Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

BACKGROUND: Although radicalisation is invoked to explain how people become terrorists, there is little empirical evidence. AIMS: To set out the approaches to understand radicalisation, ethical and definitional issues, and how public health approaches may help. METHODS: A non-systematic narrative review. RESULTS: Radicalisation is proposed to explain how people become terrorists. Factors such as social connections, political engagement, group belonging, mental illnesses and other social and cultural influence show a complex interplay that we are still trying to understand. Common mental illnesses appear to be a risk factor at a population level for developing extremist beliefs, and psychoses and autism are reported as more common amongst some terrorist offenders. The activation of stereotypical and reactive fears and fantasies may distort our understanding of how to prevent radicalisation and terrorism. CONCLUSIONS: A public health framework offers a societal, inclusive, and positive approach to preventing radicalisation, alongside criminal justice actions.

Original publication

DOI

10.1080/08039488.2018.1525640

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nord J Psychiatry

Publication Date

09/2018

Volume

72

Pages

S16 - S19

Keywords

Radicalisation, mental illness, public health, risk and protective factors, Humans, Mental Disorders, Mental Health, Protective Factors, Risk Factors, Terrorism