Social Isolation and Alienation
Social isolation is another risk factor for future violence. People who feel isolated from society or those who lack social contact are easy prey for extremist groups that promise them a sense of belonging. This alienation might, therefore, be due to various factors like discrimination, exclusion from any social and political processes, or other forms of disadvantage in access to social services. According to psychologists such as Kruglanski, among other researchers, there is usually a component of social marginalization that promotes vulnerability to radical ideologies since they seek the group identity and purpose.1
In the case of terrorism, social isolation forms that element most often in interaction with the search for a person's meaning and identity. Vulnerable individuals who feel cut off from immediate close family or community ties, or who feel isolated from society at large are particularly susceptible to terrorist groups that often feed on this type of vulnerability. An opportunity for a new identity, belonging, and meaningful action is provided by these groups that offer ideological commitments. As social ties become even more weakened, the readiness to act in terrorist ways increases further, especially when those groups promise to restore dignity, respect, or a feeling of worth by the individual.
Ideological Commitment and Exposure to Extremist Networks
No lesser a factor for predicting violent behaviour is the influence of extremist ideologies and networks. Radical ideologies find a framework for people in order to be grounded, justify violence, and aim for a cause that is greater than their action. Most of the radicalization processes are exposed through extremist content on social media and online forums as well as personal contacts with radical groups. Internet has become one of the most powerful tools for spreading extremist ideologies and recruiting individuals into the terrorist organizations.
The violence perpetrators are persons exposed to extremist networks or ideologies. Radicalization is a process that starts with exposure to extremist views, and persons slowly come to accept and internalize them. Such exposure may result from reading extremist literature, viewing videos glorifying acts of violence, or interacting with like-minded others in the online environment. But research has indicated that persons in such situations have the probabilities of accepting the views espoused by terrorist groups and may be convinced of accepting violence as a tool for winning political or ideological goals.2
Ideological commitment, especially when accompanied by a subjective sense of personal or collective grievance, can be a good predictor of violent behaviour. Terrorist groups often use ideological rhetoric to construct a narrative in which violence is framed as a necessary and justified response to some type of injustice. When people embrace such ideologies, they are more likely to engage in violent action in pursuit of their cause.
Group Dynamics and Peer Influence
Another important predictive factor in the propensity of violent behaviour is that of peer groups or social networks. Man is a social animal; even a single disapproving glance from his peer group could have significant effects on his functioning. Radical groups often act as self-closed communities that compel new recruits into strict conformity with the norms and beliefs prevailing in the group. It is well established that a group polarization process exists whereby people subjected to group settings become more extreme than they might outside of that context in their views and behaviour. Peer influence in terrorist groups is one important factor for the consolidation of violent behaviours, especially as new recruits tend to enroll in groups as isolated individuals who have a weak identity. Once absorbed into the group, they coerce and sometimes threaten followers to embrace the group's ideology and violent activities. The group psychology then translates into a chauvinistic "us versus them" mentality which reinforces the individual's intent to violently lash out at perceived enemies. Researchers have observed that individuals tend to act more violently when they perceive that their friends condone the violence, and group membership continues to be an influential predictor of violent behaviour.3
Exterior Triggers and Catalysts
While individual psychological features, social factors are significant, external triggers do play an important role in predicting violent behaviour. Terrorist acts often precipitate out of an event or catalyst that may spark already existing grievances or frustrations. Triggers may be politically, socially, or even personal and include outbreaks of violence in a conflict area, an executed leader whom someone admired, or people's persecution due to their ethnic or religious affiliations.
Recent research by Kruglanski and others also points to the importance of quest, which means that whenever someone feels their personal or collective significance is being threatened, they may resort to violence. This is usually because of a triggering incident, such as an injustice or oppression, which may force them to turn to violence in a last attempt to restore lost dignity or gain recognition.4
The most typical contributing factors drive individuals to "act out" more violently once they have already imbibed extreme ideologies into their psyche. For instance, the assassination of a political or religious leader or military intervention in an area with deep historical grievances can be the trigger that propels individual activity. Once the catalyst has been used, it creates a sense of urgency and the righteousness to the violence further hardens the individual toward terrorism.
CONCLUSION
A study of psychological profiles and background factors that contribute to the behaviour of terrorists reveals an intricate interplay of individual, social, and environmental factors that pushes people into violent extremist behaviour. Alienation, personal trauma, and a sense of injustice are the psychological characteristics combined with socio-political factors: social isolation, exposure to extremist ideologies, and political oppression experiences. Group dynamics and peer influence further repress and maintain violent behaviour, although external triggers or catalysts often prompt people standing at the edge of extreme actions to commit acts of terrorism.
Understanding the psychological characteristics and background factors related to terrorism is of considerable importance for developing targeted counterterrorism strategies. Early intervention targeting personal vulnerabilities and increasing social cohesion could possibly prevent radicalization. Dismantling extremist ideologies and their alternative ways by creating new narratives against violence as a means could reduce the appeal of terrorist groups, especially in the context of a systems framework providing social and economic support systems that otherwise provide a lack of senses of belonging and purpose.
Although the risk factors for violent behaviour discussed in this paper inform the reader to some extent of what might foster terrorism, there is also a point that needs to be made in light of the fact that the path to radicalization is very individualized. It was not possible to come up with one formula that delineates who will or who will not commit terrorism because so many factors contribute to the decision. But if policymakers, law enforcement, and counterterrorism agencies look at psychological vulnerabilities, social dynamics, and ideological exposure as indicators, they may be able to predict who will be radicalized and act before any violent act can be perpetrated.
Footnotes
1. Arie W. Kruglanskietal., The Psychology of Radicalization and Deradicalization: How Significance Quest Impacts Violent Extremism, 30 Pol. Psychol. 119, 121−23 (2009).
2. Marc Sageman, Understanding Terror Networks, 112-116 (2004).
3. John Horgan, The Psychology of Terrorism, 131−133 (2005).
4. Arie W. Kruglanskietal., The Psychology of Radicalization and Deradicalization: How Significance Quest Impacts Violent Extremism, 30 Pol. Psychol. 119, 121−23 (2009).
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
