Radicalisation: A Subtype of Religious Conversion?

This Research Note starts by evaluating Lofland and Stark’s conversion model. By comparing it with several radicalisationmodels, it was found that conversion and radicalisation processes have much in common. Based on thisobservation, the idea of a radical-conversion model is formulated. Subsequently, five hypotheses derived from theradical-conversion model are tested with a sample of foreign fighters database (n = 408). It was found that convertsand non-converts can be seen as equals. The convert’s involvement in suicide missions and perceived trustworthinessare relatively the same as non-converts. However, due to certain predisposition factors, differences for rank,desertion, and the role of women were found. This Research Note suggests that there are strong indications thatradicalisation is a sub-type of conversion and that more research is needed on this topic.