Perpetuating Loyalty: Parental Influence on Early Radicalization in Indonesia
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Written by Haula NOOR
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ABSTRACT
Scholars have debated as to how direct the influence of the parents is in the terrorist recruitment process. While parents may create a favorable disposition towards terrorist activities among their children, do they urge them to join terrorist groups? This paper examines the parents’ role in creating conditions for children to become jihadists by drawing on a case study of nine families who have a background in jihadism. It argues that parents involved in terrorism in the past and have remained in terrorist activity and organizations create conditions for early radicalization through values inculcation in the form of fidelity or “ready loyalty” toward a jihad-based ideology, leader, or organization. Families with a background in terrorism and extreme values of Islam tend to nurture and raise their children based on values, ideologies, and beliefs compatible with their commitment to the terrorist network and activism to preserve the ideology. As a result, children commit themselves to an identity at an early age before exploring other options or ideas from different social environments.
Haula NOOR is a lecturer at the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII). She holds a doctoral degree from the Department of Political and Social Change, Australian National University (ANU). Her research interests include family and terrorism, psychology, Islam and politics.
