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

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics for all items.

Propensity	%	Standard Deviation
Expelled from school	4.20%	0.20
Used drugs problematically	3.67%	0.19
Used alcohol problematically	9.07%	0.29
Arrested as a child/adolescent	6.20%	0.24
Desire to hurt others	6.60%	0.25
Violent as a child	2.47%	0.16
Violent offence	1.93%	0.14
Non-violent offence	15.87%	0.37
Perpetrator of DV	6.40%	0.24
Thrill-seeking behaviour (scale mean before binarized = 2.68)	16.73%	0.37
Impulsivity (scale mean before binarized = 3.04)	16.13%	0.37
Victim of bullying (as child/adolescent)	45.47%	0.50
Victim of violence (as child/adolescent)	17.33%	0.38
Psychological distress	45.47%	0.50
Diagnosed mental illness	19.80%	0.40
Difficulties coping with change	38.13%	0.49
History of self-isolation	31.00%	0.46
Obsessive thinking	33.07%	0.47
Previous suicide attempt	9.20%	0.29
Previous self-harm	17.13%	0.38
Grew up in an abusive home	15.00%	0.36
Chronic stress	43.07%	0.50
Problematic anger	23.00%	0.42
Situation	%	Standard Deviation
Dropped out of school/university	0.93%	0.10
Worse performance	7.93%	0.27
Recent unemployment	9.00%	0.29
Death in the family	22.07%	0.41
Proximate life change	14.13%	0.35
Crisis	24.20%	0.43
Work stress	18.73%	0.39
Goal interruption	28.53%	0.45
Financial problems	34.07%	0.47
Degraded	10.53%	0.31
Prejudice/Injustice	8.13%	0.27
Lied to or had a promise broken	29.27%	0.46
Disrespected	35.80%	0.48
Ignored by someone important to them	34.87%	0.48
Harmed by the negligence of another	4.93%	0.22
Not cared for by someone important to them	25.33%	0.44
Victim of physical or verbal assault	14.00%	0.35
Felt like a helpless victim	19.00%	0.39
Problematic personal relationships	29.20%	0.45
Exposure	%	Standard Deviation
Known someone who was involved in political extremism	9.07%	0.29
Witnessed threats to commit political violence	5.80%	0.23
Witnessed statements that support violent political action	14.93%	0.36
Been sent extremist content to watch or view online	6.40%	0.24
Known of extremist activity going on in your community	4.93%	0.22
Received letters, pamphlets, leaflets or other materials	4.00%	0.20
Interacted face-to-face with extremists	10.13%	0.30
Chosen to spend time with extremist friends or associates	13.93%	0.35
Read or distributed extremist materials	10.80%	0.31
Searched online for content that supports violent political action	7.53%	0.26
Chosen to spend time in places where there is extremism	5.40%	0.23
Virtual interactions with extremists	6.40%	0.24

Figure 1. Network analysis of risk factors and indicators associated with vulnerability to radicalisation. Communities identified with the Walktrap clustering algorithm.

Figure 2. Node strength. Values displayed as raw z-scores. Nodes ordered from highest to lowest strength. Higher strength indicates greater overall importance to the network.

Crime/violent propensity [blue]: 1 – expelled from school, 2 – problematic drug use, 3 – problematic alcohol use, 4 – arrested as an adolescent, 5 – expressed a desire to hurt others, 6 – violent as a child/adolescent, 7 – committed a violent offence, 8 – committed a non-violent offense, 9 – perpetrator of domestic abuse.

Low self-control [pink]: 10 – thrill-seeking, 11 – impulsivity.

Cognitive susceptibility [orange]: 12 – victim of bullying as a child/adolescent, 13 – victim of violence as a child/adolescent, 14 – psychological distress, 15 – diagnosed mental disorder, 16 – difficulties coping with change, 17 – isolated, 18 – obsessive thinking, 19 – previous suicide attempt, 20 – history of self-harm, 21 – grew up in an abusive home, 22 – chronic stress, 23 – anger management problems, 24 – dropped out of school/university, 25 – worsening performance at work/school.

Proximal crisis (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [red]: 26 – recent unemployment, 27 – death in the family, 28 – proximate life change, 29 – proximate crisis, 30 – work stress, 31 – interrupted in pursuing a life goal, 32 – financial problems.

Interpersonal stressors (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [yellow]: 33 – experienced being degraded, 34 – experienced prejudice, 35 – had a promise broken, 36 – experienced being disrespected, 37 – ignored by someone important to them, 38 – harmed by the negligence of someone else, 39 – not cared for by someone important to them, 40 – victim of physical/verbal assault, 41 – felt like a helpless victim, 42 – problematic personal relationships.

