Toward a Behavioral Model of "Homegrown" Radicalization Trajectories

• NCJ Number: 250062
• Journal: Studies in Conflict & Terrorism Volume: 39 Issue: 1 Dated: January 2016 Pages: 67-83
• Author(s): J. Klausen; S. Campion
• Date Published: January 2016
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2013-ZA-BX-0005
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Award: Prisoner Recollections: The Role of Internet Use and Real-Life Networks in the Early Radicalization of Islamist Terrorist Offenders

Annotation

This research note presents a dynamic risk assessment model of homegrown terrorists.

Abstract

The model was tested in a study of convicted "homegrown" American terrorism offenders inspired by Al Qaeda's ideology. The New York Police Department model developed by Silber and Bhatt was chosen as the basis for creating a typology of overt and detectable indicators of individual behaviors widely thought to be associated with extremism. Twenty-four specific cues associated with each stage of radicalization were used to code and estimate the sequencing of behaviors and the duration of the average radicalization trajectory. Sixty-eight cases have been analyzed thus far. A decision was made to publish the initial results when it became apparent that the model was an effective tool for the evaluation of terrorist offenders. (Publisher abstract modified)