Biografische Vorbelastungen und verhaltensbasierte Indikatoren der Radikalisierung im Vorfeld islamistischer Gewalt

Abstract

Using a German sample of convicted perpetrators (N = 76), the authors compare the biographical characteristics and preoffence warning behaviours of non-violent Islamist activists (n = 60) with those of Islamist assassins (n = 16). While the biographical characteristics focus on the socio-structural, familial and social stressors of the convicted in addition to age and education, the exploration of warning behaviour focuses on potentially observable patterns of action associated with radicalisation processes or serious targeted acts of violence. The data basis is formed by indictments and verdicts in corresponding criminal proceedings. A standardised instrument for quantitative file analysis in the context of murder and manslaughter offences was used to identify biographical characteristics and previous social burdens (Göbel et al., 2016). The Screener Islamism (Böckler et al., 2017) was used to examine early behaviour-based radicalisation indicators and the Warning Behaviour Typology (Meloy et al., 2012) was used to identify violence-associated behaviour patterns. While all Islamist offenders committed their crimes in early adulthood and had various social backgrounds in their biographies, Islamist activists and violent offenders differed significantly in the warning behaviour they displayed before committing an offence. In particular, acts of planning and preparation (pathway to violence), new forms of aggression (novel aggression), and patterns of action that indicate that the person feels he or she is at a biographical dead end (last resort) were able to differentiate between attackers and non-attackers. The results are particularly relevant from a preventive perspective, as they can be the basis for improving behaviour-based early detection of violence associated radicalisation processes in social institutions.