Extremist groups sustain membership by offering family-like bonds, power, and mission.

Evidence

During the interviews, respondents also discussed positive experiences while participating in extremist groups. Most noted feelings of family and friendship. Others noted a new sense of power. As one study participant told the interviewers: “People switch the side of the street when they see you… . It was a great feeling.” Some noted that they had felt they had a new mission in life, while others noted how they felt rewarded for contributions to the cause and group. — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America, 41

Categorization

• SHARE: A concrete, human insight worth sharing with anyone working on preventing violent extremism or understanding extremist group psychology.
• XREF: connects to: Being recruited, seen, and valued is a powerful early pull into extremism. — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America:…, 373; Extremist groups recruit by supplying the kinship and belonging that members lacked. — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America:…, 372; Radical groups recruit by supplying the family bond that fractured biological families withheld. — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America:…, 374 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Terrorist groups recruit through family and intimate personal bonds that substitute for kin. #expands (0.92) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4111
• Extremist recruitment recruits through belonging and fellowship, not hatred #corroborates (0.88) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2020
• Violence, values, interests, and bonds are substitutable mechanisms for securing cooperation #qualifies (0.81) — Diego Gambetta, Trust - Making and Breaking Cooperative…, 2213
• Members stay in extremist groups because status there outweighs real-world misery #exemplifies (0.78) — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America, 377
• Extremist involvement has addictive properties tied to joint risk and struggle #expands (0.76) — Ryan Andrew Brown, Todd C. Helmus, Rajeev Ramchand, Alina I. Palimaru, Sarah Weilant, Ashley L. Rhoades, and Liisa Hiatt (RAND Corporation), Violent Extremism in America, 59
• Becoming a group member, not violence, is the dominant motive for terrorist followers. #qualifies (0.74)
• Closed exit pathways sustain terrorist group cohesion. #qualifies (0.73) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4146
• Material incentives and organized succession planning strengthen militant group appeal. #qualifies (0.72) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2494