Construction of Radicalization: Examination of an Important Construct in the Explanation of Terrorism

Terrorism by extremist groups has garnered much political, media, and scholarly attention since 9/11.1 Although radicalization may not be a necessary cause of terrorism, it has been found to play a role in terrorist pathways, but what we mean by the term “radicalization” is still somewhat of a mystery, because its definition is ever evolving across different groups and people.2 We have all read media stories in which politicians, criminal justice professionals, and/or scholars refer to “radicalized terrorists,” assuming everyone in the United States or globally knows what they mean by “radicalized” people or “radical” terrorism. During the 2016 presidential election, then President Trump often spoke of “radical Islamic terrorism,” but what exactly did he mean by “radical” terrorism, is there nonradical terrorism, is this term being used simply as an adjective, or does the term “radical” have some substantive meaning to which politicians and scholars adhere