Understanding the Process of Radicalisation from Psychological Perspective
This literature review, prepared by Dr. Ayşenur Benevento, investigates the psychology’s foundational theories and overviews their contributions to the study of radicalisation from a psychological perspective. This review focuses on the Psychoanalytic, Cognitive, Behaviourist and Socio-Cultural schools of thought, which have different approaches to the human psyche and the processes of change. This study illustrates that theories in Psychology identify various distinct elements as contributing factors to radicalisation. Through identifying the commonalities and disparities among the four schools of thought, this review contends that these different approaches do not invalidate each other but rather provide alternative pictures of the radicalisation process.
This literature review was prepared in the scope of the ongoing EU-funded research for the “PRIME Youth” project conducted under the supervision of the Principal Investigator, Prof. Dr. Ayhan Kaya, and funded by the European Research Council with the Agreement Number 785934.