Lifeline
Key message
Understanding the factors which contribute to radical tendencies developing, and understanding at which stage in their lives people are deemed to be most 'at-risk' of radicalisation, are key to developing preventative measures to guard against the radicalisation of young people and adults. This activity will ask participants to critically examine these issues and to consider motivations for being radicalised.
Key words: understanding radicalisation,factors contributing to radicalisation, effects and consequences of radicalisation
Summary
This exercise encourages participants to provide a critical perspective on some of the issues that affect young people who engage in radical activity and to see assess at what point in their lives is a person more vulnerable to this happening.
LessKey message
Understanding the factors which contribute to radical tendencies developing, and understanding at which stage in their lives people are deemed to be most 'at-risk' of radicalisation, are key to developing preventative measures to guard against the radicalisation of young people and adults. This activity will ask participants to critically examine these issues and to consider motivations for being radicalised.
Key words: understanding radicalisation,factors contributing to radicalisation, effects and consequences of radicalisation
Summary
This exercise encourages participants to provide a critical perspective on some of the issues that affect young people who engage in radical activity and to see assess at what point in their lives is a person more vulnerable to this happening.
Key message
Understanding the factors which contribute to radical tendencies developing, and understanding at which stage in their lives people are deemed to be most 'at-risk' of radicalisation, are key to developing preventative measures to guard against the radicalisation of young people and adults. This activity will ask participants to critically examine these issues and to consider motivations for being radicalised.
Key words: understanding radicalisation,factors contributing to radicalisation, effects and consequences of radicalisation
Summary
This exercise encourages participants to provide a critical perspective on some of the issues that affect young people who engage in radical activity and to see assess at what point in their lives is a person more vulnerable to this happening.
- Module
- Prevention
- Duration
- 1 hour
- Group size
- medium
- large
- Group age
- 12 - 15
- 16 - 19
Exercise Category: Activities / Exercises
CC - Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Purpose
- To examine the possible life history of a young person involved in radical behaviour
- To identify and explore the main social issues that may disadvantage or marginalise young people and in doing so motivate them to engage in this type of behaviour
- To explore the process of radicalisation and how it effects the individual, family, community and other social relationships
Participants
This exercise would be most suited to older teenagers and young adults; non-gender specific.
Description
Step 1: The facilitator splits the main group into small working groups of three and gives them some flipchart sheets and markers. Ask someone in each group to volunteer to draw a straight line across the sheet and explain that they are going to map out a young person’s journey and that this line represents their character’s lifeline.
Step 2: Across the line on their sheet they are to mark in the ages of 14, 16, 18 and 20 to represent the different milestones that might be occurring for a young person at those ages. In their working groups of three the group have to produce a detailed lifeline of a character that has ended up on the road to radicalisation. They are to show this young person’s progression route into radicalisation and take into account any significant pressure points the characters may be encountering along the way at the different ages.
As a group they are to ask the question ‘what is happening at each stage that keeps the young person on this path? and through discussion try to establish the motivation behind the young person’s actions.
Step 3: The main group comes back together and each of the small groups presents back their lifelines and states the logic they used in coming to the conclusions they did about this young person. Other group members are encouraged to respond with any comments or questions of clarification that they might have.
Step 4: The facilitator then poses some questions to the large group to prompt discussion.
Materials needed
Flipchart sheets, Markers
Methodology
Small working group discussions, Large group discussion and debate
Advice for Trainer
Suggested questions to provoke group discussion in Step 4 include:
- What outcomes might be a feature of this type of lifestyle for the characters involved (positive/negative)?
- What would you say to this young person if you were to encounter them today?
- How might you discourage them from journeying down this particular path?
- What impact is their behaviour having on those around them, their family, peer group and their community?
Source / Literature
Original material developed for the purpose of the YCARe project.