Understanding violent extremism: Socio-demographic, criminal and psychopathological background characteristics of detainees residing in Dutch terrorism wings

Abstract

In the past decades, Europe has been shocked repeatedly by terrorist crimes. This has led to an influx of suspects and convicts of terrorism in the prison system. The aim of this study is to provide insight into socio-demographic, psychopathological and criminal background characteristics of convicted violent extremists. Retrospective analyses were conducted on primary source data from 82 convicts in Dutch prison terrorism wings. Results showed that violent extremists are a heterogeneous group regarding socio-demographic characteristics. About 60% of the population had previously been convicted of ordinary crimes and a third suffered from a mental disorder. To gain more insight into violent extremists, additional research is needed into motivational and other risk factors. The latter is a necessary step to improve the identification, risk assessment, and effective treatment of violent extremists.

Mental disorder, psychological problems and terrorist behaviour: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…They suggest that background predisposing factors like mental health difficulties and ‘deviant conduct’ interact with exposure to radicalising content and networks to ‘set up a potential pathway to violent extremism’ (p. 112). Others observed interactions between mental health difficulties and past non‐terrorist criminality (Thijssen et al, 2021), exposure to military‐related trauma (Haugstvedt & Koehler, 2021) and grievances such as poverty and oppression (Candilis et al, 2021).…”

Understanding violent extremism: Risk and protective factors in a jihadi male detainee population in the Netherlands

“…This study investigated the risk and protective factors of violent extremism in a group of convicted and non-convicted violent male jihadist detainees. Previous studies have investigated sociodemographic characteristics, psychopathology, and criminal antecedents in violent extremists (Bakker, 2006;Sageman, 2008;Thijssen et al, 2021;Van Leyenhorst and Andreas, 2017) but have not examined risk and protective factors based on the VERA-2R, which is essential for interventions and risk management. This study addressed three research questions, namely: What risk and protective factors are present in a group of male jihadi violent extremists residing in terrorism wings of a Dutch prison?…”

“…There is no clear profile of "the violent extremist" (Bakker, 2006;Horgan, 2014;Meleagrou-Hitchens et al, 2020;Sageman, 2008;Thijssen et al, 2021), as they vary in historical, cultural, social, and psychopathological characteristics (Bakker, 2006;Corner et al, 2018;Corner and Gill, 2015;Monahan, 2012;Pressman and Flockton, 2012;Thijssen et al, 2021;Weenink 2015). Some sociodemographic factors appear to be associated with violent extremism but concern only one factor complicating generalizability (Wolfowicz et al, 2019).…”

“…After release from prison, around 5% of the ex-detainees previously convicted of terrorism had reoffended with a terrorist act (Bakker, 2006; Bergen et al, 2011; Thijssen et al, 2021; Van der Heide and Schuurman, 2018). This low recidivism rate can partly be attributed to long-term probation supervision (Van der Heide and Schuurman, 2018) and monitoring by intelligence services.…”

Between Psychopathology and Ideology: Challenges and Practices in Interpreting Young Extremists Experiencing Mental Illness in the Netherlands

“…It is, however, the case that individuals with a mental illness can also espouse an extremist ideology, and that the presence of one does not automatically exclude the other ( 6 ). It depends on the individual case if and how mental illness plays a role in someone's process toward violent extremism ( 7 ). When present, the combination of psychopathology and extremism is very complex to analyze and assess and it requires multiple professionals and a holistic assessment.…”