Against terrorism. Knowledge is power. The contribution of criminology
Authors: Laura Simona , Mastronardi Vincenzo , Calderaro Monica 
Published: June 2018

Terrorism is defined as the series of actions carried out in the context of armed struggles intended not only to attack the opposing armed forces, but to spread fear, distress and insecurity among the civilian populations. Terrorism has always been used to weaken the will resistances of its enemies". Islamic terrorism has a recent origin. We must start by saying that the use of word Islamic is commonly used, but the correct terminology would be Islamist terrorism. It arises from an ideology, in its most extreme meaning, and in this ideology finds the greatest justification for carrying out terrorist acts. The core, therefore, is the Islamic fundamentalist religion that justifies, encourages and supports the Jihad. What does it mean Jihad? Effort straining towards a purpose. The Quran indicates four ways to lead to Jihad:
- Fight with the heart preceded by a self-purification against sin - Fight with the tongue to preach justice - Fight with the hand in the punishment of sin - Fight with the sword to teach the infidel
What does Sharia (the way) and Khalifa (Caliph) and Shi'a (party) mean? How is tradition, that is the Sunnah, interpreted by the Ulama (wise)? How is the advent of the Mahadi (the Guided) described by the Imams (Imam means the one who precedes)? How can Criminology support? Meanwhile, analyzing the operational mode, then studying the propaganda (central passage of the jihadist phenomenon) to possibly give a hint of what might be the counter-propaganda of the strategies. Propaganda, fundamental issue of cyberwar made by Islamist terrorism, must be studied as propaganda to the masses (through web and production companies), to small groups (in mosques during their sermons and in schools with educational programs reworked and unstructured) and face to face in the process of recruitment and radicalization. It is interesting to look at the training and brain washing processes that are used on the subject, radicalizing to complete the radicalization work. And interesting can be analyzed the arsenal of Isis, the origin of it and the origin of the weapons. If the analysis of economic flows can lead to the identification of illicit, can the analysis of mental flows lead to the identification, in this case, of the potential jihadist, of the recruiting or of the radicalized? Who can be and where could the recruiters be? Are people dedicated to recruitment and radicalization with specific knowledge or are they impromptu people? From what can find the response and for what reason? And who are the people at risk of radicalization? Who could be people already introduced? And the people already introduced what behavior do they have? And where are they located or where could they be found or where do they think they can meet? And how do they aggregate? And according to their ideology, how could they organize themselves and what could they do? And how could they do it? In this delicate task it will be essential to analyze the profiling of the terrorist, to trace the places with geographical profiling, to have all kinds of information with sociological and cultural profiling, to understand the language, to enter as much as possible in the jihadist culture, to evaluate the type of subject that can be radicalized, to have any kind of information about the radicalized subject, to consider the role of women and the motivation for their involvement, to evaluate enslavement and brainwashing on children and adults. The purpose of this work is to try to enter the mind of the Islamic terrorist or of the potential terrorist in order to bring a contribution, as criminologists, in the mechanism of counternarrative at various levels, to reach a possible help in the mechanism of deradicalization both as intervention of primary prevention (namely, before the process of radicalization begins), secondary (after a process of radicalization has already begun), or tertiary (addressed to subjects towards whom only the abandonment of violent ideology or, at least, the disengagement can be proceeded). Discussion. The multidisciplinary approach could be the solution to finding a way for understanding and coexistence of various cultures. Islamic culture is a culture far from the Occidental one and requires in-depth studies to understand it and to ensure that its most extreme meaning does not damage the fundamental human rights. The criminology, as a subject of investigation of the mind, can be a key approach of prevention or deradicalization of Islamist terrorism. To penetrate such an intricate and delicate problem, every kind of strength and knowledge is important and fundamental to restoring balance, peace and serenity in the world.