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Ghana is revered by many nationalists as a peaceful country but Nazir Nortei Alema decision to join the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), hit the headlines for wrong reasons and has pushed a Clinical Psychologist and Health Scientist to offer psychological dimensions on the matter.

Nazir Nortei Alema, a 25-year- old graduate of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in a message sent to his parents indicated that he wanted to live under Islamic rule.

But Dr. Joseph Osafo in an interview on Peacefm’s news offered reasons which could have invigorated some Ghanaian youth especially Nazir Nortei Alema, to join a terrorist organisation. He explains studies have shown from time to time that certain human beings would always want to be at the “centre of this world” or “considered special by others” and for this reason, would easily partake in any terrorist act.

The Clinical Psychologist asserts such people have less feeling for others and would wish the people they look down upon, place value on them.

“They are arrogant and disrespectful”, he said.

The other dimension to the story which should not be taken lightly is the fact that some extremist see the world in their own way and would always want to change things in their own ways.

“They always think they have enemies and people are plotting evil against them”, Dr. Osafo said of humans with extremist ideas.

He however didn’t fail to mention that bad parenting sometimes plays a role in shaping the life of every youth.

“Self esteem contributes to this...if the father beats the wife and the children see this, they would grow up being disrespectful. When it happens this way, the children would find their own ways of forcing others to respect them. They would do this by coercion”, he added.

Should things build up to this point, the Clinical Psychologist and Health Scientist adds that it becomes easier convincing such youth to join terrorist groups.

“When such youth hear people calling on them to come and join groups where they would be made leaders and given guns, they never hesitate giving in”, he mentioned.