Dreams and disillusionment: engagement in and disengagement from militant extremist groups
Journal article, Peer reviewed
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http://hdl.handle.net/11250/174642Utgivelsesdato
2011Metadata
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Originalversjon
Bjørgo, Tore (2011). Dreams and disillusionment: engagement in and disengagement from militant extremist groups. Crime, Law and Social Change, 55(4), 277-285.Sammendrag
People engage in terrorism and similar forms of violent extremism for
a variety of reasons, political or non-political. The frequent failure to achieve
what they expected or dreamed about is also usually the source of their
disillusionment, and subsequently, a main reason to disengage from violent
extremism. Individuals involved in terrorism often come from a diversity of
social backgrounds and have undergone rather different processes of violent
radicalisation. Profiles of terrorists do not work as a tool to identify actual or
potential terrorists because such profiles fail to capture the diversity and how
people change when they become involved in militant extremism. This study
suggests a more dynamic typology of participants in militant groups, based on
dimensions which represent dynamic continuums rather than static positions.
During their extremist careers individuals may move from resembling one type
initially into acquiring more of the characteristics of other types at later stages.
When it comes to prevention and intervention measures, one size does not fit
them all. The typology may be used as an aid to develop more specific and
targeted strategies for preventing violent radicalisation and facilitating disengagement,
taking into account the diversity and specific drivers behind different
types of activists.
Beskrivelse
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