Teachers as informants: countering extremism and promoting violence

ABSTRACT

This article is a response to Muslim students reporting that they had been silenced by fear of the PREVENT Counter-Terrorism Strategy. By adopting a Critical Realist stance, real generative mechanisms of this actual phenomenon are investigated and theorised. Recognition of changing definitions of both ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ in different versions of PREVENT results in the discursive aspect of these real generative mechanisms being investigated using critical discourse analysis (CDA). This analysis identifies the emergence of a violent discourse of ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ (RadEx) that it is theorised has the capacity to promote rather than prevent violence. Finally, a process by which this production of violence in the classroom might have been avoided is explored and this indicates that critique of government efforts to counter ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ is a vital aspect of pedagogy in the context of PREVENT and the War on Terror.     

Real-life revenge may not effectively deter norm violations

ABSTRACT

The current article examined the characteristics of real-life revenge acts. A demographically diverse sample of avengers described autobiographical revenge acts and the preceding offense. They rated the severity of both acts, the time before taking revenge, and motives for the timing. Independent raters also rated the severity of both acts and coded the domains. Results revealed that real-life revenge is (1) by and large equally common as revealed by lab-based studies on revenge, but (2) is usually a delayed response, and (3) although similar to offenses in severity (according to independent parties), it is dissimilar in the domain. These characteristics contradict manifestations of revenge as studied in lab research (e.g., as a response that must take place immediately and in the same domain). These discrepancies suggest that not all real-life instances of revenge are optimally suited to serve a deterrence function and that other motives may underlie more destructive revenge acts.     

PREDICTORS OF ENGAGEMENT IN PSYCHODYNAMIC PSYCHOTHERAPY DERIVING FROM PRE‐ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRES

Patients attending the Maudsley Hospital Psychotherapy Unit complete a semi‐structured questionnaire as a matter of standard procedure prior to assessment. Clinical experience suggests that this instrument reveals important aspects of a patient's internal world, regularly borne out at the assessment interview. The questionnaire may thus contribute to predicting engagement in the therapeutic relationship. To evaluate this hypothesis we conducted a qualitative analysis of 40 questionnaires, 20 of patients who attended 20 sessions or more, the other 20 of patients who discontinued at or before the sixth session. We differentially explored characteristics that may indicate the probability of patients' engagement and, hence, help to predict outcome in terms of completion of the treatment. The results indicate that there are no strong discriminating factors discernable in the questionnaires for the prediction of engagement in psychotherapy. Two themes emerged from the analysis that seemed to have a moderate bearing on completion. These are the willingness of patients to observe themselves reflectively as well as the awareness that psychotherapy might be a difficult but necessary and beneficial undertaking.