Exposure: [green] 43 – known someone who has extremist views, 44 – witnessed a direct threat of extremist violence, 45 – witnessed verbal statements in support of violent extremism, 46 – received extremist propaganda online, 47 – known of extremism in their community, 48 – received propaganda offline, 49 – face-to-face interactions with extremists, 50 – has extremist friends, 51 – engaged with extremist propaganda, 52 – searched for extremist content online, 53 – chosen to spend time in places where there is extremism, 54 – interacted virtually with extremists.

Figure 3. Network analysis of risk factors and indicators associated with vulnerability to radicalisation. Shortest path from cognitive susceptibility to exposure highlighted.

Crime/violent propensity [blue]: 1 – expelled from school, 2 – problematic drug use, 3 – problematic alcohol use, 4 – arrested as an adolescent, 5 – expressed a desire to hurt others, 6 – violent as a child/adolescent, 7 – committed a violent offence, 8 – committed a non-violent offense, 9 – perpetrator of domestic abuse.

Figure 4. Network analysis of risk factors and indicators associated with vulnerability to radicalisation. Shortest path from crime and/or violence supportive morality to exposure highlighted.

Crime/violent propensity [blue]: 1 – expelled from school, 2 – problematic drug use, 3 – problematic alcohol use, 4 – arrested as an adolescent, 5 – expressed a desire to hurt others, 6 – violent as a child/adolescent, 7 – committed a violent offence, 8 – committed a non-violent offense, 9 – perpetrator of domestic abuse.

Low self-control [pink]: 10 – thrill-seeking, 11 – impulsivity.

Cognitive susceptibility [orange]: 12 – victim of bullying as a child/adolescent, 13 – victim of violence as a child/adolescent, 14 – psychological distress, 15 – diagnosed mental disorder, 16 – difficulties coping with change, 17 – isolated, 18 – obsessive thinking, 19 – previous suicide attempt, 20 – history of self-harm, 21 – grew up in an abusive home, 22 – chronic stress, 23 – anger management problems, 24 – dropped out of school/university, 25 – worsening performance at work/school.

Proximal crisis (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [red]: 26 – recent unemployment, 27 – death in the family, 28 – proximate life change, 29 – proximate crisis, 30 – work stress, 31 – interrupted in pursuing a life goal, 32 – financial problems.

Interpersonal stressors (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [yellow]: 33 – experienced being degraded, 34 – experienced prejudice, 35 – had a promise broken, 36 – experienced being disrespected, 37 – ignored by someone important to them, 38 – harmed by the negligence of someone else, 39 – not cared for by someone important to them, 40 – victim of physical/verbal assault, 41 – felt like a helpless victim, 42 – problematic personal relationships.

Exposure[green] : 43 – known someone who has extremist views, 44 – witnessed a direct threat of extremist violence, 45 – witnessed verbal statements in support of violent extremism, 46 – received extremist propaganda online, 47 – known of extremism in their community, 48 – received propaganda offline, 49 – face-to-face interactions with extremists, 50 – has extremist friends, 51 – engaged with extremist propaganda, 52 – searched for extremist content online, 53 – chosen to spend time in places where there is extremism, 54 – interacted virtually with extremists.

Figure 5. Network analysis of risk factors and indicators associated with vulnerability to radicalisation. Shortest path from goal interrupted to exposure highlighted.

Crime/violent propensity [blue]: 1 – expelled from school, 2 – problematic drug use, 3 – problematic alcohol use, 4 – arrested as an adolescent, 5 – expressed a desire to hurt others, 6 – violent as a child/adolescent, 7 – committed a violent offence, 8 – committed a non-violent offense, 9 – perpetrator of domestic abuse.

Low self-control [pink]: 10 – thrill-seeking, 11 – impulsivity.

Cognitive susceptibility [orange]: 12 – victim of bullying as a child/adolescent, 13 – victim of violence as a child/adolescent, 14 – psychological distress, 15 – diagnosed mental disorder, 16 – difficulties coping with change, 17 – isolated, 18 – obsessive thinking, 19 – previous suicide attempt, 20 – history of self-harm, 21 – grew up in an abusive home, 22 – chronic stress, 23 – anger management problems, 24 – dropped out of school/university, 25 – worsening performance at work/school.

Proximal crisis (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [red]: 26 – recent unemployment, 27 – death in the family, 28 – proximate life change, 29 – proximate crisis, 30 – work stress, 31 – interrupted in pursuing a life goal, 32 – financial problems.

Interpersonal stressors (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [yellow]: 33 – experienced being degraded, 34 – experienced prejudice, 35 – had a promise broken, 36 – experienced being disrespected, 37 – ignored by someone important to them, 38 – harmed by the negligence of someone else, 39 – not cared for by someone important to them, 40 – victim of physical/verbal assault, 41 – felt like a helpless victim, 42 – problematic personal relationships.

