ISSN 2477-1686
Vol. 7 No. 16 Ags 2021
Jakarta Attack, Alert for Families: How Psychologists Can Assist
Oleh:
Any Rufaedah
Program Studi Psikologi, Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Indonesia;
Division for Applied Social Psychology Research (DASPR)
It has been two months since the suicide bombing in Makassar church and the lone wolf attack at Indonesian police headquarters (Mabes Polri). Investigations have successfully identified the perpetrators of the March 28 Makassar attack: Lukman Alfariz and Yogi Shafitri Fortuna, a young couple who were just married for about six months; and the March 31 lone wolf attacker: Zakiah Aini. People have not discussed the attacks anymore, however, various topics that relate to the attack, including what Indonesian stakeholders can assist, remain.
Besides other topics, such as the comparison of the will left by Lukman and Zakiah, unawareness of Zakiah’s family members about the attack and their choice not to report the will left before the attack (Mantalean, 2021) is interesting. The family members, supported by a head of neighborhood (RT) (TribunJakarta Official, 2021), chose to wait for 24 hours to report the will to police officers. At this point, the family members treated the radical terrorism case as cases of missing people. This fact raises questions on how the family members did not consider the release of jihad will as a serious issue which supposedly should be reported immediately? Did they not understand the signs of radicalism shown by Zakiah? If they did not, it could be viewed as an “alert” for families to be more aware of signs of radicalism, as well as an alert for multi-stakeholders to assist families in understanding the signs. This article will explore signs of radicalism shown by Zakiah, and at the end, it will discuss how psychologists can assist prevention of radical terrorism at family level.
Zakiah Aini had shown several signs of radicalism long before carrying out the attack. First, Zakiah had been absent from her magister program for four semesters (Yandwiputra, 2021). It could be triggered by the rejection of institutions run under the democratic system. As commonly known, supporters of radical terrorist groups refuse institutions, mechanisms, and professions run under human-made systems, including elections, civil servants, banks, schools, and colleges. Therefore, in her will, Zakiah clearly mentioned her refusal to banks, and she potentially possessed the same view to the modern educational system although it was not written in the will.
The second sign was exclusive attitudes. According to her neighbor, Zakiah did not socialize with many people and spent most of her time at her house, in particular in her room. The behavior could reflect declination to people considered as “non-muwahideen”. Supporters of radical terrorist groups believe that Muslims are divided into two major ideological-based groups: muwahideen and non-muwahideen. Muwahideen refers to Muslims who practice tawhid (monotheism) comprehensively, indicated by only following the law of Allah and refusing human-created laws such as positive law, democracy, Pancasila, and constitutions; while non-muwahideen are on the opposite side. In order to keep their creed, supporters choose to avoid relationships with non-muwahideen, and at a certain point, they refuse to marry non-muwahideen. Lukman and Yogi strongly indicated the type of muwahideen couple who had the same belief before marriage; therefore, they were ready to blow themselves up together soon after the marriage.
Third, Zakiah changed her phone numbers several times (Tribunnews, 2021). Her choice was in contrast with common people, in which they usually use one number to avoid losing contact with friends and family members. Zakiah’s different attitude could be triggered by an aim to avoid friends and family members or even for security reasons.
Those signs were obvious enough to suspect Zakiah of being radicalized, and additionally, Zakiah showed her intention to commit jihad by leaving a will. Unfortunately, Zakiah’s violent act had not been anticipated nor reported to the police even after family members found the will.
How psychologists can assist?
In a talk show broadcasted on March 31, 2021 (Shihab, 2021), spokesperson of the Indonesian State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Wawan Hari Purwanto stated that Ciracas, where Zakiah Aini lived, was a BIN’s working area, where it engaged with young people in order to prevent them from radicalism. The attack carried out by 26 years old Zakiah seems to indicate that the work was not perfectly successful. In other words, besides families, the Indonesian government has shown that it needs an assistance from multi-stakeholders.
Then, how psychologists can assist? Indonesian psychologists have actually taken significant roles in preventing and countering violent extremism, including understanding radical thought, creating measurement tools, assessment, deradicalization processes, and understanding impact of terrorism (e.g. Putra & Sukabdi, 2013; Rufaedah & Putra, 2018; Muluk, Umam, & Milla, 2019); nonetheless, the emergence of new cases has called on them for more assistance. In addition, radicalism has spread to various cities across the country, indicated by multiple arrests in South Sumatra, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.
Psychologists, as a professional group that mostly has direct access to families through counseling and parental assistance, could expand their role at a family level. For instance, when assisting with parental issues or practicing counseling for families, psychologists ask some questions about potential radical thoughts that might be possessed by children and family members in general. Through the questions, families will notice the issue and furthermore be able to prevent it.
This approach is similar to “gender mainstreaming” that has been applied since years ago. Before the idea echoed, people, including the government, mostly did not understand the topic. After years, multiple sectors have implemented the idea. Similar results can be potentially harvested in radical terrorism issues a few years later, after assistance from psychologists. In implementing this assistance, psychologists should indeed understand the issue in general. It can be a difficult challenge, however, compared to the valuable impact it can have, the challenge is considerably worth conquering.
References:
Mantalean, V. (2021, March 31). Keluarga Temukan Surat Wasiat Sebelum Zakiah Aini Serang Mabes Polri. Kompas. https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/03/31/22273701/keluarga-temukan-surat-wasiat-sebelum-zakiah-aini-serang-mabes-polri?page=all
Muluk, H., Umam, A. N. & Milla, M. N. (2019). Insights from a deradicalization program in Indonesian prisons: The potential benefits of psychological intervention prior to ideological discussion. Journal of Social Psychology, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12392.
Najwa Shihab. (2021, Maret 31). Di Balik Bom Bunuh Diri: Jati Diri Perempuan Muda Penyerang Mabes Polri (Part 2) | Mata Najwa [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA8gc4jJCy8
Putra, I. E. & Sukabdi, Z. A. (2013). Basic concepts and reasons behind the emergence of religious terror activities in Indonesia: An inside view. Journal of Social Psychology, 16(2), 83-91. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajsp.12001.
Rufaedah, A., & Putra, I. E. (2018). Coping with Stigma and Social Exclusion of Terror-Convicts’ Wives in Indonesia: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The Qualitative Report, 23(6), 1334-1346. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3118
TribunJakarta Official. (2021, April 1). Ayah ZA Yakin Ada Orang Tuntun Putrinya Serang Mabes Polri hingga Ungkap Pesan Terakhir ZA [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtTDIVIdbGs
Tribunnews.com. (2021, April 1). ZA Serang Mabes Polri, Keluarga Tak Tahu Anaknya Aktif Kegiatan Tembak-menembak: Susah Komunikasinya [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtyLKrxHu6M
Yandwiputra, A. R. (2021, Apri 1l). Zakiah Aini Miliki IPK Tinggi, Tapi Drop Out Setelah Tak Kuliah 4 Semester. Tempo. https://metro.tempo.co/read/1448305/zakiah-aini-miliki-ipk-tinggi-tapi-drop-out-setelah-tak-kuliah-4-semester/full&view=ok
