Understanding Islamic Radicalism in Indonesia from Social Psychological Perspective

Abstract

—This study focuses in scrutinizing Islamic Radicalism in Indonesia in particular from social psychological perspective. This study was significant to be conducted in Indonesia. It is because this study used theory of N3 that has been deemed as new theory in understanding Islamic radicalism. This study uses qualitative method with 50 participants and 5 of them as main subjects. Data was collected through interview, review of statements from those concern to radicalism and terrorism in Indonesia, both in social media and mainstream mass media. The data was analyzed through qualitative analysis in particular thematic analysis with some steps that used in qualitative studies. The study concluded that there are three factors influencing individual in joining radical group and terrorism in Indonesia. The three factors are need, narrative and network. Need was related quest for significance, narrative as tool to justify radicalism and terror, and network as vehicle in maintaining the ideology and recruiting some new members. This study supported the theory of N3 (Need, Narrative and Networks) that proposed by Kruglanski and colleagues.