Stopping extremism and abandoning its beliefs are distinct forms of exit

Evidence

Disengagement does not necessarily mean abandonment of extremist beliefs, however, with one study noting: “Disengagement is not really the end of that [extremist] identity. Instead, a whole other layer of unwanted and involuntary thoughts, feelings, bodily reactions, and behaviors may persist and continue to shape a person’s life.” • Deradicalization, as previously defined, is “the process of changing an individual’s belief system, rejecting the extremist ideology, and embracing mainstream values.” Deradicalization is a step beyond disengagement, as it signals a “more complete cognitive shift or transformation” away from extremism; in other words, true deradicalization entails abandoning or renouncing extremist beliefs rather than just ceasing extremist behavior. — 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, 189

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to the therapy hypothesis this reader is testing: the study interviews formers to find what changed their adversarial identity, and this definitional split (disengagement vs. deradicalization) is exactly the axis the interviews must adjudicate. — connects to: The study’s coding scheme distinguished self-driven exits from successful interventions — 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:…, 276; Many extremists proactively seek out reasons and philosophy to abandon radicalism. — 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:…, 443; A single core need drives both entry into and exit from extremism. — Amy Fisher-Smith, Charles R. Sullivan, John D. Macready, and Geoffrey Manzi, Identity Reconfiguration and the Core…, 10 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Totalitarian ideology coerces through the fear of abandoning a first premise #responds-to (0.72)