Recruitment models and approaches of Islamist terrorist groups: The cases of al Qaeda and ISIS

Figures & data

Table 1. Classification of recruitment models by types of approaches (based on graphs in Gerwehr & Daly, 2006)

		Forum
		Proximate	Mediated
Channel	Private	Infection model private apartments (one-to-one) friends and family Funnel model training camps	Funnel model encrypted messaging applications private chat rooms password-protected websites privately printed propaganda literature
	Public	Net model mosques private apartments (presence of a group) festivals Infection model prisons refugee camps private libraries universities and schools city streets	Net model online public forums blogs chat rooms social media groups Seed Crystal model propaganda videos online (free access) propaganda literature in forums TV and radio stations newspapers social media platforms

Table 2. Models and approaches to recruitment of members of the Hamburg cell

Members	Recruitment model	Approach to recruitment	Circumstances
Mohammed Atta	Seed crystal model	Public-mediated	Fliers, brochures, mass media
	Net model	Public-proximate	The Al Quds Mosque and the cell members’ apartment
	Funnel model	Private-proximate	Training and indoctrination in al-Qaeda’s camps in Afghanistan
Marwan al-Shehhi	Seed crystal model	Public-mediated	Fliers, brochures, mass media
	Net model	Public-proximate	The Al Quds Mosque and the cell members’ apartment
	Funnel model	Private-proximate	Training and indoctrination in al-Qaeda’s camps in Afghanistan
Ramzi bin al-Shibh	Seed crystal model	Public-mediated	Fliers, brochures, mass media
	Infection model	Private-proximate	Influence of Atta
	Net model	Public-proximate	The Al Quds Mosque and the cell members’ apartment
	Funnel model	Private-proximate	Training and indoctrination in al-Qaeda’s camps in Afghanistan
Ziad Jarrah	Seed crystal model	Public-mediated	Fliers, brochures, mass media
	Net model	Public-proximate	The Al Quds Mosque and the cell members’ apartment
	Funnel model	Private-proximate	Training and indoctrination in al-Qaeda’s camps in Afghanistan

Table 3. Models and approaches to recruitment of members of the Brussels cell

Member	Recruitment model	Approach to recruitment	Circumstances
Abdelhamid Abaaoud	Infection model	Public-proximate	Radicalised in Saint Gilles prison, recruited into the cell on the streets of Molembeek by Khalid Zerkani
	Funnel model	Private-proximate	Training and indoctrination in ISIS’ camps in Syria and Iraq
Salah Abdeslam	Infection model	Private-proximate	Friendship with Abdulhamid Abaaoud
Samy Amimour	Seed crystal model	Public-mediated	ISIS’ propaganda on websites and social media
	Funnel model	Private-mediated (speculative)	Encrypted messaging applications (speculative)
	Funnel model	Private-proximate	Training and indoctrination in ISIS’ camps in Syria and Iraq

Gerwehr, S., & Daly, S. (2006). Terrorist Selection and Recruitment. https://www.rand.org/pubs/reprints/RP1214.html

 Google Scholar