Preventing violent islamic radicalization: experimental evidence on anti-social behavior

Pedro C. Vicente, Inês Vilela

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Violence perpetrated by radicalized Muslims is a major problem around the world. We collaborated with the main Islamic authority in Mozambique, which sponsored two randomized interventions to prevent violence related to youth radicalization: a religious campaign against extremist views of Islam, targeting change in beliefs; and a training module on entrepreneurship and employment, aiming to increase the opportunity cost of conflict. Our measurement focuses on anti-social behavior in a Joy-of-destruction lab game. We find that only the religious treatment decreased the propensity to destroy the payoffs of others. Consistently, surveys show increased trust in the state and decreased support for extremism.

Original languageEnglish
JournalWorking Paper of the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies
Volume2021
Issue number445
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2021

Keywords

  • Africa
  • Conflict
  • Experiment
  • Islamic Radicalization
  • Joy-of-destruction game
  • Mozambique
  • Political Economy
  • Violence

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