Terror organisations hoping to recruit and radicalise young westerners first build profiles of target individuals before making their initial contact, usually through online channels, an Edith Cowan University (ECU) researcher has found.

Robyn Torok of ECU’s Security Research Institute presented her findings on how western youths are radicalised at the annual SRI Security Conference this week.

The conference, hosted by ECU, featured talks focusing on the motivators encouraging young teens to commit acts of terror in their own countries.

After the attack on a police officer by 15-year-old Farhad Jabar sent shockwaves throughout Australia and the world earlier this year, the realisation of Islamic State forces targeting juveniles became a reality.

Torok’s research and results bring to light the ease of techniques used to sway young minds.

Ultimately, terror organisations target marginalised individuals and teenagers with identity issues to recruit among their ranks, she says.

It all begins with the most prevalent issue faced by today’s youth: thoughts of identity. These thoughts can be strongly influenced, but are naturally exuberated by surges of emotion present during adolescent years. Coupled with a Muslim divide across the world, youths having identity struggles and trouble fitting in with western culture and its norms typically become prime targets.

Recruiters prey on these normal, negative thoughts of teenagers by subjecting them to rich content that is quickly processed and scanned by the brain. However it is the spikes of emotion during adolescent years, along with this content, that can draw someone to a particular ideology or enthusiastic individual.

Torok explains that the first stage of radical self-formation begins with group monitoring to build profiles of given individuals, followed by first contact.

The initial contact typically occurs through social media and targets the individual’s current moral structure.

“When it comes to Islamic State… and in regards to the first step of monitoring, what they are wanting to do is find out the ins and outs of a given individual that attracts their eye,” Torok said.

“Once they can build that profile of what they like, whether it’s music or some sort of gaming console… that’s the way that they start to interact.”

Recruiters pinpoint fractures in frames of thinking that do not make sense and connect the individual with a sense of disillusionment. As a result, grievances or anti-government sentiments become a critical starting point.

This sense of disconnection is used to ‘educate’ the individual, luring the teen into a false sense of belonging to establish mutual grounds.

In a continual phase, recruiters draw out political opinions of the targets and meet any needs required while simultaneously isolating the victims from outside influences.

It is here that previously held religious beliefs are challenged by IS forces, with calls being made to Islam for youths to declare their faith.

Once completely isolated, recruiters start to develop a belief of oppression in their targets until they are completely disconnected from real world values.

It is upon this disconnection that ‘targets’ are fed with propaganda that slowly indoctrinates them into a radicalised belief system.

Here, youths become shells that are malleable to nearly any given command under the terror organisation.

Although masked by digital devices and difficult to identify, Torok says the recruiters can still be recognised.

“We are looking for people who are wanting to draw out or incite a given type of grievance, and that they play on that grievance."

“In the initial stages it is really difficult because what they do is reach out like any other person online and connect on a peer-to-peer basis,” Torok said.

In the final stage of radicalisation, the easily influenced minds are prepared for action. They are led to stay in their community and consequently placed to carry out violence or attacks on home-soil.

The cycle finally continues with lonely and dissociated adolescents reaching out to other vulnerable youths thought as forgotten by members of today’s society.

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