Les simulations militaires pratiquées au sein d’organisations civiles au Québec : une analyse des apprentissages stratégiques, tactiques et opérationnels
Civilian military simulations are gaining more and more popularity within the Province of Quebec, and we know very little about what constitutes this marginal activity and the risk that can account from this type of training. Considering different learning processes, we suggest to look at military simulations to see how the learning of detrimental capital can explain how an individual or a group are achieving acts of extreme violence. We propose and empirically support a socio-criminological approach for a better understanding of extreme violence radicalization, and we think that delinquent behavior must be learned, as any other behavior, which inevitably suggests some competency to achieve it. Thus, we ask the following research question: through exploring the acquisition of detrimental capital in civilian military simulations, how can we better understand the process leading to the commission of an act of extreme violence? Using a mixed method of ethnographic observations, surveys and interviews, we highlight how the study of the processes of radicalization in a single ideological perspective is insufficient for having a complete picture of the phenomenon. Even if we are demonstrating that within the observed communities, lots of positive affect are influencing participants toward unfavorable definitions for delinquent behaviors, we are also showing that they acquire detrimental capital. These positive affects come in different forms of informal social control from dominant social norms, plurality of actors and internal influential personalities. Regarding detrimental capital, it originates from the learning of advanced combat techniques that are often used for the commission of extreme violence. Among them, participants learn particular tactical handling of firearms and other improvised explosive devices. In addition, we figure that these activities may have an impact on their moral judgment, since they offer several forms of banalization of practices related to the commission of such acts. Of these, we emphasize that the activity consists in aiming and shooting at someone repeatedly with a gun, whereas participants rationalize these actions using terms that do not directly describe their violent actions.
Criminologie Radicalization Military simulation Learning Terrorism Criminology