Exposure [green]: 43 – known someone who has extremist views, 44 – witnessed a direct threat of extremist violence, 45 – witnessed verbal statements in support of violent extremism, 46 – received extremist propaganda online, 47 – known of extremism in their community, 48 – received propaganda offline, 49 – face-to-face interactions with extremists, 50 – has extremist friends, 51 – engaged with extremist propaganda, 52 – searched for extremist content online, 53 – chosen to spend time in places where there is extremism, 54 – interacted virtually with extremists.

Figure 6. Network analysis of risk factors and indicators associated with vulnerability to radicalisation. Shortest path from interpersonal problems to exposure highlighted.

Crime/violent propensity [blue]: 1 – expelled from school, 2 – problematic drug use, 3 – problematic alcohol use, 4 – arrested as an adolescent, 5 – expressed a desire to hurt others, 6 – violent as a child/adolescent, 7 – committed a violent offence, 8 – committed a non-violent offense, 9 – perpetrator of domestic abuse.

Low self-control [pink]: 10 – thrill-seeking, 11 – impulsivity.

Cognitive susceptibility [orange]: 12 – victim of bullying as a child/adolescent, 13 – victim of violence as a child/adolescent, 14 – psychological distress, 15 – diagnosed mental disorder, 16 – difficulties coping with change, 17 – isolated, 18 – obsessive thinking, 19 – previous suicide attempt, 20 – history of self-harm, 21 – grew up in an abusive home, 22 – chronic stress, 23 – anger management problems, 24 – dropped out of school/university, 25 – worsening performance at work/school.

Proximal crisis (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [red]: 26 – recent unemployment, 27 – death in the family, 28 – proximate life change, 29 – proximate crisis, 30 – work stress, 31 – interrupted in pursuing a life goal, 32 – financial problems.

Interpersonal stressors (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [yellow]: 33 – experienced being degraded, 34 – experienced prejudice, 35 – had a promise broken, 36 – experienced being disrespected, 37 – ignored by someone important to them, 38 – harmed by the negligence of someone else, 39 – not cared for by someone important to them, 40 – victim of physical/verbal assault, 41 – felt like a helpless victim, 42 – problematic personal relationships.

Exposure [green]: 43 – known someone who has extremist views, 44 – witnessed a direct threat of extremist violence, 45 – witnessed verbal statements in support of violent extremism, 46 – received extremist propaganda online, 47 – known of extremism in their community, 48 – received propaganda offline, 49 – face-to-face interactions with extremists, 50 – has extremist friends, 51 – engaged with extremist propaganda, 52 – searched for extremist content online, 53 – chosen to spend time in places where there is extremism, 54 – interacted virtually with extremists.

Figure 7. Network analysis of risk factors and indicators associated with vulnerability to radicalisation. Shortest path from proximal crisis to exposure highlighted.

Crime/violent propensity [blue]: 1 – expelled from school, 2 – problematic drug use, 3 – problematic alcohol use, 4 – arrested as an adolescent, 5 – expressed a desire to hurt others, 6 – violent as a child/adolescent, 7 – committed a violent offence, 8 – committed a non-violent offense, 9 – perpetrator of domestic abuse.

Low self-control [pink]: 10 – thrill-seeking, 11 – impulsivity.

Cognitive susceptibility [orange]: 12 – victim of bullying as a child/adolescent, 13 – victim of violence as a child/adolescent, 14 – psychological distress, 15 – diagnosed mental disorder, 16 – difficulties coping with change, 17 – isolated, 18 – obsessive thinking, 19 – previous suicide attempt, 20 – history of self-harm, 21 – grew up in an abusive home, 22 – chronic stress, 23 – anger management problems, 24 – dropped out of school/university, 25 – worsening performance at work/school.

Proximal crisis (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [red]: 26 – recent unemployment, 27 – death in the family, 28 – proximate life change, 29 – proximate crisis, 30 – work stress, 31 – interrupted in pursuing a life goal, 32 – financial problems.

Interpersonal stressors (all indicators measured as ‘within the last year’) [yellow]: 33 – experienced being degraded, 34 – experienced prejudice, 35 – had a promise broken, 36 – experienced being disrespected, 37 – ignored by someone important to them, 38 – harmed by the negligence of someone else, 39 – not cared for by someone important to them, 40 – victim of physical/verbal assault, 41 – felt like a helpless victim, 42 – problematic personal relationships.

Exposure [green]: 43 – known someone who has extremist views, 44 – witnessed a direct threat of extremist violence, 45 – witnessed verbal statements in support of violent extremism, 46 – received extremist propaganda online, 47 – known of extremism in their community, 48 – received propaganda offline, 49 – face-to-face interactions with extremists, 50 – has extremist friends, 51 – engaged with extremist propaganda, 52 – searched for extremist content online, 53 – chosen to spend time in places where there is extremism, 54 – interacted virtually with extremists.