ABSTRACT
Purpose: Young people are becoming increasingly at risk of violence as a result of their involvement with radical groups. Despite various youth radicalization prevention efforts, young people’s perspectives in this process, are
largely overlooked. Likewise, in Cyprus, the role of young people in preventing youth radicalization is undermined. This study aims to explore the Cyprus youth perspective for preventing youth radicalization.
Methodology: A youth-led, participatory qualitative action research methodology was adopted. The two fieldwork environments were a Secondary School and an independent Youth Migrant Centre. The research was conducted by a total of 11 Young Researchers and 68 young participants (aged 15-19).
Findings: Young people believe that youth radicalization can be prevented by increasing radicalization awareness, fostering spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding, and promoting dialogue to counter radical views. Despite the unique demographic, psychological, sociological, and cultural characteristics of our sample, our findings have potential for transferability to other youth populations.
Practical implications: We propose adopting transformative restorative pedagogy as a way of fostering self-reflection, respect of diversity and socio-emotional critical thinking among youth.
Originality: This study illuminated possible avenues for involving young people’s voices in shaping youth radicalization prevention efforts.
Keywords: youth perspective; radicalization prevention; transformative pedagogy; empowerment; dialogue