“Between the self and the other”: Clinical presentation of male supremacy in violent extremists

This paper examines the relationship between gender and violent extremism (VE) among individuals engaged in VE clinical services in Montreal, Quebec (Canada). We use mixed methods to understand the experiences and characteristics of individuals who express support for male supremacist ideologies. Study participants include 86 patients enrolled in VE clinical services and 7 clinical practitioners providing services. We conduct a retrospective chart review to identify clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of male supremacists. A focus group was conducted with members of the clinical team. Integrating quantitative and qualitative findings provides an opportunity to draw meta-inferences on male supremacist violent extremists, including a typology of the phenomena as well as clinical characteristics and social dynamics. Clinicians articulated that many of the harmful attitudes and beliefs of male supremacists were not marginal, but rather reflected in everyday forms of misogyny, homophobia and transphobia that were activated by their personal experiences. Our findings suggest the importance of clinicians remaining attentive to the underlying gendered grievances which shape a range of extremist beliefs. Finally, we explore the value of training practitioners who work on VE on diverse domains of gendered violence which may intersect with VE participation

CAPMH

Background: Children in Afghanistan live in dangerous areas, and have been exposed to traumatic events and chaotic education. Progress has been made on access to education for girls who were the most affected by traditional attitudes against engagement in education. Objectives: The objectives were to evaluate the mental health of Afghan children living in regions of conflict and the association of mental health with school attendance for girls and boys. Method: The study included 2707 school aged children in eight regions of Afghanistan (16 provinces) residing in households recruited through a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling strategy in 2017. The level of terrorist threat was evaluated by the intensity of terrorist attacks recorded that year in each province. Child mental health was assessed with the parental report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) along with information on school attendance, sociodemographic characteristics and geographic location. Results: A total of 52.75% of children had scores above threshold for the SDQ total difficulties score, 39.19% for emotional difficulties, 51.98% for conduct challenges, and 15.37% for hyperactivity/inattention. Peer relationship problems were high (82.86%) and 12.38% reported that these problems impacted daily life. The level of terrorist threat was associated with SDQ total difficulties (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 4.08, P 0.0001). Conduct (AOR = 1.66, P <.0001) and SDQ total difficulties (AOR = 1.22, P = 0.019) were higher among boys. Overall, gender did not modify the relationship between school attendance and child mental health. Conclusion: Attending school is essential for children’s mental health, across gender, and should be supported as a priority in Afghanistan despite the return of the Taliban. © 2023, This is a U.S. Government work and not under copyright protection in the US; foreign copyright protection may apply