A Path of Radicalization: Complementary of the Group and the Individual Flaw. Issue 2 (15th March 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Catherine, Bergeron; Louis, Brunet
• Is Part Of: Journal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice. Volume 23:Issue 2(2023)
• Page Start: 178
• Page End: 200
• Publication Date: 2023-03-15
• Subjects: Radicalization -- extremism -- narcissistic-identity suffering -- intrapsychic dynamics -- group mechanisms; Forensic psychology -- Research -- Periodicals; 614.15
• DOI: 10.1080/24732850.2021.2016123
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2473-2850

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article analyzes and presents, in a psychoanalytic understanding, the individual and group psychic mechanisms involved in subscribing to a violent radical ideology in a young man that has now become deradicalized. The analysis is based on autobiographical documents and direct interviews. The analysis highlights how the radical group fulfills unconscious psychological functions serving to overcome prior personal weaknesses, especially narcissistic-identity suffering. The radical solution then makes it possible to reverse narcissistic and identity wandering, in particular by allowing participation in a grandiose group identity.