5 DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF EXTREMISM - FROM INNOCENCE TO EXTREMISM

5 DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF EXTREMISM - FROM INNOCENCE TO EXTREMISM

Human beings are weak at heart. When they are over-shadowed by the cultural environment they find themselves. There are 5 stages of social impact on the individual which determines the state of their moderate disposition or extremism.

1.      The stage of innocence; this is characterized by early childhood.

2.      The stage of conscious learning; this is where the individual observes and imitates significant others and internalize customs and behaviours. He takes on roles assigned to him/her by the society and is bound by the norms. At this stage, the individual may not be able to challenge the status-quo as he/she is obliged to adhere strictly to the guidelines of standardized behavior as laid down by the society.

3.      The stage of Integration; this is when the norms and values become part of the individual personalty. The individual find joy, fulfillment and a sense of belonging as a result of his/her membership of the corporate social entity. He/she lives to maintain the hitherto constructed norms, seeks the survival of the society by adhering to the norms and upholding the structures. He/she is aware of the consequences of deviant behaviours and is bound by the instruments of social control.

4.      The stage of immersion; Here, the individual is overshadowed by the society that he/she becomes blinded by any negativity or contradictions of the social group. He is ready to put his life on the line to defend the group and ensure there are no aggression or foreign threat. To such a person, everything about the group is good and desirable. The symbols such as flags, gestures, chants, arts and music, and other forms of social identifiers are evidences of immersion. At this stage, others outside the system are seen as ‘they’, although not as an enemy until it gets to the final stage;

5.      The stage of extremism; This is the stage of outburst. Where the enemy is defined, targeted and attacked. The ideological basis of this outburst must have developed over the time. To extremists, the agenda is to embark on war and defeat the enemy. The availability of the means of unleashing their antagonistic doctrine such as political power, guns, nuclear weapons and other military weapons, economic opportunity and financial pool such as oil and gas, goes a long way in implementing their furious orgy on the society or the world. This was the spirit behind Hitler’s avowed commitment to exterminate the Jews, the spirit behind Boko Haram, IRA, Al Qaeda, ISIS, KKK and other acclaimed religious extremist groups in history, where the blood of humans is the reward for paradise. Extremism is further aggravated by social inequalities, strains in economic opportunities, power struggle, and immersion into explicit writings of the articles of faith, a charismatic religious or society leader who brainwashes Faithfuls to become conscious of the ‘enemy’. Religious writings have been very effective in breeding terror groups in history. Other sources of extremism are political ideologies, ethnic and sectarian agenda. They are ready to inflict pains, commit suicide and shed innocent blood in the hope of a ‘paradise’ or for the promise of a wealth and economic or political liberation. Outsiders regard them as gullible, but they see outsiders as the most gullible, lacking in understanding, inferior and infidels for their unbelief and their non-membership of the group.