Assessing the Risk of Radicalisation in Adolescents and Young Adults: Some Empirical Evidence

Abstract

Based on M. Hogg’s uncertainty-identity theory, a radicalisation risk assessment model was formulated. The aim of the presented study was to test the model for assessing the risk of radicalisation in adolescents and young people. A total of 580 adolescents and young people aged from 14 to 27 years (M=17.32, SD=1.66) took part in the study; 392 respondents were female, 7 respondents did not indicate their gender. The main method of the study was a survey in the form of a questionnaire. The risk assessment model got partial empirical support. For further validation of the model it was proposed to implement the following steps: 1) to identify the particularities of social identities in a subsample of schoolchildren; 2) to analyse the characteristics of the groups with which schoolchildren and students identify themselves; 3) based on the results of the most recent studies, it is proposed to use the method of social identity mapping, which demonstrates its advantages over traditional ways of measuring social identity.