The AWID prevention approach

Abstract

Both organized crime and terrorist networks are major threats for the European Union and its population. On the one hand, the number and value of assets confiscated from organized crime activities are more and more increasing in Europe (Savona/Riccardi 2015), which indicates its rise and its challenging of the legal economy and the tax base of many nation states. On the other hand, Europe is facing an increasing number of individuals, who are recruited as foreign fighters or for terrorist attacks within Europe. In addition to the direct implications and impacts, a more and more overwhelming atmosphere of fear is created. Not to forget the economic direct and indirect costs for prevention and fighting organized crime and terrorism are more and more increasing -- a fact, which is particularly relevant in times of austerity measures. The reduction of integration programmes and the support of marginalized groups is likewise increasing old and creating new boundaries between the milieus. Even in allegedly egalitarian societies, the entrenchment within societies is widening and producing classes of left-behinds with no chance for an upward social mobility. And it is often young people with no future perspectives, who are at risk of becoming engaged in criminal organizations and activities or in terrorist networks. It is the combination of these threats and the respective preventive policies, which are ultimately challenging social cohesion in Europe.