The role of social support for social workers engaged in preventing radicalization and violent extremism

Abstract

Over the last decade, social workers have been engaged in prevention work against violent extremism in the United Kingdom and the Nordic countries. There are scholarly findings of professional uncertainty among social workers carrying out this task, but the influence of organizational factors and support have not yet been studied in this context. This paper fills some of that gap with findings from research using 17 in-depth and two focus group interviews with experienced social workers involved in prevention work against radicalization and violent extremism. Theoretically, this paper applies Cutrona and Russell's theory of social support to its findings. The analysis revealed that professional acknowledgement is important for these social workers and that being given time and understanding of how this work impacts professionals on a personal level is a critical part of their interaction with peers and managers. Supportive measures, such as peer support, debriefing, and supervision, are also essential parts of maintaining well-being in the aftermath of these client encounters. Additionally, the novel contribution of this paper is that, for practitioners in a mixed and still evolving practice field, these support services may also strengthen prevention workers to remain close to their professional principles and focus on emancipating, not controlling their target group.

Prevention of Radicalization as an Emergent Field of Plural Policing in Norway: The Accelerating Role of Militant Islamists

“…By this stage, basic knowledge on radicalization and MI had been disseminated across local actors in Eastern Norway and beyond, but there were still gaps and considerable variations across municipalities. Measures introduced against RVE in the preceding phases had, however, helped establish radicalization and Islamist extremism as new social problems that were now much more likely to be recognized by frontline personnel in schools, social welfare and other public agencies (e.g., Haugstvedt, 2019). Training, increased knowledge and systematic educational efforts also seem to have contributed to greater confidence among frontline personnel and those with key coordination roles about how they should understand and approach militant Islamism in their local areas.…”

Preventing Violent Extremism and Social Work: Recent US History and Prospects

“…Notably absent from this recent scholarship on PVE are US social work academics, with a few exceptions (e.g., Hutson et al, 2009 ; Ellis & Abdi, 2017 ). However, some sound critiques and discussions in the literature on social work in countering terrorism from European social work scholars (e.g., Finch et al, 2019 ; Haugstvedt, 2019 ; McKendrick & Finch, 2017 ). This scholarship has often been critical of the underlying assumptions of the prevention models that target youth deemed at risk, for example, the PREVENT/Channel program in the United Kingdom (UK) (Awan & Guru, 2017 ; Stanley et al, 2018 ; Stanley & Guru, 2015 ; Guru, 2010 ).…”

“…Further, while associated with right-wing lone wolf attacks, mental health is not a primary driver of most forms of radicalization. Social workers in Norway, for example, were found to treat potentially radicalized youth as they would any social problem (Haugstvedt, 2019 ). Unfortunately, what is ignored in this scholarship is reference to specific, empirically validated social work prevention models that appear to have direct applicability to PVE.…”

“…Given the extraordinarily low base rate and the real threat of a false positive paradox, any public mental health initiative should be approached as furthering overall community well-being and disentangled from PVE. Social workers who have worked in this field suggest that youth identified as at-risk for VE may be at-risk for a host of other poor outcomes (Haugstvedt, 2019 ).…”

The lock pickers, the gatekeepers, and the non-grievables: a case study of youth workers’ roles in preventing violent extremism

“…However, risk signals of violent extremism are too abstract for the youth workers to be able to conduct PVE work (Van de Weert and Eijkman 2019). In his study of Norwegian social workers, Haugstvedt (2019) found that they understand radicalization as a social problem and go about their work with that perspective. According to Haugstvedt (2019), gaining trust is imperative for being able to conduct PVE work, but that is the case with all forms of social work.…”