Examinando por Autor "Vicente, Álvaro"

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A Social Network Approach to Jihadist Mobilization: Analyzing Radicalization and Recruitment among Underage Youth in Spain
(Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 2023) Vicente, Álvaro
Research in the field of terrorism studies has consistently shown that most militants of terrorist organizations were previously connected to people active in the extremist movement before their recruitment. While this finding evinces a strong correlation between social networks and terrorism, specific analytical gaps still prevent us from understanding how the relationship works. This thesis aims to address this research gap by exploring the role of social ties in the cycle of jihadist mobilization of underage youth that unfolded in Spain during the years of the Syrian civil war and the emergence and fall of IS (2012-2019). It pursues two goals: first, to develop a comprehensive conceptualization of the role of interpersonal connections in the process of jihadist radicalization and recruitment; and second, to explain variations in the impact of social ties on youth participation in jihadist activities (i.e., participation may not take place even when some ties support it; participation may take place even when some ties reject it). Building on theoretical and empirical approaches from social movement studies, political psychology studies, and terrorism studies, this dissertation develops an analysis based on original, extensive data on youth mobilized by the jihadist movement in Spain, as well as on agents of radicalization and recruitment who attempted to mobilize minors for global jihad. The dissertation offers three key insights: [1] social connections are integral to the various phases of the jihadist mobilization of youth, as they trigger multiple mechanisms that promote ideological and attitudinal alignment with global jihad, shape motivations to engage in jihadist activities, and facilitate recruitment by terrorist organizations; [2] differences in the characteristics of social networks can account for why only a fraction of those who support global jihad ultimately participate in it, insofar as participants possess stronger and more numerous connections to jihadist militants than non-participants; [3] countervailing ties that oppose participation in jihadist activities may unintendedly contribute to mobilization by unleashing a reactive reaffirmation of ideological alignments and collective identities, as well as a reinforcement of ties with like-minded individuals. These findings lead to two key conclusions: first, social ties are decisive in increasing a young person's chances of participating in jihadist action, although they do not guarantee it as an ultimate consequence of the mobilization process; and second, the overall mobilization process among young jihadist sympathizers is the result of the interplay between social ties with conflicting orientations (facilitating and opposing).
How radicalizing agents mobilize minors to jihadism: a qualitative study in Spain
(2020) Vicente, Álvaro
In the context of the global jihadist mobilization triggered by the outbreak of the Syrian war in 2012 and the subsequent emergence of Islamic State, child and adolescent recruitment has reached unprecedented levels in Spain. Between 2013 and 2019, 44 jihadists were arrested in this country due to their involvement in the indoctrination and recruitment of individuals below 18 years of age. How did they carry out the mobilization of minors in support of global jihadism? Adopting a qualitative approach guided by grounded theory methods to address the question, this article relies on evidence collected mostly from primary sources (police reports, criminal proceedings, court hearings, as well as semi-structured interviews with police experts and front-line practitioners). The results indicate that their radicalization strategies varied as a function of the existence of previous personal ties between the recruiter and the minor; the age of the minor; and the environment in which the process unfolded. The interaction of these three factors generates the outline of three different formulas used in Spain for jihadist indoctrination of underage youth: one unfolds within the family milieu, another within the immediate social environment and a third via cyberspace.
National Extraction, Geographical Origin and Migratory Ancestry among Jihadists in Spain
(2023) García-Calvo, Carola; Reinares, Fernando; Vicente, Álvaro
Eight out of every 10 jihadists arrested or deceased in Spain between 2013 and 2018 are of Moroccan origin. This figure includes Moroccan nationals, Spanish nationals born in Morocco, and Spanish nationals descending from Moroccan immigrants. The historically restive Rif region of northwest Africa is the main geographical provenance of those who were born in Morocco and, similarly, because of violent Salafist who are natives of Ceuta and Melilla, of those who were born in Spain. All this reveals the extent to which the enduring reality of global jihadism in Morocco is projected externally onto Spain. This is unsurprising, since a large majority of Muslims in Spain come from Morocco or have Moroccan ancestors. Yet, the blooming of homegrown jihadism in Spain over the mentioned six-year period, largely resulting from the radicalization of Moroccan descendants or second generations, points toward the internal dynamics behind the phenomenon. In Spain, however, these second generations may or may not be in a diaspora situation, an important feature which is unique in the context of Western Europe.
Social Ties and Jihadist Participation: A Mixed- Methods Approach to the Differential Recruitment of Radicalized Youth in Spain
(2023) Vicente, Álvaro
The relationship between social ties and jihadist participation has garnered substantial attention from terrorism scholars. However, further research is needed to understand what specific properties of interpersonal bonds influence terrorist involvement and how they operate. Drawing on social network theory, the current study tests the effects of the type, number, and strength of interpersonal ties with jihadist activists in explaining the occurrence and absence of individual engagement in jihadist activities. For that purpose, this paper analyzes the social links of twenty-three youths involved in terrorism and twenty-one youths who, despite their attitudinal affinity with jihadism, did not take part in such actions. Combining quantitative and qualitative data and methods of analysis, the study found empirical evidence that participation in jihadism is affected by the number of connections between young people and the global jihadist movement. It also found partial support for the relationship between tie strength and jihadist involvement. However, it rejected the assumption that the type of social tie influences participation.
Terrorist Participation Despite Social Influences Opposing Violent Extremism: A Qualitative Study among Young Jihadists in Spain
(2022) Vicente, Álvaro
This article uses a sample of 11 juveniles involved in jihadism in Spain to analyze how they experienced and resisted disagreement with members of their personal networks. Drawing on data from interviews, criminal proceedings, and oral trials, the study provides support for a theoretical framework that holds that: (1) opposing ties attempt to leverage informational and normative forms of influence (confrontation of perspectives, exposure to warnings, and application of pressures and constraints) to induce attitudinal change, and that (2) these mechanisms are countered through cognitive and social resistance strategies (contestation, selective social exposure, and circumvention). The research suggests how social disagreement can counterintuitively contribute to mobilizing young people for political violence.
When Terrorist Disengagement Processes Are Consistent with Previous Violent Radicalization: Two Case Studies
(2023) Reinares, Fernando; Vicente, Álvaro
Although terrorist disengagement is a dynamic process, this study proposes the likelihood of a continuity in the prevailing factors influencing exit from terrorism and the prevailing dimensions which initially influenced violent radicalization. Through the analysis of two contrasting cases featuring third-generation Muslims formerly involved in jihadist activities in Spain, we assess a connection between the prevailing push and pull factors which sparked individuals to cease their terrorist engagement and the predominant dimensions that earlier prompted the radicalization which led them to terrorist involvement. Drawing from in-depth interviews with the two former jihadists, Hassan and Omar, conducted while they were serving prison sentences for terrorism offences, we suggest that the significance of ideology and network in, respectively, their journeys from Islamic fundamentalism towards jihadism is similarly reflected in their accounts of ending jihadist involvement, even in the presence of secondary factors that also play a role in such a complex process.