Vulnerability to radicalisation in a general population: a psychometric network approach

ABSTRACT

A public health approach to countering the threat from extremism aims to manage vulnerability before behaviour escalates to require involvement from the criminal justice system. Fundamental to applying a public health approach is understanding how risk (and protective) factors can be modified, in other words, the functional roles of these factors. To unpack the functional roles of risk factors, a more dynamic approach to modelling the complex relationships between factors is needed. In the present study we surveyed a representative sample of the UK general population (n = 1500) where participants self-reported risk factors and indicators for vulnerability to radicalisation. Operationalising analytical guidance from a Risk Analysis Framework (RAF), we applied psychometric network modelling to visualise the relationships among risk factors relating to individual-level propensities, situational influences, and exposure to extremism-enabling environments. We present our results as a series of network graphs and discuss (a) how risk factors ‘cluster’ or ‘co-occur’, (b) the most influential risk factors which may be important for intervention and prevention, and (c) ‘risk pathways’ which suggest potential putative risk and/or protective factors. We present our findings as evidence for a public health approach to countering the threat from extremism.

KEYWORDS:

• Network
• risk factors
• radicalisation
• extremism
• public health
• vulnerability‌

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The data employed in the present study were collected as part of a wider survey, hence there are some measures that appear in the full survey on the OSF that are not utilised here.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by H2020 European Research Council [grant number 758834].