With the development of the Internet, many terrorist organizations, which are associations of people with the most radical ideas, have actively recruited individuals. This trend leads to increased instability in the public life of the state. Structural decision-making in the political, social, and religious aspects helps localize radical movements and reduce the likelihood of acts of mass violence.
Radicalization is a process in which people become adherents of political, religious, or other extremism. To be radicalized does not mean to become a terrorist: not all people who share extremist views decide to commit acts of violence.
To comprehend the essence of the radicalization process, researchers use various conceptual models. Even though they have different amounts of stages and data, they all have the same purpose. Conceptual models are needed to better understand the origins and reasons for human adoption of radical views. With information about radicalization sources, it becomes possible to tackle the problem with a fundamental approach rather than grappling with the consequences.
According to Borum’s, Moghaddam, NYPD, and Precht models, presented in the article, a prerequisite for the radicalization of a person is his or her irritation concerning a particular social phenomenon, which manifests itself in an unfair attitude towards others (Borum, 2011). The individual’s negative attitude to the social system is intensifying, which, over time, is embodied in extremist and terrorist activities. It should be noted that a person’s feeling of internal conflict often arises against the background of racial, religious, or other forms of discrimination and the impossibility of fully integrating into society (Doosje et al., 2016). Subsequently, a person begins to view state institutions as a source of injustice and decides to fight them with radical measures.
The opinion that residents and emigrants from Islamic countries are the most vulnerable to radicalization is erroneous. Scientists cannot identify a single portrait of an extremist since the reasons for the transition to such behavior lie in the person’s internal contradictions. In Europe and the United States, some movements are quite popular among the population that support radical ideas of the superiority of the white race over others, an example of it is the Ku Klux Klan (Madison, 2020). Their cardinal opinions are also built on an inner sense of injustice that representatives of other ethnic groups can have equal rights.
Structural solutions are needed to prevent any radicalization of society and individuals. First, political pluralism must be ensured at the state level so that representatives of unpopular opinions can speak and be heard. Second, it is necessary to minimize the possibility of radicalizing a person even in childhood by conducting more lessons in school about the difference in world cultures and religions. Third, it is necessary to make social services more accessible to help people who are experiencing problems or irritation from the current events so that they do not have the thought of moving to radicalism.
The reason for the radicalization of people is their dissatisfaction with the current political and social situation and the inability to speak out and be heard. Knowledge of conceptual models is essential to understand the sources of radicalism and to be able to combat it. There is no characteristic portrait of a radical person – radicalization does not depend on the country of origin, religion, and lifestyle. The feeling of the need to use acts of violence arises because of the internal contradictions of people. To solve radicalization, it is necessary to apply comprehensive measures affecting different aspects of society to increase the level of tolerance between other groups of citizens.
References
Borum, R. (2011). Radicalization into Violent Extremism II: A Review of Conceptual Models and Empirical Research. Journal of Strategic Security, 4(4). Web.
Doosje, B., Moghaddam, F. M., Kruglanski, A. W., De Wolf, A., Mann, L., & Feddes, A. R. (2016). Terrorism, radicalization and de-radicalization. Current Opinion in Psychology, 11, 79-84. Web.
Madison, J. H. (2020). The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland. Indiana University Press.