From Vulnerability to Violence: The Pathways to Radicalization

How do “normal” people turn to political violence or become terrorists? Are there risk factors that can help identify future terrorists before they strike? Is there a profile for a terrorist? Political radicalization is a psychological process of increasing extremity of beliefs, feelings, and behaviors in support of intergroup conflict and violence. Across individuals, groups, and mass publics, twelve mechanisms of radicalization are distinguished. For ten of these mechanisms, radicalization occurs in a context of group identification and reaction to perceived threat to the ingroup. Case studies of infamous terrorists such as Osama bin Laden, Abu Mussab al Zarqawi, Anders Brevik and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev help exemplify the twelve mechanisms, and recent political events, from the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 to the right-wing radicalization that fueled January 6 riot in Washington DC offer important historical context. The distinction between radical attitude and radical action and the role of mental health in political violence are highlighted in this lecture.

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About Dr. Sophia Moskalenko: Sophia  is a social and clinical psychologist studying radicalization, political violence, self-sacrifice, and disinformation. She is a Senior Research Scientist at Design Services Group (DSG), a Research Fellow at Georgia State University, and a subject matter expert at NATO, the European Commission, and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism’s Behavioral Insights Hub. Dr. Moskalenko has published over 70 peer-reviewed academic papers and several books, including the award-winning Friction: How Conflict Radicalizes Them and Us and Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the Mind of QAnon.