Admission requirements
Only students of the MSc Crisis and Security Management can take this course.
This course only offers a place to a maximum number of 38 students.
Description
Over the past decades, western societies have seen an increase in instances of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence, i.e. acts of demonstrative violence carried out by a single individual (e.g. lone-actor terrorism, school shootings, workplace attacks, rampage shooting, incel mass violence etc.). Because of their solitary modus operandi, the attack planning and preparation of lone actors is far more difficult to detect and counter compared to group-based offenders. Therefore, preemptive efforts largely rest on long term and early prevention strategies, which in turn presupposes knowledge about the social and psychological processes that lead to lone-actor violence, i.e. the processes of violent radicalization. This course will examine and discuss some of the most prominent risk factors and mechanisms of lone-actor radicalization, and the implications they have for prevention and countering of public mass violence. Over seven interactive seminars, this course specifically aims to 1) introduce the concept and phenomenon of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence; 2) enable students to account for and critically discuss empirically documented risk factors and mechanisms in lone-actor radicalization; 3) integrate empirical findings within broader theories on violent radicalization; and 4) reflect on and discuss the implications the academic literature has for the prevention and countering of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence.
Course objectives
After the course, students will be able to:
Define the concept and phenomenon of lone-actor grievance-fueled violence in relation to others forms of public mass violence
Understand the theoretical and complexity of processes of violent radicalization
Identify empirically documented risk factors and mechanisms of lone-actor radicalization, including critically discussion the methodological and methodical strengths and limitations of empirical studies
Integrate empirically documented risk factors and mechanisms within broader theories on violent radicalization
Reflect on prevention and countering strategies for combating lone-actor grievance-fueled violence
Timetable
On the right side of programme front page of the studyguide you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace
Mode of instruction
This course consists of 7 seminars. Classes will be dedicated to (guest) lectures and group discussion. Students are required to participate actively in class discussion. Attendance is mandatory.
Assessment method
Assessment for this course is based on two assignments:
Poster presentation
20% of final grade
Resit not possible
Grade needs to be compensated
Research paper
80% of final grade
5.5 is required to pass the course
Resit is possible
Resit will take the same form
The calculated grade of the assignments must be at least 5.50 in order to pass the course. Students are also permitted to resit the 80% assignment if they have a calculated overall grade lower than 5.50.
Transitional Arrangement
Passed partial grades obtained in year 2022-2023 are no longer valid during year 2023-2024.
Reading list
The literature will consist of academic articles and policy documents, links to which will be provided in the syllabus.
Registration
Register yourself via MyStudymap for each course, workgroup and exam (not all courses have workgroups and/or exams). Do so on time, before the start of the course; some courses and workgroups have limited spaces. You can view your personal schedule in MyTimetable after logging in.
Registration for this course is possible from t.b.a..
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.
Contact
Christopher Kehlet Ebbrecht:
c.k.e.ebbrecht@fgga.leidenuniv.nl