The Importance of Perspective Taking and Respect for Dignity in Understanding Radicalization

McCauley (this issue) has presented a thought‐provoking analysis of recent surveys of Muslim Americans as a means of testing the effectiveness of theories of Islamic radicalization. In this commentary we argue that by taking Muslim Americans’ perspective, researchers and policy makers can gain insig...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAnalyses of social issues and public policy Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 320 - 323
Main Authors Molix, Lisa, Nichols, Charles P.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Malden Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.12.2012
Subjects
Human Dignity
Islam
Islamism
Muslim Americans
Muslims
Perceptions
Persuasion
Policy Making
Public opinion surveys
Radicalism
Stigma
Surveys
Terrorism
Testing
Values
War
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Summary:McCauley (this issue) has presented a thought‐provoking analysis of recent surveys of Muslim Americans as a means of testing the effectiveness of theories of Islamic radicalization. In this commentary we argue that by taking Muslim Americans’ perspective, researchers and policy makers can gain insight into the phenomenon of radicalization while avoiding contributing to the stigmatization of Muslims. We also offer words of caution concerning “the ‘war of ideas’ against terrorism” and the potential for heavy handed persuasion campaigns to backfire when perceived by targets as disrespectful or threatening to their human dignity or sacred values.
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ArticleID:ASAP1300
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ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1529-7489
1530-2415
DOI:10.1111/j.1530-2415.2012.01300.x