Global Mental Health Webinar Series: Critical Cultural, and Practical Perspectives
Violent Radicalization: Prevention and Intervention Dilemmas
Radicalization to violence is a world social phenomenon affecting majorities and minorities with important effects on individual and collective well-being. Violent radicalization is related to mental disorders in multiple ways – not only because psychological factors and psychopathology are determinants of violent radicalization, but also because psychological distress, grief and trauma are significant public health consequences of this form of violence, which can feed further anger and helplessness.
The complexity of violent radicalization manifestations, its increasing association with severe psychopathology and its relation to actual acts of violence, play an important role for health practitioners in supporting and complementing the work of frontline psychosocial services, as well as contributing to the transdisciplinary network needed to develop effective modes of prevention and intervention. However, given the risks of medicalizing forms of social suffering and of being co-opted by ideologically driven political interests, this professional involvement cannot take place without continuous ethical reflection and systemic evaluation.
Speaker: Dr. Cécile Rousseau, MD
McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Dr. Cécile Rousseau, MD is Professor of psychiatry at McGill University and Scientific Director of the Research Institute on health and cultural diversity SHERPA. She has worked extensively with immigrant and refugee communities, developing specific school based interventions and leading policy oriented research. Presently her research focuses on the evaluation of collaborative mental health care models for youth in multiethnic neighborhoods and on intervention and prevention programs to address youth radicalization.
Moderator
Mónica Ruiz-Casares
PhD, MSc, MA, LLB
Associate Professor
Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry
McGill University
December 20, 2018
12:00-13:00 pm (Montreal EDT)
Attendance: Online platform
Recordings
Recommended readings
Rousseau, C., Hassan, G., & Oulhote, Y. (2017). And if there were other way out? Questioning the prevalent radicalization models. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 108(5-6).
Rousseau, C., Ellis, H., & Lantos, J. (2017). The dilemna of predicting violent radicalization. Pediatrics, 140(4).
Hassan, G., Brouillette-Alarie, S., Alava, S., Frau-Meigs, D., Lavoie, L., Fetiu, A., . . . Rousseau, C. (2018). Exposure to extremist online content could lead to violent radicalization: A systematic review of empirical evidence. International Journal of Developmental Science (Preprint), 1-18.
