Leaving extremism requires bridging relationships that scaffold a new identity

Evidence

Transitional relationships, on the other hand, are “bridging” relationships that provide a scaffolding function by which participants may build a new identity. Hence, transitional relationships help provide support for new value systems, new identity roles, new relational skills, new purposes and goals, and a potential new community or network of social support. — Amy Fisher-Smith, Charles R. Sullivan, John D. Macready, and Geoffrey Manzi, Identity Reconfiguration and the Core…, 618

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes the scaffolding (transitional/bridging) function of relationships from the earlier paragraph’s ‘breaking relationships’ that merely pull someone away from the far right.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Amy Fisher-Smith, Charles R. Sullivan, John D. Macready, and Geoffrey Manzi, Identity Reconfiguration and the Core…, 618
• XREF: connects to: Accepting relationships with out-group members model new identity structures for exiting extremists. — Amy Fisher-Smith, Charles R. Sullivan, John D. Macready, and Geoffrey Manzi, Identity Reconfiguration and the Core…, 475; Effective exit relationships shift former extremists toward inclusive we-frameworks — Amy Fisher-Smith, Charles R. Sullivan, John D. Macready, and Geoffrey Manzi, Identity Reconfiguration and the Core…, 630; Personal identity crisis can open individuals to extremist groups offering identity answers — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 20 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Accepting relationships with out-group members model new identity structures for exiting extremists. #expands (0.93) — Amy Fisher-Smith, Charles R. Sullivan, John D. Macready, and Geoffrey Manzi, Identity Reconfiguration and the Core…, 475
• Effective exit relationships shift former extremists toward inclusive we-frameworks #corroborates (0.88) — Amy Fisher-Smith, Charles R. Sullivan, John D. Macready, and Geoffrey Manzi, Identity Reconfiguration and the Core…, 630
• Exposure to diverse outgroups helped deradicalize former extremists #corroborates (0.84) — 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, 62
• A former extremist relapsed identity growth to distancing himself from exit-program support #complicates (0.76) — Amy Fisher-Smith, Charles R. Sullivan, John D. Macready, and Geoffrey Manzi, Identity Reconfiguration and the Core…, 688
• Satisfying identity needs of victims and perpetrators facilitates reconciliation across groups. #expands (0.74) — Nurit Shnabel and Johannes Ullrich, Identity Needs in Intergroup Relations, 94
• Personal identity crisis can open individuals to extremist groups offering identity answers #complicates (0.72) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 20