Radicalization arises from converging multiple factors rather than any single pathway.

Evidence

The literature suggests that there is no single model of or pathway to radicalization. As one study based on the PIRUS database assessed, “Significant background, demographic and radicalization differences are present across the ideological spectrum, and the processes by which individuals and groups come to engage in extremist behaviors are complex, often resulting from a host of psychological and emotional factors that are difficult to model.” In short, individuals usually do not radicalize for a singular reason; instead, there are multiple factors—many of them covered under our previous discussion of risk factors—that converge to spark radicalization. — 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, 176

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Radicalization risk factors span individual to societal levels simultaneously — 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:…, 115; Radicalization factors are non-deterministic and heterogeneous across individuals — 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:…, 226; Four distinct identity problems are each claimed to cause radicalization — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 27 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• No single factor robustly drives radicalization across the sampled extremist cases #corroborates (0.95) — 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, 319
• Negative life events predispose but never alone cause radicalization #corroborates (0.92) — 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, 56
• Radicalization factors are non-deterministic and heterogeneous across individuals #corroborates (0.86) — 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, 226
• Roy traces radicalization to individual trajectories and societal conditions, not religion #exemplifies (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 383
• Single dramatic life events can trigger both radicalization and deradicalization #complicates (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, 68
• Four distinct identity problems are each claimed to cause radicalization #complicates (0.75) — Lea Echelmeyer, Anne-Marie Slotboom, and Frank Weerman, The Putative Effect of Identity on…, 27
• Counter-radicalization conflates perpetrators’ religion with causes of terrorism. #qualifies (0.75) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 946
• Mental health problems create radicalization vulnerability only by blocking other life opportunities #qualifies (0.73) — 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, 285
• Major events trigger waves of radicalization across different ideologies #qualifies (0.72) — 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, 182