This chapter considers the overlaps and divergences between cults and terrorist movements. It begins by considering whether terrorism has entered a new era that increasingly overlaps with apocalyptic religious cults. It then takes into account the historical tension between defining groups that engage in extremist violence for ideological purposes as terrorist groups, as cults, or as a combination of the two. Following this, an analysis of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria provides a vehicle for drawing out the commonalities and dissimilarities between the two concepts. Finally, the chapter concludes by considering any need to differentiate between terrorism and cults when engaging in risk assessment for individuals at risk of violence, along with strategies for intervention.

Chapter 7 acknowledges that, despite the best planning for positive engagement, students will still exhibit disengaged and disruptive behaviours. It examines the research to discuss which behaviours are the most common and the most difficult to manage in a classroom environment. It makes the distinction between frequent disengaged behaviour and rare ‘challenging’ behaviour discussed in Chapters 9 and 10.

Building on previous chapters, this chapter also discusses the best ways to prevent disengaged behaviours through implementing consistent classroom routines, structures and expectations, including the explicit teaching of expected behaviour. Ongoing strategies such as social-emotional learning to build strong relationships, low-key techniques to remind and redirect behaviours, class meetings to support student voice and engaging lessons are explored.

This chapter will focus on one type of ‘alternative education’ that has been specifically designed for students who have been disengaged from schooling. As disengagement is the breakdown of the relationship between the student and education, a reengagement program’s job is to provide a context where that relationship can be rebuilt. It provides an opportunity to rethink the pedagogical and structural way we ‘do’ school and challenges us to think that perhaps there may be other ways to include the needs and views of students, as well as the support of the wider community.

There are over 400 schools and programs for disengaged students around Australia, providing education for at least 70 000 young people. This might be the type of teaching that you are interested in, where engagement itself is the main purpose. Working in reengagement programs provides an array of challenges but can present enormous rewards for the young people who get a second chance at education and for the staff who can see that they can make a life-changing difference.

Being left out by others is a painful experience that threatens basic needs. When people are excluded, they may merely distance themselves from those who have wronged them to avoid further rejection. However, some individuals may engage in compensatory actions to defend their self, their group, or the interplay between them in a way that could be a first step for radicalization leading to violence. How and when people opt for each strategy might vary depending on psychosocial mechanisms as well was macro-level cultural differences. Here, we focus on a mechanism useful for capturing who is more willing to fight or flee under social exclusion – identity fusion, a profound alignment between the personal self and a group, individual, value, or ideological conviction – and on a global cultural factor of relevance for the link between exclusion and extremism, as it is the distinction between WEIRD and non-WEIRD populations.

Chapter 8 discusses dynamics of engagement and disengagement. Drury and Reicher suggests that protest participation generates a “positive social-psychological transformation,” arguing that participation strengthens identification and induces collective empowerment. The emergence of an inclusive self-categorization as “oppositional” leads to feelings of unity and expectations of support. This empowers people to oppose authorities. Such action creates collective self-objectification (i.e., it defines the participant’s identity opposite the dominant outgroup). As such, taking it onto the streets strengthens empowerment and politicization, paving the way to sustained participation. Sustained participation is nearly absent in the social movement literature. Surprisingly, because long-term participants keep movements going. The other side of the coin is disengagement. Again, compared to the abundant literature on why people join movements, literature on why they exit is almost non-existent. Research has centered on the determinants of disengagement, or the future of ex-activists, but rarely on the disengagement process. Indeed, the process of disengagement is highly likely to vary as a function of what provokes it, the costs of disengagement, the manner in which it takes place, and therefore what becomes of those who leave. Chapter 8 will elaborate the social psychological correlates of sustained participation and disengagement.

The emotions of frontline responders are traditionally viewed as problematic, because emotions are seen as distractive and impediments to an efficient pursuit of optimal crisis response outcomes. In addition, personal involvement in the situation might result in trauma since responders are often unable to prevent tragedy and suffering. Dissociation from the response, instead, might best enable responders to cope with traumatic experiences and avoid negative psychological consequences. Yet, compassion and altruism give meaning to their work for many responders and can improve their customized care to those in need. Detachment, moreover, is rarely fully effective. The emotional attitude of crisis responders, therefore, poses a dilemma. It is useful to note that emotions are diverse in nature and intensity. This means that there is room to explore how to manage emotions in such a way that feelings of empathy and involvement are enabled without responders succumbing to it. In any case, it requires unwavering organizational and team support.

This chapter explores the trajectories of those activists who fail to develop attachment to their organizations. It argues that understanding disengagement from activism requires us to distinguish not simply between those who continue to participate and those who leave, but also separate individuals whose reasons for leaving are external (i.e., they face insurmountable obstacles to continued involvement), from people whose motives are internal (i.e., they do not find participation appealing enough). With that purpose, it introduces the distinction between potential dropouts (those who continue participating because they lack a better alternative), voluntary dropouts (those who choose to leave the movement for a more effective source of income), and reluctant dropouts (those who disengage forced by special circumstances). The chapter concludes by arguing that potential and voluntary dropouts have in common the fact that participation does not become an end in itself, while reluctant dropouts share with long-term participants “resistance to quitting”, a strong (but not infallible) inclination to overcome obstacles to participation.

This chapter translates the lessons learned from extremist side-switching into the context of countering violent extremism and deradicalization or disengagement work. First, I expore how far the initial decision to leave an extremist milieu among defectors to the enemy camp overlaps with the available knowledge about those exit processes leading to a life outside of extremism. It is argued that side-switching is a so far unknown type of disengagement process, which can be seen as an incomplete or failed exit process. Another important takeaway is that side-switchers retain particular ideological core elements (e.g., anti-Semitism, nationalism) and use them as ideological bridges betweenmilieus. For a majority of defectors, the continued desire to oppose the mainstream or a certain previously identified enemy, is the main inhibitor of leaving extremism altogether. The chapter includes a discussion on potential ways to improve countering violent extremism and counterterrorism methods with the insights gained from extremist side-switching.

Connections that help us feel valued and add value impact our health, happiness, love, work, and society. The consequences of mattering or not mattering can be seen everywhere, at every age. The lack of mattering often results in depression, suicide, and even aggression and xenophobia. People who suffer from depression, workers who feel alienated, and citizens whose identity is threatened feel devalued. They feel that their lives, work, and identity do not matter. While some respond to this situation by internalizing feelings of despondence, others overcompensate by nurturing feelings of superiority and joining nationalistic movements headed by authoritarian leaders. Feeling devalued or overvalued, in relationships, at work, and in the world, is one of the most serious threats facing us. They derive from a failure to foster mattering. They results can be disastrous for individuals and society as a whole. When disaffected masses feel that their identity is devalued in society, they respond in one of two ways. They either turn toward nationalism and extremism, as in the case of xenophobic movements, or they protest to defend their rights.

Teaming is about creating the conditions that will enable people to feel valued at work. Teaming encompasses our behaviors, emotions, thoughts, and interactions. These four elements of teaming create a particular context. What we do, feel, and think can foster a culture of inclusion or exclusion, safety or fear. The consequences of our actions, feelings, and exchanges have short- and long-term repercussions for the health of employees and the organization as a whole. This chapter deals with the signs, significance, sources, and strategies related to feeling valued at work. It is about creating a psychological climate of safety and acceptance where people can be honest and human. These conditions are propitious for creativity, productivity, and well-being. Teaming meets the needs for belonging, dignity, and growth, and it requires effort on everyone’s part: boss, employee, peers. It is a collective responsibility. In high-performing teams, members add value and pay attention to the needs of their peers.