Developmental Pathways towards Violent Left-, Right-Wing, Islamist Extremism and Radicalization

Abstract

Over the last decade, a tremendous amount of papers have been published, dealing with the concept “radicalization”. Radicalization can be defined as “a personal process in which individuals adopt extreme political, social, and/or religious ideals and aspirations, and where the attainment of particular goals justifies the use of indiscriminate violence” which may lead to “a mental and emotional process that prepares and motivates an individual to pursue violent behavior” (Wilner & Dubouloz, 2010, p. 38). Recently the main focus of the literature has been