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Countering Violent Extremism Evaluation Tool home

Critical thinking skills

The ability to think clearly and rationally about what to do or what to believe, enabling an individual to actively judge, assess and challenge their thoughts and reflect on their attitudes and behaviours.

Outcomes

Resilience

  • Individuals are resilient to the personal factors that lead to violent extremism

    This outcome relates to building individual resilience and self-confidence and increasing protective factors against an individual’s radicalisation to violent extremism. Individuals who feel a strong sense of worth and are well connected to society (positive relationships with family and friends) are likely to be more resilient against negative anti-social influences that may lead them down a pathway of radicalisation. A lack of a sense of belonging to mainstream society and connectedness to social institutions such as schools can result in individuals seeking alternative avenues to develop a sense of identity. A CVE program may aim to improve self-efficacy (capacity to cope), increase the level of connectedness an individual feels towards his/her local community, or encourage positive behaviours and attitudes towards self, the local community and the wider Australian community.

Ways to measure

See the Countering Violence Extremism Evaluation Indicator Document [Pp 10-29] for practical suggestions on ways to measure such as survey instruments, example questions and using administrative data.

  • The Youth Life Skills Survey
  • Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal

Evaluations that use this indicator