We see mental health as one factor that can influence the development of VE. The multidimensional nature of radicalization means there is no single cause of radicalization and no “magic bullet” that guarantees the exit from violent extremist groups. Instead, there are various points along the pathway of entering and leaving VE where intervention strategies such as Exit USA could be successful. Untreated mental health problems, along with the volatile mix of extremist beliefs and associations, destabilize a person and also remove the needed internal constraints that otherwise are likely to reduce the potential of VE.
We expect CVE interventions focused on mental health to be effective in two principal ways. First, individuals at risk of becoming involved or who are at the early stages of entry might benefit from mental health treatment as a means to provide stability and address underlying issues that might be driving the person toward extremism. A growing number of studies underscore that individuals are not necessarily initially motivated by ideology and are often seeking universal needs, such as social support, protection, and excitement. In this sense, mental health treatment could aid the person in addressing these underlying motivations and seeking alternative ways of fulfilling these needs.
Second, mental health treatment should be an important consideration in the design of intervention programs aimed at promoting disengagement and deradicalization. Mental health treatment is especially likely to be helpful in terms of decreasing the likelihood an individual will “relapse” and return to extremism, which our preliminary results suggest is relatively common.
We are seeking firsthand accounts of how trauma, neglect, and other mental health issues are related to domestic radicalization to inform LAH’s Exit USA program. Anyone with an account should send an e-mail to psimi@unomaha.edu.
The project was supported by Award No. 2014-ZA-0005, awarded by the NIJ, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.
Dr. Simi is with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism and is associate professor at the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Dr. Blee is associate dean for graduate studies, and research and distinguished professor of sociology at the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. Dr. DeMichele is a research sociologist with the Center for Justice, Safety, and Resilience at RTI International, Research Triangle Park, N.C.*
This article was updated 7/27/2015.