Opinion Analysis by Tala Otaibi, Contributor

April 11th, 2021

Terrorism is one of the most frightening phenomena to exist in our modern-day world. With globalization at a constant rise and the world growing more and more interconnected every day, terrorism has also spread as a result. It has become much easier to cross borders and instill fear in people all over the globe. Even more so, it has become much easier to recruit people from all around the world as well. Terrorist organizations have the ability to recruit people through the internet. This brings about a very important question. Why is it relatively easy to bring in people to operate within hostile terrorist organizations given their frightening and inhumane nature? More research about this issue has prevailed since the constant growth of these organizations. In order to try to answer this question, this article will be delving into the social psychology perspective of this topic. To develop a better understanding of the complex phenomenon that is terrorist recruitment, it is only ideal to look at it from a social behavior lens given the nature of terrorist organization as social groups. 

To understand the lens that I will be analyzing this issue with, it is crucial that I define what social psychology is as a field first and foremost. Broadly speaking, social psychology is the study of the social nature of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. More precisely, this field of psychology focuses on the impact of the presence of others, whether it was real or imagined. What this entails and what studies in the field have shown us over the last couple of decades is that the people that surround us have a very big influence on our behavior and who we are, even if we do not notice it immediately. A big aspect of social psychology is group processes and how crucial it is for us to be part of a group from a social perspective. It looks into how we join groups and how we behave after becoming a part of that group. Because terrorist organizations are considered to be groups that promote political and religious goals and beliefs, we can only deduce that analyzing them from a social psychology perspective is crucial to properly understanding their recruitment operations.

To analyze the influence of terrorist organizations on those who are recruited, we must understand the concept of conformity from a social psychology perspective. By definition, conformity refers to the change in behavior due to the influence of people. Social psychologists have long analyzed the behaviors of members of larger groups within the military and cults to understand this phenomenon. People tend to alter their behavior, even if it involves doing immoral things that they thought they would never do, and this is a result of societal expectations and pressures, as well as group norms. Consequently, they will start acting in manners that are similar to those of other group members. Think about it from this angle. If you were in a building and people started running frantically outside of it and you had no idea what was going on, what would you do? Confused, you are most likely going to run with them. That is basically what occurs within groups in general. Once you are part of a group, you often tend to follow their norms as a means of belonging and in order not to be casted as an outsider. No matter what you have to do, it is essential to satisfy those expectations and norms.

So, how does this relate to terrorist recruitment? Explaining this phenomenon simply is something of utmost difficulty given the complexity of the issue. However, given what we know from social psychology, we might be able to make some inferences regarding the matter. Terrorist organizations are able to lure in groups of people with benefits and offer them things that they have been missing. In many instances, an individual may crave the need to belong somewhere. Oftentimes, a group that provides such a sense of belonging where members are able to be united by one common factor is exactly what is needed. Disturbingly enough, a terrorist group can provide that to its members. Terrorist recruiters play it smartly when they look for members, knowing exactly how to lure them in.

Why is the psychological aspect of the recruitment process important to understand and look into? It so happens that terrorist groups investigate psychological profiles when searching for potential members. Without this in-depth analysis, the whole group would be at a much larger risk of being caught. Terrorists will most often find recruits that are quite vulnerable in order to lure them into the group by providing them with different sorts of benefits, whether they are of materialistic or psychological value. This is one of the aspects that also increases the chances of conformity. Those that are considered “vulnerable” in this literature are a lot more susceptible to conformity given their need to belong to a group. After all, it is in our nature to belong to groups given our social tendencies as human beings. While the literature has looked into finding the people that are the most vulnerable, no solid answer has been reached simply because of how complex this phenomenon truly is. 

There are far too many aspects to study and analyze. Besides psychological profiles, researchers may look into social factors in terms of socialization and social networks as a way of analyzing what causes terrorists to recruit certain groups of people and why. In other cases, some researchers have focused on group dynamics as a whole, while others have only focused on individuals. Nevertheless, it still is very important to understand the psychological aspect of the phenomenon in order to help those within the political and security fields by providing them with a more in-depth analysis of the issue that is found within the social science field. 

Over the years, social psychology has shown us that human behavior is quite hard to predict and analyze most of the time. Possibly, experts in the field of social sciences may be able to make inferences but may never be able to reach a solid conclusion. Understanding the recruitment process of terrorist organizations is far too complex. However, understanding the basics of our human nature when it comes to group compliance and conformity may go a very long way in providing the foundation of such an analysis. As a result of that, terrorist organizations may continue to have extensive power over vulnerable groups of people by setting plans to lure in members in ways that can induce continued conformity. The type of power these groups exercise over recruits continues to produce compliance that shocks millions of people worldwide. 

Bibliography

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., & Akert, R. M. (2005). Social psychology (Vol. 5). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Limodio, N. (2020). Terrorism Financing, Recruitment and Attacks (No. 665).