Becoming an Ex-Extremist
Stopping the Hate and Embracing a New Identity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8403136 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Matthew Demichele (0000-0002-6534-474X, corresponding author), P Simi (0000-0003-1842-2108, Chapman University, corresponding author), Kathleen Blee (0000-0003-2559-2949, University of Pittsburgh, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 282-297 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-29 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal of Criminology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0955 • E-ISSN: 1464-3529 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjc/azae035 |
| OpenAlex | W4400224676 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 36 |
Domestic radicalization to violent extremism has evolved into the most urgent terrorism threat facing the West. We contribute to research on extremism and role exit processes by demonstrating how identity transformations are linked to the pursuit and avoidance of possible future selves motivated by negative emotional states of shame, embarrassment and guilt. The data are drawn from in-depth life history interviews with 47 former members of US domestic violent extremist groups. The interviewees, who had detailed accounts of childhood maltreatment, abuse and neglect, were vulnerable and looking for belonging, acceptance and significance in their lives. The interviews revealed that the extremist role identity conflicted with other emerging aspects of their selves (e.g. parent, spouse) that created an interaction between negative emotional states (i.e. shame, guilt and embarrassment) and doubts about their group involvement. The internal conflicts and emotional awareness opened individuals to embrace non-extremist versions of themselves. These processes diverted their extremist trajectory by creating doubts, engaging in anticipatory socialization and avoiding a feared possible self
Aesthetics · Computer security · Criminology · Hate crime · Identity (music) · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Philosophy · Political Conflict and Governance · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Inside Organized Racism
Making good
Becoming an Ex
Developmental Predictors of Violent Extremist Attitudes
Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior
Fostering Desistance
Identity Theory
Walking Away from Terrorism
A General Theory of Crime
The Sociology of Emotions
Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives
Possible selves
Desistance from Offending in the Twenty-First Century
Isis in Their Own Words
Walking away
Pathways to violent extremism
Do White Supremacist Women Adopt Movement Archetypes of Mother, Whore, and Fighter
Terrorist Transformations
The Far-Right Threat in the United States
Emotions, Future Selves and the Process of Desistance
The Internal Narrative of Desistance
The Psychology of Radicalization and Deradicalization
The Past, Present, and Future of an Identity Theory
Addicted to Hate
Rehabilitating the Terrorists
Leaving the World of Hate
Reconceptualizing Agency within the Life Course
Gender, Crime, and Desistance
What Is Agency
Why White Supremacist Women Become Disillusioned, and Why They Leave
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |