From Child Terrorism to Peace Activism

This book examines the reasons for which children join terrorist movements and how they eventually become peace activists fighting the very crimes that they once committed. The transformation of child terrorists into peace activists has received scant attention from academics and practitioners alike. Particular focus is placed on child jihadism, child terrorism in Africa and Latin America, child separatist terrorism, and White child supremacism. These five groups of child terrorists represent about 80% of the problem across the world. 

The text serves as a primer for anti-terrorism and peace activism for global social change. It includes original, applied research and features personal accounts from former child terrorists who became peace activists themselves. One of the nine chapters provides an in-depth thematic analysis of the lives of 24 subjects (from all five aforementioned groups). The analysis produced four main themes that encapsulate the time and effort that it takes to become a peace activist today: metamorphosis, terrorist behavior, disillusionment, and anti-terrorist behavior. The book ends with multiple solutions from the perspective of social work, including the reintegration of former child terrorists into society.

From Child Terrorism to Peace Activism is a resource of deep and broad appeal. The text is essential reading for upper-level undergraduate and Master's students in political science, military studies, international relations, international law, and peace and conflict studies. It can be pertinent reading for students and instructors in international social work contemplating social work-related solutions to rehabilitate former child terrorists and child soldiers into society through peace activism, anti-terrorist endeavors, and other socio-psychological methods that will produce social change. The text also would appeal to faculty and students in childhood studies with an interest in child terrorism, child development, and child trauma and resilience. Given the essentials, depth, and possibilities that the book offers, it is a useful resource for audiences within counterterrorism institutes, national security agencies, and academic think-tanks. Information on motives, strategies, radicalization processes, and recruitment methods used by terrorist organizations as well as their effects on various audiences will draw readers from law enforcement agencies and institutions.

Jonathan Matusitz, PhD, is currently an associate professor in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. 

Jonathan Matusitz's research focuses on the role of communication in terrorism, symbolism in terrorism, and the globalization of culture and new media. His research methodologies include thematic analysis, qualitative interviewing, semiotics, and theoretical analysis. On top of having about 160 academic publications and over 170 conference presentations, he taught at a NATO-affiliated military base in Belgium in 2010. 
Dr. Matusitz has already published seven books on terrorism: Terrorism & Communication: A Critical Introduction (Sage, 2013); Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015); Online Jihadist Magazines to Promote the Caliphate: Communicative Perspectives (Peter Lang, 2019); Global Jihad in Muslim and non-Muslim Contexts (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020); Female Terrorism in America: Past and Current Perspectives (Routledge, 2020); Communication in Global Jihad (Routledge, 2021); and Fundamentals of Public Communication Campaigns (Wiley, 2022).