A Key Distinction between Recruiter and Recruited in Violent Extremism

The following is a paper I wrote (unpublished) for a university course back in 2022. In it I outline multiple variations of social isolation, both personal and group based, as well as influenced by a variety of factors, including identity, social dynamics, neuro-cognition, and circumstances. This paper was my first foray into focusing on the role of social isolation in radicalization and motivation toward violent behavior, either within lone acts (single actor/live shooter/attacker) or group activities (extremism, terrorism, cults). At the time, my focus was on the role of social isolation in making individuals vulnerable to radicalization and violent actions. As I’ve re-examined this paper over the years, I’ve expanded on and refined this important area of inquiry.

In 2024, I was working with a colleague on trying to model how social isolation plays a role in radicalization toward violent extremism. As I delved into defining and outlining social isolation for our project, I looked back on the paper above. While that paper provided a basis for identifying societal and individual traits and circumstances to include in our model, I also recognized that something was missing. Social isolation is both a vulnerability, which the earlier paper addresses, and a weapon, which I had not previously identified.

As I worked through describing this to my colleague, it seemed to me to be well defined by the term controlled isolation. Controlled isolation is when a person or people use manipulative controls to socially, financially, and/or emotionally isolate individuals from other sources of social support or resources. This control is intended to gain allegiance from the intended target, and further be able to manipulate them into performing actions to the benefit of the controlling individual. Cult activities and patterns will help you understand the concept of controlled isolation: restricting exposure to contradicting narratives, controlling daily behavior and routines, isolating individuals from their families and friends, undercutting their self confidence, applying peer pressure and threats of social ostracization (a form of social isolation), among others.

As Gonzalez et al describe in their paper on psychological manipulation in violent radicalization, “Manipulation is contemplated as something subtle, imperceptible, and gradual without the application of violence or force. Defined in this way, individuals are unaware of the manipulation, which undermines their volitional capacity (43).” There’s a controlled isolation through the psychological and emotional control of identity, media and literature exposure, and behavior. Perpetrators engaging in socially isolating recruits rely on a cyclical pattern of preying on those already experiencing circumstantial and identity isolation (my earliest definitions of social isolation), and then further entrenching them in the group’s mindset and allegiance through controlled isolation:

• Reliance on the social circle for identity and acceptance
• Shame, guilt, peer pressure to suppress any individualism
• Financial reliance
• Welfare reliance
• Increasing distrust of others

Recognizing and better understanding these dynamics is important for developing programs and policies for preventing and intervening in radicalization. From a judicial perspective, not acknowledging a distinction makes prosecution of manipulators incredibly difficult, as the traditional perception of cults and extremist groups can appear to outsiders, and be argued by manipulators, to be one where the individuals recruited acted on their own volition, voluntarily. They believed in the movement, were one of them, and are now turning against the group that was trying to be there for them. This blurs the lines for outsiders between leaders of movements and followers/recruits. When viewed from the lens of manipulator (recruiter) and controlled (recruited), these two groups require significantly different approaches to deterrence, prevention, and deradicalization.

As I reflect back on my early paper and the research I have done since, I am updating my term controlled isolation to manipulated isolation, to further drive home the relationship and dynamic between the recruiters and the recruited. Recruited individuals who choose to move away from the group identity and dynamics should not only have available resources for deradicalization and disengagement, but should have recourse for legal protection and assistance. This new term manipulated isolation is a step in the direction of bringing more awareness to the dynamics of manipulation and the need to recognize and address separately the two distinct parties involved.

Citation

González I, Moyano M, Lobato RM and Trujillo HM (2022). Evidence of Psychological Manipulation in the Process of Violent Radicalization: An Investigation of the 17-A Cell. Front. Psychiatry 13:789051. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.789051