Motivational dynamics of German Salafist jihadists: A multi-methodical in-depth study of three paradigmatic cases
Individuals belonging to terrorist organizations accept and often use violence as an instrument of their strategies to achieve their goals. The present study focuses on the motivational dynamics of three contrastively selected paradigmatic cases of extremists that grew up in Germany, joined and supp...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-11-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1009222/full |
| _version_ | 1797988550920110080 |
|---|---|
| author | Mika Josephine Moeller Mika Josephine Moeller Mika Josephine Moeller Phil C. Langer Phil C. Langer Herbert Scheithauer |
| author_facet | Mika Josephine Moeller Mika Josephine Moeller Mika Josephine Moeller Phil C. Langer Phil C. Langer Herbert Scheithauer |
| author_sort | Mika Josephine Moeller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Individuals belonging to terrorist organizations accept and often use violence as an instrument of their strategies to achieve their goals. The present study focuses on the motivational dynamics of three contrastively selected paradigmatic cases of extremists that grew up in Germany, joined and supported terrorist organizations abroad, and later disengaged and distanced themselves from the jihadist ideology. An innovative multi-methodical approach was applied to the interviews that combines a biographical reconstruction of the lived experiences with a psychoanalytically informed interpretation of the narratives. First, the biographical trajectories were analyzed on the manifest level: How have the former terrorists experienced their own pathways? What were relevant factors for their engagement in and disengagement from terrorism? Second, to gain a deeper understanding of the unconscious motivational dynamics for involvement in terrorism, key sequences of the narrative interviews were interpreted scenically in a psychoanalytical interpretation group: How did the interviewees express their lived experiences (and why in this particular way)? What latent meanings can be extrapolated that provide deep insights into the motivational backgrounds of their decisions? Based on the results of the triangulation process, characterizing structural hypotheses about case dynamics including protective and risk factors are presented and implications for prevention and intervention approaches are given. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T08:05:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-544a1f78a3bc4aab87455d87cf6183d7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T08:05:49Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-544a1f78a3bc4aab87455d87cf6183d72022-12-22T04:35:33ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-11-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.10092221009222Motivational dynamics of German Salafist jihadists: A multi-methodical in-depth study of three paradigmatic casesMika Josephine Moeller0Mika Josephine Moeller1Mika Josephine Moeller2Phil C. Langer3Phil C. Langer4Herbert Scheithauer5Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Social Psychology, International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin, GermanyZentrum Technik und Gesellschaft, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Social Psychology, International Psychoanalytic University, Berlin, GermanyCenter for Transdisciplinary Gender Studies, Humboldt-University Berlin, Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyIndividuals belonging to terrorist organizations accept and often use violence as an instrument of their strategies to achieve their goals. The present study focuses on the motivational dynamics of three contrastively selected paradigmatic cases of extremists that grew up in Germany, joined and supported terrorist organizations abroad, and later disengaged and distanced themselves from the jihadist ideology. An innovative multi-methodical approach was applied to the interviews that combines a biographical reconstruction of the lived experiences with a psychoanalytically informed interpretation of the narratives. First, the biographical trajectories were analyzed on the manifest level: How have the former terrorists experienced their own pathways? What were relevant factors for their engagement in and disengagement from terrorism? Second, to gain a deeper understanding of the unconscious motivational dynamics for involvement in terrorism, key sequences of the narrative interviews were interpreted scenically in a psychoanalytical interpretation group: How did the interviewees express their lived experiences (and why in this particular way)? What latent meanings can be extrapolated that provide deep insights into the motivational backgrounds of their decisions? Based on the results of the triangulation process, characterizing structural hypotheses about case dynamics including protective and risk factors are presented and implications for prevention and intervention approaches are given.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1009222/fullqualitative case studySalafist jihadismradicalizationmotivationcognitive dissonancein-depth hermeneutic |
| spellingShingle | Mika Josephine Moeller Mika Josephine Moeller Mika Josephine Moeller Phil C. Langer Phil C. Langer Herbert Scheithauer Motivational dynamics of German Salafist jihadists: A multi-methodical in-depth study of three paradigmatic cases Frontiers in Psychology qualitative case study Salafist jihadism radicalization motivation cognitive dissonance in-depth hermeneutic |
| title | Motivational dynamics of German Salafist jihadists: A multi-methodical in-depth study of three paradigmatic cases |
| title_full | Motivational dynamics of German Salafist jihadists: A multi-methodical in-depth study of three paradigmatic cases |
| title_fullStr | Motivational dynamics of German Salafist jihadists: A multi-methodical in-depth study of three paradigmatic cases |
| title_full_unstemmed | Motivational dynamics of German Salafist jihadists: A multi-methodical in-depth study of three paradigmatic cases |
| title_short | Motivational dynamics of German Salafist jihadists: A multi-methodical in-depth study of three paradigmatic cases |
| title_sort | motivational dynamics of german salafist jihadists a multi methodical in depth study of three paradigmatic cases |
| topic | qualitative case study Salafist jihadism radicalization motivation cognitive dissonance in-depth hermeneutic |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1009222/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mikajosephinemoeller motivationaldynamicsofgermansalafistjihadistsamultimethodicalindepthstudyofthreeparadigmaticcases AT mikajosephinemoeller motivationaldynamicsofgermansalafistjihadistsamultimethodicalindepthstudyofthreeparadigmaticcases AT mikajosephinemoeller motivationaldynamicsofgermansalafistjihadistsamultimethodicalindepthstudyofthreeparadigmaticcases AT philclanger motivationaldynamicsofgermansalafistjihadistsamultimethodicalindepthstudyofthreeparadigmaticcases AT philclanger motivationaldynamicsofgermansalafistjihadistsamultimethodicalindepthstudyofthreeparadigmaticcases AT herbertscheithauer motivationaldynamicsofgermansalafistjihadistsamultimethodicalindepthstudyofthreeparadigmaticcases |