), followed by safety (protection, law and order), love and belonging, esteem (status, self-respect, etc.), and – at the triangle’s peak – self-actualization (fulfillment, personal growth, etc.)
Sewall said that while people may be vulnerable to recruitment by extremists due to factors like poverty (“the inability to provide for oneself or one’s family”) or physical insecurity, needs higher up the hierarchy are also relevant.
“Even where people’s lower-level needs are met, social and political marginalization can impact higher-order human needs such as a valued role or purpose,” she said.
“The ‘hierarchy of needs’ therefore helps us understand why dramatically different profiles of persons can be drawn to organizations antithetical to what we would identify as progress and humanity.”
Administration officials have raised eyebrows by attributing terrorism to factors such as deprivation and a lack of jobs – rather than Islamic teachings or interpretations – especially when such factors as poverty are clearly absent in the cases of many top terrorists, who may be well-educated and even wealthy.
Sewall’s speech developed that theme.
“Any type of violent extremist group exploits human needs all along the spectrum,” she said.
“From al-Shabaab in Somalia to Da’esh [the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS] in Syria, terror groups lure some with the promise of a paycheck – the undereducated youth with no prospect of employment or a future, or the father who can no longer provide for his family,” Sewall said.
“Others are motivated to join extremist ranks by higher-end needs – purpose, meaning, identity.”
Because terror groups appeal to grievances across the spectrum, “a ‘whole-of-society’ approach is the key to preventing the spread of violent extremism’s appeals.”
Beyond the need for military, intelligence, and law enforcement tools to defeat terror networks, Sewall appealed for an approach that includes “greater emphasis on prevention – protecting individuals and communities from violent extremism.”
Administration officials have actively shied away from using terms like “radical Islam” or “Islamic extremism” in discussing the terror threat, and Sewall’s speech likewise avoided direct reference to Islam.
(CNS News)