Radicalization: Rebel With (or without) a Cause, Any Cause.

by Stephen B.Chadwick, MA Counselling Psychology.

www.cowichancounselling.ca

Patty Hearst

So, Dear Friends,

It has been a while since I last posted, being very occupied with many other concerns. However I have been asked by a follower to elaborate a bit on the phenomenon of radicalization. Especially since we have of late been witnessing it so much in the media in the last number of months, what with the ISIS beheadings and of course, here in Canada, what has happened recently with Patrice Vincent and Nathan Cirillo.

The way I view the radicalization of young people seems to be not just one single answer, like: "they're brain-washed" but rather a combination of factors. Anybody remember Patty Hearst?

Or for that matter the Baader-Meinhof Group or "Rote Armee Fraktion"?

Or the "Moonies" as members of the Unification Church were once called?

Radicalization is perhaps then just the same type of phenomenon exhibited in other forms and in other times and eras.

War Memorial Shooting in Ottawa: Dealing with the after-effects

by Stephen B.Chadwick, MA Counselling Psychology.
www.cowichancounselling.ca

Corporal Nathan Cirillo

Today in Ottawa, with the event of the shooting of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Corporal Nathan Cirillo at the War Memorial, which follows almost two days after 2 other CAF members were rundown by a recently radicalized Canadian, the bubble on Canada's mythical belief of a land of peace and tranquility has been burst.

As a Canadian myself, I think most Canadians would like to think that we, as a middle power, could rest on a point of pride that we "negotiate" in our country. We would like to believe in the myth that we are a relatively safe, peace-loving society and that we have no need for ramped up security. We pose no threat to anyone. 

However, now with what has happened, we will have to deal with the trade-off between security or safety and privacy restrictions or freedom. Moreover, Canada will now begin to feel for the first time, as a nation and society, what other, more war-ravaged countries have felt for a while, since the advent of global terrorism: paranoia, anxiety and group post-traumatic stress disorder.

However, we can get through this.