Unexpected acceptance from expected-rejecting groups drives deradicalization.

Evidence

Emotional Support or Kindness The next most common feature of successful interventions (15 cases: 11 white supremacists and four Islamic extremists) was experiencing personal acceptance and emotional support. In some cases, this emotional support came as a surprise—that is, the focal individual was expecting hate or rejection and instead experienced the opposite. For example, one former white supremacist described experiencing emotional support during a church service that helped them deradicalize: “My pastor was doing a service a few months later and he called me up to share my testimony, kind of like a shock. So I got up there and I told the congregation about my past and everything thinking they’d get upset. They all came up and they were shaking my hand and hugging me and everything.” — 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, 429

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Encountering hated groups treating one normally dismantles extremists’ stereotypes. — 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:…, 418; Deradicalization messages must be timed to reach people at the cusp of change — 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:…, 69