Community Counterterrorism Initiative

Besides disagreement on terrorism definition among scholars and different countries, it is certainly known that civilians are selected target to influence political change and audience; this calls upon states, governments and relief organizations responsibility to allocate more resources in counterterrorism strategies to minimize the psychological impact on the population. When a disaster happens, communities and families have immediate stress reaction, and the risk factors increase when it is human made disaster. The resource allocation by state, government and relief organizations should consider the need to reduce the role of community as victims, and empower them with knowledge and abilities to enhance social connectedness and build resilience to respond positively to traumatic events. In the current century, the use of technology and media have grown significantly, and terrorists have explored successfully its role to achieve their goal and impact. However, media can also be explored to play prevention and counterterrorism role by raising public awareness, and share resilience practice to ensure public safety.

Autorentext

António Felix Basílio Jerónimo est titulaire d'une licence en psychologie scolaire et d'une maîtrise en psychologie du terrorisme et de la sécurité. Il est psychologue praticien en Angola et représentant national pour l'Initiative régionale de soutien psychosocial depuis 2012, consultant indépendant, et travaille pour des programmes de développement social depuis 15 ans.